World champion adventure racer Nathan Fa'avae will compete in this weekend's Coast to Coast Longest Day event for the first time in 14 years.
The three-time adventure racing world champion has come second and third in the 243km gruelling multisport race, but has never won the event.
His first effortin 1991 as an 18-year-old saw Nelson-based Fa'avae shock organisers when he led off the mountain run in the two-day event. He set a run record but a crack in his kayak on the river stage saw him slip to 11th overall.
"That was a classic day; I actually didn't know I was leading until about three kilometres from the end of the run," Fa'avae said. "It was a big deal to be leading the race for me as my goal was genuinely to finish. I'd never been to the area before so it was all just amazing - I learnt that day that I had talent in multisport."
From 1992 to 1996 Fa'avae was a member of the New Zealand mountain bike team, winning a cross country junior title and at one stage was New Zealand's second ranked elite men's mountain biker. He qualified for the 1996 Olympic Games but officials decided not to send the male mountain bike team to the games, choosing instead to boost numbers in the cycling road and track teams.
"I was a bit disillusioned with mountain biking after 1996," Fa'avae said. "I stopped racing and started doing adventures and decided to get back into multisport. I raced the 1998 Longest Day with a pretty casual build-up and got third so that inspired me to try and win it. I went hard for 1999 and got second to [Steve] Gurney. I was happy with that, I'd given it a nudge and was keen to get into adventure racing after that."
Fa'avae did return to the Coast to Coast in 2000 and was third with his brother in the family teams section. He raced in the 2001 Longest Day but was heli-evacuated off the mountain run with heart issues, later diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.
After 24 years since his first Coast to Coast and 14 years since his last one Fa'avae, who is also a race director, is back on the start line.
"The race has always been special to me. Robyn Judkins has done a herculean effort of creating and building the event - what a service to sport and the community. It was a massive catalyst for me and has shaped my whole adult life, he's [Judkins] a hero. But times change and I was really excited to see Rich [Ussher] move into the driver's seat. He's got new energy and creative ideas and that has to be a positive thing," Fa'avae said.
• David Skipwith travelled to the Coast to Coast with the assistance of ThermaTech.
