Multisports: Walker joins the immortals

Gordon Walker battled extreme conditions on his way to a third world multisport championship win. Photo / Getty Images

Gordon Walker joined the immortals of the Speight's Coast to Coast with his third win in the world multisport championship yesterday.

Defending the title he won last year and taking his victory haul to three - after his 2007 triumph - Walker joined legends Steve Gurney, John Jacoby and Richard Ussher as a three-time (or more) winner.

Shrugging off the major course changes, Aucklander Walker paced himself patiently to head Foxton's Dougal Allan, 24, by almost five minutes.

Heavy rain meant the 33km mountain run over Goat Pass was replaced by a run on the tarmac over Arthur's Pass, while the 67km kayak down the Waimakiriri River was also canned, replaced by a 130km ride into Christchurch.

Competitors managed to jump in their kayaks, albeit for a brief blast down the Avon, before a final ride to Sumner Beach.

"We had no option but to make the changes," said race organiser Robin Judkins. "Safety has always been paramount and we were not going to take any risks.

"Everything we had been told by the MetService came to fruition. That meant we were well-prepared and able to put plan B into place."

It also meant athletes had to drastically change their approach. They were told of the changes only in howling winds, driving rain and darkness on the Kumara Beach startline yesterday morning.

Rookie Simon Kristiansen, a four-year veteran in the British Marines, charged through the early cycle and run legs to take a handy lead out of the Klondyke Corner transition, but Walker bided his time before setting out to reel the tearaway in.

Kristiansen, a former New Zealand duathlon champion, was expected to test the best once the tough kayak leg on the Waimakariri River was cancelled and replaced with a cycle leg but he soon wilted under the pressure as Walker and Allan mounted their charge on the long ride to Christchurch.

Eventually the pair worked away from the field with Walker then taking his winning break on the relatively short paddle on the Avon.

"This was probably the hardest longest day I have done," said Walker, who first thought about entering after the Lake to Lighthouse race in late November and only confirmed his entry a couple of weeks ago.

"I enjoyed the shortened kayak but the weed and rocks made it a bit frustrating at times.

"On the bike we were lucky we had a tailwind pretty much the whole way."

In the end Walker's greater experience was a telling factor, although he admitted he was "certainly not as fit as I have been in the past".

He knew there was no way Kristiansen could stay away on his own and even delayed his departure from Klondyke Corner to team up with Allan. He knew then he had the race by the scruff of its neck.

"It could not have gone better in the fact that I won," Walker said. "Apart from a bit of cramp, I had no concerns."

Walker accepted the changes to the course. "You have to be versatile in my sport. You sometimes have to look outside the square. I found the bike ride a bit hard as it took my legs away.

"It was the furthest I've ever ridden on the road. I the think the conditions in 2004 [when many competitors were airlifted off Goat Pass] were way worse."

Allan said the changes had played into his hands.

"Cycling is my strength and Gordie and I worked well. If I was going to win, it would have been a case of riding on my own," said Allan, who won the two-day race in 2008 and finished eighth in the longest day last year.

Christchurch local Jacob Roberts was almost 40 minutes back in claiming third.