Gurney enters Mts to sea race

Ruapehu Bulletin, 8 September 1992, Page 11

Gurney enters Mts to sea race

The 1992 Lifespan Mountains to Sea multisport event will be contested .by strong factions Trom the North and South Islands. Cantabrian Steve Gurney - of Coast to Coast and Xerox Challenge fame - has taken up the challenge offered over the past two years by North Island winners of the three-day Mountains to Sea race. More than 450 competitors will run, cycle and kayak over 290 kilometres from Mount Ruapehu to the sea near Wanganui during Labour Weekend in October. Gurney has recently returned from winning the Subaru Peregrine Winter Classic, Australia's largest multisport race. Gurney won his second car for

1991 in the Australian Subaru series, which has made him a hotly soughtafter competitor by top Kiwi multisport athletes who are keen to notch up a win against him. Gurney' s first car, a BMW, was won in the 1991 Coast to Coast. International air travel courtesy of Cathay Pacific is the carrot for the Lifespan Mountain to Sea. International entrants from as far away as Nepal will also compete. A strong team of Sherpas from the international Himalayan tourism centre, Tiger Tops, will be racing against a wide range of two and three person teams. Australian crews will also be attending to attempt to win the titles

they missed in 1991. Kathryn Watt, winner of cycling gold at Barcelona, led a strong team of Australian women in last year's race, but were pipped at the post by three Kiwi women, losing the winning honours they gained in 1990. Australian men's teams have consistently finished in the top four but have never taken first place, despite some fierce rivalry. At the other end of the scale, the Health Sponsorship Council has sponsored the entries of 10 secondaiy schools. The teenage teams, coming from as far away as Ashburton in the south and the Bay of Islands in the north, include all female, all male and mixed categories. Winners will eam a trophy for their school, which will be competed for annually.