Coast to Coast athlete looking for love

It is a Valentines Day quest taken to new levels speed dating with a twist.

Brazilian multisport athlete Guilherme Pahl is hopeful he can complete the Coast to Coast and find himself a date at the same time.

"I am single now so who knows," he said with a cheeky grin.

The longest day starts tomorrow, which has not been lost on the visiting Brazilian.

He will have 243km between Kumara on the West Coast and Sumner Beach in Christchurch where he can strike up a chat with eligible athletes "if I have the breath for it", he added.

His love affair with the Coast to Coast started in 2006 when he attempted the longest-day for the first time.

"It was quite a surprising race because I'd never seen anything like it," Pahl said. "I have done adventure racing in Brazil, but this course was quite different. The (mountain run) track was rough and seeing it for the first time and how everyone else was doing it so fast was tough."

Severe cramping on the 33km mountain run almost bought his debut to an early end as he struggled through the run. "I was trying to follow others who knew where they were going because I hadn't seen the track before," Pahl said. "But an hour in I was getting cramp. Bad cramp."

His support crew waited at Klondyke Corner to help him get through the rest of the race.

"I was trying to eat a full hand of salt and swallow it down before the kayak, but I still had cramp in the boat. I suffered a lot."

He did, finishing 35th in 13hr 12min.

But Pahl found plenty of positives. "It is a beautiful country and the people in the race were very friendly and helpful," he said. "I wanted to come to do this because this is the race everyone talks about."

Pahl hopes to go home with plenty to talk about.

"Maybe a Coast to Coast romance," he joked.

Race director Robin Judkin's romantic side was pulled back by his purse strings after suggestions the can of sponsor's ale handed to athletes at the finish line could also include a rose. "Then they told me what roses cost at this time of the year and I changed my mind," he said with a laugh.

- © Fairfax NZ News