Athletics: Ain't no mountain high enough

On a stretch of road on SH73, just south of Arthur's Pass in the middle of the Southern Alps, the road emerges from the native treeline to expose a grassy place on the banks of the expansive Waimakariri River.

It's a place called Klondyke Corner and it's a place Mark Pollock hopes he arrives at before 7.30pm on the 10th of February. If he does, it will mean he will be on track to finish the Speight's Coast to Coast - a race that has consumed his thoughts for the past year.

Twelve months ago he was helicoptered off the course at Goat Pass exhausted, dehydrated and mentally shattered when it became patently obvious he would not complete the first day's course before the 7.30pm cut-off.

"This was the first event I didn't finish and I hated it," Pollock explained. "I knew I wouldn't be happy unless I came back and gave it another go."

Plenty of people have failed to finish the gruelling multisport event but what makes Pollock's story so remarkable is that he is completely blind. The 29-year-old Irishman lost his sight six years ago but it didn't stop him racing in and completing the Gobi Desert race and the North Pole Arctic Marathon. It did, however, have a large impact on him not finishing last year's Coast to Coast event.

Pollock went into the famous event blind, so to speak, not quite realising what he was letting himself in for. While the cycling and kayaking legs held no fears for the Trinity College graduate, the 33km mountain run was much, much tougher than he had imagined.

This time he will not be unprepared. He will also have beside him as his principal guide one of the most qualified individuals to steer him through the difficult terrain over Goat Pass and then down to Klondyke Corner.

Josh Stevenson is a 29-year-old professional kayak instructor who also just happens to guide up to 250 competitors through the Coast to Coast course each year as part of their training programme. He's also completed the event three times himself, and has taken part in six Gold Rush events, the Mt Cook race and numerous 24-hour endurance events. He even trained a Korea team for the recent Southern Traverse.

"If he's put the time into training and he's fit - because he wasn't fit last time - we will get him through [to the finish line]," Stevenson confidently predicted. "He knows what he's in for. Last time he expected a mountain track, not boulders the size of houses."

It's the mountain run that defines the Coast to Coast event and it will be the mountain run that will be Pollock's major hurdle considering Stevenson will be able to steer a tandem bike and double kayak on the other sections of the race. In 2005, progress was as slow as 1.5km an hour at times. Pollock became dreadfully dehydrated in the searing heat, had bruises and cuts all over his body and vomited in front of a medical officer before he was retired from the race and choppered off the course. He might have won many admirers for his tenacity but he did so feeling like a failure.

One of those admirers was Stevenson, who was actually involved in Pollock's attempt 12 months ago. He had been employed to provide gear for Pollock and his team partner James O'Callaghan and helped them on the mountain run. This time he will step up to be his guide for the entire course.

"I would just love to see him get to the finish line," Stevenson said. "It was so inspirational working with him on that mountain run and to see what he went through and how hard it was for him. There are sighted people who can't handle going through there so his guts and determination just to get to Goat Pass were unbelievable."

At Goat Pass, however, Pollock uttered the words so many competitors, including nine-time winner Steve Gurney, do - "never again". Two days later at the event's after-party, and under the influence of the sponsor's product, he announced he would be back and asked Stevenson to prepare him properly.

"I said 'yes' at the time but thought he might go home and forget about it," Stevenson explained. "But it was the first time in his life he had failed at something and it's really spurred him to put the old Coast to Coast demons to rest."

Just days afterwards, Stevenson devised a training programme that emphasised the need for Pollock to improve his fitness. It has included a lot of aqua-jogging and walking up the staircases of tall buildings (things he can do on his own) as well as triathlon, cycling and kayaking races and journeys into the hills near his home in Ireland.

The pair will then complete a few training runs together when Pollock arrives in the country 10 days before the start of the event. They will work mainly on their communication. Pollock will wear the equivalent of shin pads this time around to help him avoid cutting his shins to shreds on the mountain run and he will again run/walk with the aid of a walking pole while holding onto Stevenson's shoulder.

Event organiser Robin Judkins will have more than a passing interest in Pollock's progress and is hopeful, even bordering on confident, that the Irishman can complete the course. "I think he can do it but he has to be a lot faster than he was last year," the indomitable Judkins said. "If he gets to the top of Goat Pass by 4.30pm, and he's still fit, he should be able to get through because it's a piece of cake from there."

As for Stevenson, Judkins is less sure of himself. "I don't know much about him - I just hope he's as fit as a buck rat."

"Yeah, I'm fit," Stevenson announced. "The main thing with Mark is mental fitness because I need to watch where I put my feet as well as keeping an eye on Mark. But fitness won't be a problem."

For Stevenson, there are too many other things to worry about.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY