Richard Ussher Returning to Speight’s Coast to Coast
Three time Speight’s Coast to Coast champion Richard Ussher is turning his back on Ironman triathlon in search of a fourth win in the 243k world multisport championship across New Zealand’s South Island.
Ussher – the Olympic skier who became a multisport and adventure racing world champion and then New Zealand’s fastest-ever Ironman triathlete - has not raced the Speight’s Coast to Coast’s since 2008 when he defeated arch rival Gordon Walker. But while Walker went on to also win three titles in the world championship event, Ussher shifted his sights to Ironman triathlon where he recorded New Zealand fastest ever performance with 8hrs 02min 15secs.
More recently, however, Ussher has become disenchanted with Ironman triathlon. “It’s a hard sport to make a living in,” he said simply. “You can only do two or three races a year, which I don’t like for a start because more than anything I love racing.”
Recent changes at the professional level of the Ironman world series were the last straw for Ussher, who now says he is going to focus on multisport, adventure racing and Xterra, the off-road version of triathlon where he finished an impressive seventh at the 2010 world championships despite a heavy crash during the mountain bike section. But first he returns to the multisport world championships at the 2011 Speight’s Coast to Coast.
Scheduled this year for February 12, Speight’s Coast to Coast race director Robin Judkins is more than pleased at Ussher’s return to his race, saying. “Honestly, I’m over the moon that Richard is racing again,” he said. “It’s good for the Speight’s Coast to Coast, but it’s even better for the sport.”
“Richard is arguably the most talented guy multisport has ever seen,” continued Judkins. “Steve Gurney was superbly prepared, a brilliant tactician and gave the sport a great profile, and Keith Murray still holds the race record (10hrs 34min 37secs set in 1994). But Richard has been world class across skiing, multisport, adventure racing and triathlon, so you’d have to say he’s the most talented athlete multisport has seen.”
Despite having not raced the Speight’s Coast to Coast for three years, Ussher will start as the favourite. He hasn’t been totally absent either; just last year he coached and support-crewed his wife Elina to victory in the women’s race, and with 10 starts for three wins he is by far the most experienced contender. But there is one final piece of motivation: This Team Subway duo could become the first husband and wife to win the race in the same year.
A rematch with defending champion Gordon Walker, however, is unlikely after Walker announced in December he won’t be returning to the world championship event. Instead, the focus will be on a battle of experience versus youth with Ussher facing 2010 runner-up Dougal Allan.
Originally from Foxton but based now in Wanaka, the 25 year old athlete has been the best emerging talent of late. Last year he shrugged off challenging storms that forced an alternative course to challenge Gordon Walker for all but the final two hours. A year later he will be stronger and more experienced, but Judkins warns that there are several dark horse contenders capable of upsetting the apple cart.
“In the last couple of years we’ve also had strong surprises such as Christchurch’s Jacob Roberts (third in 2010) and Nelson’s Trevor Voyce (second in 2009) from Nelson. Last year there was a young Canadian guy too, Jacob Van Dorp, who has won the Canadian multisport champs for the last three years. He finished 12th and with that experience he could be a lot more competitive this time.”
Judkins, however, agrees that Ussher is the man everyone will be watching: “Despite his move to triathlon people still considered Richard the best multisporter in the world. The Speight’s Coast to Coast is the world championship, so having the best athlete back on the start line is great for the sport… And let’s not forget that Richard and Elina could become the first husband and wife to win in the same year. That would be special.”
Eight hundred entries from all over the world are expected on the start line for the 29th Speight’s Coast to Coast. For the first time the event’s organiser and founder of multisport, Robin Judkins, will be among them as he teams up with nine-time winner Steve Gurney to take on his own event.