Glen Currie: Coast to Coast

I’m not sure what percentage of the population competes in multi-sport, but it must be a small figure. I mean, how many people do you know who train for up to 12 hours a week, often in the early morning or late at night. And not just for one sport. Biking (road and mountain), kayaking and running all require equal attention. Not to mention a proficiency in skiing or snowboarding for certain races. Hours spent focussing on the technique of paddling, on ignoring the burn in the lungs, on managing the fatigue in the legs. Add to the mix the expense of a boat, road bike, skis, mountain bike, race fees, travel – and you quickly realise that this is a sport not suited to the faint hearted. Far from it. Only the truly driven need apply. A competitive nature is not a bonus, it is essential. It’s a tough sport, one which is often lonely and repetitive. Despite all these factors – things which would be a tick in the negative column for most ordinary folk – multi-sport is one of the fastest growing pastimes in the country. In its favour, New Zealand is made for it. Rivers, lakes, leagues of hiking trails, and kilometres of quiet roads, all lend themselves to this country being a place of pure divinity. The holiest of holies for those who want to punish themselves for hours on end.
The name that is synonymous with multi-sport in this country is inarguably the Coast to Coast. One of the most challenging courses around, the Coast to Coast is where it all began for a lot of competitors. It’s hard to understand why someone would want to put themselves through it.  Perhaps it’s the uniqueness of travelling from one side of the country to the other under one’s own steam, or the romanticism of traversing some of the most spectacular scenery known to man. Whatever it is, people line up every February to partake. Old hacks and new hands, wanting to have a stab at kiwi multi-sport’s ‘prix ultime’.
It is around this time of year when serious contenders start their training. Those 12 hours a week turn into 18, then 25, before finally creeping their way above 30. Work and training dominate lifestyle. Beers cease to find their way into the trolley. The focus shifts.
Intrepid have decided to follow one such soul through this journey, offering readers an insight into what is required for this gruelling event. We will follow him through his training, build up, and the race itself; while you experience it from the comfort of your armchair. But watch out. You might get inspired. You may even get fooled into doing it yourself. 
Glen Currie got into multi sport the same way most people get themselves into something ridiculous: He was drunk. Currie had just scored himself his first teaching job at Mt. Hutt College in Methven. Over a few celebratory drinks with his future boss, P.E head of department James Roderick, a not-so-sober suggestion was made about doing the Longest Day (one day Coast to Coast). Like all ‘boozy’ propositions, Currie agreed with gusto, believing all would be forgotten by the morning. “It was only a drunken promise at the time, but it soon spiralled out of control” laughs Currie.
That spiralling lead all the way to him standing on the West Coasts Kumara beach for a 6am race start in February 2006. The result for that first attempt was an admirable 26th place. But the consequences ran far deeper than any immaterial placing. The addiction had begun. “The Longest Day is phenomenal. The terrain you cover is pure New Zealand and there is something exhilarating about crossing your country in a day. I wanted more”.
Sport has always been paramount in Currie’s life. At high school he snowboarded competitively, both in border cross and half pipe before injuries put him off. “After an ACL reconstruction I realised any aspirations I had of going pro were distant, so I focussed on my studies instead”. 
Now multi sport has become a bigger part of his life. When describing the sport you can see why; he almost makes it sound appealing. “There is so much to love about it. The fact that everyone out there is competing for so many different reasons; to get a better time, to get a place, or just to complete the race”.   But what about all the hours spent training? The 5am starts? The horrible weather? Currie nods and smiles knowingly, he has experienced it all many times. But you get the impression it’s no great struggle. “Some of the places I train are quite spectacular. When you’re kayaking the upper Rakaia River, running on the best tracks in the country and mountain biking in the Arrowsmith Range, it’s pretty hard to think of it as training”.
He agrees that New Zealand is the ideal landscape for the sport - but also sights deeper reasons for its growing popularity – he believes it emulates the Kiwi attitude. “There is a fair bit of resilience needed; something that I think has become synonymous with kiwi sportsman over the years. Plus technology has taken the challenge out of everyday life. People have had to search for other ways to test themselves”.
 Of course there is a cynical side too. Multi sport has become the new golf of the corporate world – dragging in its fair share of posers. But there are plenty who are far from this stereotype. And all of them will be turning the calendar pages with excited anticipation. February is only four months away, yet Currie prefers to focus on other races in the interim. “I find it easier to focus on shorter races which are a month away, rather than train primarily for the Longest Day when it is five months off. I won’t really start thinking about the Coast to Coast until November”. In July he won the men’s individual section of Queenstown’s Peak to Peak, and in September he came 4th in the Mountain to Mountain race - an 86km haul from Wanaka’s Treble Cone to Coronet Peak.
Currie dodges questions about his goals for the Longest Day. “Yeah, I’ve got a few” being about as much as he is willing to offer. Modesty seems to be tied closely to resilience in the kiwi sportsman. There are a few big players to keep him there too. “Richard Ussher seems to be a level above in this race, and Gordon Walker is not far behind. The great thing about the Coast to Coast is that new guys come out of the woodwork every year that could all place in the top ten”.
Let’s hope that Glen Currie will be one of those next year. Intrepid will catch up with Currie in our next issue to see how his build up for the race is going.