KEY POINTS:
He says it in his imperturbable way, but it's the kind of statement that may fill Richard Ussher's rivals with despair: This year, he's fit.
Last year he started the Coast to Coast with few expectations and a hope to make the finish line. He did, first, and
by quite some margin.
This year the 30-year-old Nelsonian hasn't spent days in bed recovering from an exhausting adventure racing season and is in good shape for the 25th running of the iconic event.
"Last year I said I probably wouldn't be back but, just the way the adventure racing season panned out, I thought it was a prime opportunity to give it a crack and do a proper build-up rather than just jamming in a bit of training around days in bed," he says. "Things have been pretty good so far."
For the likes of perennial bridesmaid Gordon Walker, who has again spent countless hours preparing for the 243km event from Kumara beach to Sumner, thought might be given to hiring a lone gunman to sit behind a grassy knoll to take care of the two-time winner.
Ussher has the natural ability to dominate the event in the way nine-time winner Steve Gurney did. It's just a matter of whether he wants to.
The $10,000 winner's cheque is enough of a lure for an athlete who admits he struggles to make ends meet in an industry that only rewards winners. He has dabbled with modelling ("I didn't get many jobs, for obvious reasons"), coaches other athletes and also does public speaking to keep his credit card bills in check.
"We don't really make much money for the amount of time we put in," he says. "It's more of a lifestyle thing. For some people it's their ultimate lifestyle and for others it's closer to hell - it depends on your perception.
"At the moment, unless we win, we don't get paid. If you look at the number of sports teams around the world that get paid millions but are basically losing all the time, they are making a hell of a lot more money than we are.
"If we were performing like they were, we would be out of jobs. It's frustrating, because we're competing and beating the best teams in the world but are still not able to secure funds as we would like. A lot of people are being shelled out of the sport without realising their potential."
Ussher recently resigned from top adventure racing team Nike after realising the sport gained nothing if all the top athletes were on the same team.
He's now trying to set up a rival New Zealand team and has already recruited fiancee Elina Rautila, Aaron Prince and Luke Vaughan (former Balance Vector team-mate Nathan Fa'avae will race alongside them for the world championships in Scotland) - but now needs sponsorship.
Without a major sponsor, the idea is a pipe dream and Ussher will step up his search after the Coast to Coast.
Adventure racing has continued to evolve and there is a general shift away from energy-sapping, sleep-depriving multi-day events to shorter races that are more athlete-, sponsor- and spectator-friendly.
"The trend is towards stage racing and 24-hour racing," he says. "In some ways, they are more of a sporting contest as well, because it's not just navigation, keeping moving and managing your sleep. After five days [of racing], people are really crawling along at a slow pace and it's a matter of who can tough it out."
For this reason, the Coast to Coast is something of a sprint for the 1998 Winter Olympic mogul skier.
Besides Walker, 2004 winner George Christison is an outside chance of upsetting Ussher, while Australians Jody Zerbst and Guy Andrews and South African Dan Hugo look the best of the overseas contingent.
The women's race is shaping as a battle between Rautila and last year's winner, Canada's Emily Miazga. Rautila was second in 2006 but, with the help of Ussher, the former world-ranked cross-country skier has spent time becoming more familiar with the course and improving her kayaking.
Ussher will be there waiting expectantly for Rautila at the finish line. It would take a brave individual to bet against him having a third winner's medal around his neck when she does.
