The real story of Richie McCaw's Coast To Coast run

Rob Nicol and Richie McCaw. Photo / Supplied

The inside story of Richie McCaw's Coast to Coast run is set to be revealed in a new documentary.

The crew from Bondi Rescue, Andrew "Reidy" Reid and Ryan Clark, also known as Whippet, had no experience in adventure racing, running, cycling and kayaking their way across the South Island, but took on McCaw and his team-mate, former Black Cap Rob Nichol, to beat their time.

In February, the All Black captain gave two of the boys from Bondi Rescue a run for their money in the Coast to Coast. Now they are two of Captain Fantastic's biggest fans in Oz.

Bondi Rescue Boys, Ryan Clark and Andrew Reidy. Photo / Supplied

"Richie and Rob are beasts," Clark tells Spy. "They're big guys, they're strong and they train. If you can find someone with a stronger mental state than Richie McCaw you're going to be doing well. He would have looked at us two little pretzel Aussies and had a laugh and thought, 'I'll eat these blokes for breakfast'."

Reidy says the pair love a challenge and the Coast to Coast was their ultimate test.

"Despite the odds, I was pretty confident I could bring the great man down," he says.

Clark wasn't so sure given a quick comparison of the two.

"One is six foot four and full of muscles and one's a five-foot-eight pretzel with wrinkles. If Reidy played rugby, he would have been part of the Australian team for sure. Probably cutting oranges or running water."

Their Australian-made documentary is likely to be an amazing piece of tourism advertising for New Zealand, and its timing couldn't be better as we look at forming a transtasman bubble.

Although they won't say if they did bring down McCaw until their documentary screens next week on Three, the two Australians have indeed fallen for our beautiful Southland vistas, thanks to the race and McCaw.

"Richie took us in his helicopter and flew us over the course," Reid says. "Despite the misery that Richie's caused on Australia, he's one of the most humble, loveliest blokes you've ever met and it was an honour to go up in the chopper with him."