Tropical Power Coast 2 Coast
A Stormy Start
Heather-Gem Ible / 09.10.2007
October 6, 2007; Toco, Trinidad – The rainy season made its presence known on the first day of the Tropical Power Coast 2 Coast Multi-Sport Race, with heavily overcast conditions creating a cool but humid climate for racers. A record field of about 60 competitors left the start line at the Toco Lighthouse at 6:00 am with a demanding course of cycling and running ahead of them. The route began with a short 1.4 km run along Trinidad’s picturesque northeast coast, followed by a 30 km cycle to Matelot. Athletes then transitioned to Stage 2: a challenging 32 km run through beautiful rain forest trails to Blanchisseuse, made trickier because of the overcast conditions.
First across the End of Day One marker in a time of 4hrs 8mins was New Zealand Multi-Sport World Champion and last years’s Coast 2 Coast winner Richard Ussher. The first individual female across the line was Elina Ussher (wife of Richard), in a time of 4hrs 51mins. The first relay team to cross the finish line was a Trinidad and Tobago Team comprising Robert Cadiuz, Raymond Ramcharan and Earl rahaman-Noronha in a time of 4hrs 42mins.
Day 2, which comprises Stage 3 of the Tropical Power Trinidad Coast 2 Coast continues from 5:00 am tomorrow with a 58 km ride to Diego Martin’s North Post, followed by a hilly 8 km run to Macqueripe. The final stage of the course is the 30 km paddle to Williams Bay, Chaguaramas, through the swells of Trinidad’s First Boca, which sits between the Gulf of Paria and the Caribbean Sea. Tomorrow’s weather forecast calls for more of the same – variably cloudy conditions, with a few showers and high humidity – so it’s still anybody’s race. See All Event Posts
