Rangitoto's next after athlete's Coast to Coast success

Photo: AMELIA JACOBSEN

SPORTS JUNKIE: Mission Bay athlete James Kuegler will soon compete in The Dual – a marathon around Rangitoto and Motutapu.

Relevant offers

Extreme sportsman James Kuegler never sits still for long.

After achieving his goal of a place on the podium in the Speights Coast to Coast race he's back training for more endurance events including a marathon on Rangitoto, his "favourite playground".

The Mission Bay resident came second in the gruelling two-day individual event held in the South Island on February 12 and 13, finishing just four minutes off the winner's pace.

"I was extremely pleased. The challenge now is to recover, regroup and focus on the next few months."

Kuegler, 22, appeared in the East & Bays Courier on December 18 after knocking half an hour off the Speights West Coaster marathon record. He was also named the country's fastest Santa when he won the Great New Zealand Santa Run.

He had set himself a goal for the Coast to Coast of a podium finish, but thought the "top five" was a realistic aim.

The extreme event started at Kumara Beach on the Tasman Sea. It included 195 kilometres of cycling, 36km of running and finished with a 20km kayak paddle on the Avon River in Christchurch.

Of the 282 people game enough to enter the two-day individual race, 258 managed to finish.

Kuegler got off to a strong start in the first 3km run, pushing out in front to create a small bunch for the start of the 55km road cycle to Aickens.

The cycle was quicker than he’d hoped for: "I was guilty of doing too much work at the front of the bunch," Kuegler says.

"This impetuous mistake made running off the bike extremely difficult."

He struggled with the 33km mountain run over Goat Pass, trying to stay with the leader, and finished day one in second place with a time of five hours and 27 minutes.

In contrast to the perfect weather on day one, the next day the Metservice was forecasting heavy rain and gusting
wind.

The race director abandoned the 67km kayak through the Waimakariri River in favour of a 140km cycle and a final 20km paddle – a change Kuegler was excited about because he considers paddling his weakness.

His bike time of three hours, 52 minutes was the fastest of any individual and by the time he reached North Hagley Park, he was leading by 11 minutes.

But in the final paddle, dehydration meant his body started to shut down and he was overtaken by Adam Milne.

Kuegler finished the race with a time of 11 hours, nine minutes – just four minutes behind Milne.

He’s now looking forward to competing in the Trans Taupo, a kayak race across Lake Taupo from Turangi to Taupo on March 20 and The Dual, a marathon around Rangitoto and Motutapu on March
27.

- © Fairfax NZ News