Ussher Takes Handbrake Off to Win in Wairoa

Richard Ussher “took the handbrake off” on Sunday to win the Genesis Energy Lake to Lighthouse Challenge — beating Trevor Voyce by just five minutes after over 12 hours of racing.

Ussher fought for every second. He sprinted across the Wairoa finish — and promptly collapsed exhausted onto the grass.

As for Voyce, he went down fighting. After the finish he doubled over and gasped “I can’t say much” when asked by the announcer for a few words.

Voyce had finished Saturday’s racing up at Lake Waikaremoana with a 17 minute buffer. But Sunday saw Ussher fighting back with a vengeance, attacking early in the first stage mountain bike, with over five hours of riding, paddling and running to go.

"I was disappointed with how I did yesterday but it's all about how you bounce back," Ussher explained.

"After that amazing welcome at the finish yesterday I wanted to show I deserve it,” he said, referring to the powerful haka he was given in Tuai.

"I smashed it on the bike today,” Ussher said. “I was getting really loose on the mountain bike, going over drop-offs. There were so many places it could have gone wrong!”

Ussher clocked an overall 12 hrs 50 min to Voyce’s 12 hrs 55 min. Brad Williams was third in 14 hrs 26 min.

Elina Ussher won the women’s classification of the Lake to Lighthouse, in a performance that was every bit as dominant as her husband’s was knife-edge. She finished in 14 hrs 36 min to beat Camila Nicolau (16 hrs 1 min) and Helen Chittenden (16 hrs 24 min).

"This is probably the hardest individual race in New Zealand,” Elina said. Like Richard she broke away early in Sunday’s mountain bike.

It was an extremely difficult day for Voyce, runner up for the second year. But he has the consolation of knowing he pushed his fellow Nelson athlete to the absolute limit. That’s something very few can say of the multiple Coast to Coast and Adventure Racing champion.

"Pretty much as soon as I started the first steep climb on the mountain bike, I knew it would be a pretty tough day," Voyce reflected. "On all the climbs [on the road and mountain bike], my legs were suffering.

I think that's where Rich really chomped time into me."

The first Lake to Lighthouse competitor back to Wairoa was John Gray, who doubled with Sam Clark to win the teams' section of the race in 12 hrs 8 min. Clark had a super paddle stage down the Wairoa river, pulling in several minutes on Ussher. Gray then finished off strongly on the 16 km run.

In other racing, Andrew Bott (6 hrs 7 min) and Toni Keeling (7 hrs 21 min) won the one-day Genesis Energy Lake to Lighthouse Lite.

Photos: sportzhub.com