Ruapehu start for 3-day endurance test

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 409, 22 October 1991, Page 1

Ruapehu start for 3-day endurance test

Ruapehu, the Whanganui River and the river road are the

course for three days of intensive competition for this Labour Weekend

Lifespan Mountains to Sea Triathlon. A large number of Waimarino people are entered in the running, canoeing and cycle race, including DoC officers, tour guides, a bungy jumper and a superannuant - Ritchie Akapita. Over 350 people will be competing in the Lifespan Mountains to Sea multisports event. Over 290 kilometres and 3 days of running, cycling and kayaking from Mount Ruapehu to the sea near Wanganui. A top national and international field has entered. Inter -Tasman rivalry will be a main feature of the event with several strong teams being fielded from New South Wales. An Australian women's team carried away their section title last year and a strong Kiwi team of Ruth Highet, Corrina Dingle and Josie Sinclair has entered to attempt to win the section for New Zealand this year. Indonesia will field a team of three Outward

Bound instructors. It is expected they will be fit contenders, but the New Zealand men's teams will have the advantage of local knowledge. They will also be up against a strong Australian team, the winner of a similar 3-day multisport event held near Canberra. The individual sec-

tions will provide some tight racing. Wellington's Tania Pearce, winner of the two-day 1991 Coast to Coast, Nelson's Claire Parke, who won the 1987 Mountains to Sea and Joanne Ovens of Paeroa, who earned second place in the 1990 Xerox Challenge, will all be Turnpage 2

Mountains to sea

after the individual women's title. The winner of the 1990 individual men's section, Andrew Martin of Taranaki, is back to face stiff competition from rival Wellingtonians Neil Marsden and Paul Coles. Andrew Martin is a New Zealand Olympic trialist in canoeing and has spent much of this year at the World Wild Water Championships in Yugoslavia where he earned 6th place. The Lifespan Mountains to Sea includes 122km of paddling, so his skills will come in handy. However, a newcomer to the sport, Nathan Fa'avae of Nelson, has been well placed in several major events recently and could provide some unexpected competition. Besides these strong competitors there are a range of other entrants, with an age range of 17 to 63. Top New Zealand multisport athlete Steve Gurney will be overseas during the event, leaving the field open to other major Kiwi athletes.