World Champion & Wife Favourite For Crazyman
Close to 500 endurance junkies will line up on Petone Foreshore on Saturday morning for Wellington’s 18th HuttValley.com Crazyman. The 66km multisport epic will see competitors from all ends of New Zealand and Australia kayaking, mountain biking and mountain running the rugged splendour of the Lower Hutt’s hills, river and harbour is one of New Zealand’s biggest and longest running multisport events.
On a course that is as spectacular as it is challenging, competitors open up with a 12k kayak leg along Petone Foreshore and around the eastern bays of Wellington Harbour to Eastbourne. They then swap kayaks for running shoes for an 18k mountain run over the Eastern harbour Regional Park and Mt Lowry to Wainuiomata. The final leg is a 34k mountain bike along the Hutt Hills Skyline and down the Hutt River Trail to finish at the Lower Hutt Town Hall.
As part of the Sportzhub.com national series, the Kathmandu Crazyman is one of New Zealand’s most prestigious multisport events, and a world class field will gather on the Petone Foreshore start line.
Favourite is three-time world multisport champion Richard Ussher. The former Olympic-skier, who hails from Wellington but now lives in Nelson, won the Crazyman in 2000, 2006 and in 2007 when he smashed his own race record by 15min.
This weekend he faces the comeback kid in former world title runner-up Neil Gellatly from Rotorua. Gellatly has come back to the top level of the sport this year and at the Crazyman he returns to the site of his first multisport race more than a decade ago.
Both Ussher and Gellatly, however, will need to watch out for dark horse Australian Jarad Kohlar. The Melbourne athlete is a top performer on the fast-growing Australian multisport scene, and three years ago he led Ussher after the mountain run at the world championship at the Coast to Coast. His ability on foot could see Ussher in the unfamiliar position of chasing to retain his Crazyman title.
Richard Ussher will have some extra motivation, however. As well as defending his Crazyman title he’ll be trying to repeat the husband and wife double that he and wife Elina achieved last year.
Elina Ussher, formerly of Finland but now living in Nelson, returns to defend her title. But on recent form Wellington’s 2007 world champion Fleur Pawsey is favourite.
Pawsey claimed second in this year’s world championship at the Coast to Coast earlier this year. She has extra motivation too, after failing to finish last year’s Crazyman when her kayak rudder broke.
Both women will need to watch out for mountain bike specialist Katrina Lawton. The Rotorua firefighter is a solid kayaker and runner, and if she can start the mountain bike section within five minutes of the leaders she could surprise the two favourites.
In other categories, the men’s duathlon option is shaping up as a top class affair, with former New Zealand rep Dave Rowlands going head to head with mountain bike and off-road triathlon specialist Mark Leishman. Leishaman's partner Nic Leary is also favourite in the women’s duathlon.
Kathmandu Crazyman organisers are expecting approx 500 competitors for the 66km tour through the icon outdoor elements of Wellington’s Hutt City. The event includes the full kayak, run and mountain bike for teams and individuals, and also a run and mountain bike duathlon option for non-kayakers. The race starts at 8am on Saturday morning on Petone Foreshore, and entries will be taken up to 7:00pm on Friday. For further details visit www.crazyman.co.nz or Ph: 0275 244 821. |
