Multisport: Ussher coasts home again

It's known among competitors as the 'Longest Day', and it certainly is for those who limp to the finish line in darkness. But for Richard Ussher, yesterday's win in the Coast to Coast was something of a sprint.

The 29-year-old professional multisport athlete is more regularly seen in multi-day events but Ussher shifted up a couple of gears to claim his second Speight's Coast to Coast title in as many years.

He took a few more risks than normal but was always in control and completed the 243km trek in 11h 5m 5s, nearly six minutes ahead of Auckland's Gordon Walker - the same one-two as last year. Matakana's Gordon Blythen, 41, finished in third a further 17 minutes behind.

Ussher lined up with the rest of the competitors on Kumara Beach at 6am yesterday under something of a cloud considering he had been struck down with a serious illness at Christmas. But he looked a picture of relative health as he crossed the line and enjoyed his first beer moments after finishing at Sumner Beach.

"That was a much tougher race than last year," Ussher said. "There was so much hype around Gordon and I decided to lay my cards on the table and go as fast as I could and push a little bit harder this year.

"It's really nice to win another one to prove the first one wasn't a fluke. I think this one is just as sweet as the first one."

Most had predicted Walker would take out line honours on the back of having won virtually everything in multisport in recent times and having undertaken a meticulous build-up, that included two weeks' training on the course and guidance from Olympic kayaker and last year's two-day teams event winner Ben Fouhy.

But Walker, who is known more for his kayaking and cycling skills, was blown away by Ussher on the mountain run and completed the crucial section in eighth, 11 minutes behind his rival.

Ussher kept his foot on the accelerator on the 67km kayak leg, which was where Walker started making his way through the field, emerging in second, but still 14 minutes behind.

As Ussher crossed the line, thoughts immediately went to next year and perhaps achieving a dominance in the event in the post-Steve Gurney era.

"I will definitely be back at the race at some time in the future but whether it's next year or whether I have a year off, I'm undecided," he said. "With the season of adventure racing I really need a summer to recharge the batteries. This is a fantastic race and I love coming here."

Walker, who crossed the line visibly shattered after a brilliant final cycle leg when he made up eight minutes on Ussher, was also unsure about his future involvement.

"Apart from [not] winning I'm happy," Walker said. "That was the best I could do - I think I just struck a bit of a legend.

"That might be it for me. I might come back and do it again but whether I can do it as competitively, it's a big toll on your resources and time. It's a hard race - there's nothing you'll do that's as hard as that."

Without two-time winner Kristina Anglem, who is hoping to compete at the Beijing Olympics in kayaking, the women's event was wide open and it was Canada's Emily Miazga who took line honours in her third attempt on the one-day event. In doing so she became the first foreigner to win the women's race.

"It feels awesome but I had to really earn it," she said. "I had a real shocker on the mountain run and felt really sick."

The 31-year-old was as much as 10 minutes and 30 seconds behind early leader, Tauranga's Anna Berthelsen, but powered home in the final two legs to finish in 13h 15s. She caught Berthelsen early on the final bike leg and finished more than 12 minutes ahead of Finland's Elina Rautila, who also doubles as Ussher's girlfriend, while Berthelsen was a further five minutes back.

Invercargill 19-year-old Benji Patterson won the individual two-day event, while Sophie Hart claimed honours in the women's two-dayer, heading off Chrissie Wellington from the UK. Neil Gellatly and Robert Loveridge won the teams event.