Moehau Multisport Festival
Moehau Multisport Festival
Michael Jacques / 17.01.2012
A decade ago the Moehau Man was the first multisport race for 2011 Speight’s Coast to Coast winner, Sophie Hart. This year it was just the second major win for a man that many are picking to be a contender for the 2012 Speight’s Coast to Coast.
High winds greeted starters in the feature multisport event, with more than a few water rescues being needed in the opening 14k kayak on the Firth of Thames. Wellington’s James Coubrough, however, needed no such assistance.
The Lower Hutt builder was first off the water at Waitete Bay in a fast 1hr 10min 48secs, but was pushed hard by Auckland’s Andrew Mowlem just 20 seconds back, while fellow Aucklander Sam Goodall trailed another 1min 40secs further back.
While Mowlem would fall away in the following 22k mountain bike section to Waikawau Bay, Goodall matched Coubrough to start the following 18k bush run just over two minutes adrift in second place. The big surprise on the mountain bike, however, had been Swiss star Matthias Nystrom.
Nystrom is currently in New Zealand training for February’s Speight’s Coast to Coast with compatriot Simon Niemi. Both struggled to cope with the rough kayak conditions, with Nystrom losing 14 minutes and Niemi 19 minutes. But on the mountain bike section Nystrom clocked 50min 04secs to move into fourth place at the start of the run.
Once running, however, no one was going to match James Coubrough. The New Zealand mountain running representative was in his element, striding away to record fastest time of 53min 32secs.
It is Coubrough’s fast running and solid kayaking that will make him a danger man in his first shot at the One Day World Championship at this year’s Speight’s Coast to Coast. A series of injuries has seen the run specialist take to multisport in recent years, with his first major race being a win in the Speight’s Coast to Coast Two Day event last year.
Starting the final 18k mountain bike ride over Tokatea Hill back to Coromandel, Coubrough had 13 minutes in hand, which allowed him the luxury of cruising this final section to win as he liked in 3hrs 42min 15secs.
Behind Coubrough, Sam Goodall had the fastest final mountain bike to finish exactly 12min behind Coubrough. Seven minutes further back Matthias Nystrom moved past Andrew Mowlem during the final mountain bike section to claim third place by just 75 seconds.
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