Ironman New Zealand may have been postponed, it didn’t stop Braden Currie from challenging himself with a tough race. No Long Distance triathlon, but the Coast to Coast “Longest Day” it turned out to be. A rough event that, as the name suggests, leads from one side of New Zealand to the other side. In total, athletes need to cover a distance of 243 kilometers, by running, cycling and kayaking through rural New Zealand.
It’s already Currie’s fourth time winning the event, but it had been a while since he last participated. Currie last won the event in 2015. This year, the Kiwi needed 9:45:23 hours to make it to the finish line. His friend Dougal Allan, who won the Coast to Coast race in 2021, took second, while Ryan Kiesanowski completed the podium as he finished in third place.
That Currie managed to win is extra special since he only decided to sign up about 36 hours prior to the event. “I laughed a lot today. I really didn’t know when I’d ever get the chance to race this race again. Stoked it was today”, he wrote on social media.
Currie’s splits
Currie needed 6:56 minutes to complete the first 2200 meters of running, clocked a time of 1:29:57 hour on 55 km of cycling, ran 33 km in 3:05:28 hours during stage three, noted 2:52:57 hours on the next 115 km of cycling, kayaked 30 km in 1:41:21 hour and finally biked another 15 km in 28:41 minutes.
