The 40-year-old completed the 243km from Kumara Beach on the West Coast to Christchurch’s New Brighton Beach last Saturday in 14hr 3min 57s, putting him seventh in the 40-49 years category.
Walker tells Mountain Scene he raced in the tandem category the previous three Coast to Coasts, doing the whole course with a partner over two days.
He also twice raced in the individual two-day category as a uni student before tackling The Longest Day for the first time as a 23-year-old in 2009.
However, after deciding last year he had unfinished business in the ‘‘holy grail’’ one-day race, he stepped up his training about nine months ago.
He reckons it was ‘‘double or triple’’ the amount he’d done the previous three years, and included getting up at 5.30am every morning during the past winter to go for 90-minute runs with a group of Arrowtown friends.
His training was tailored to replicate each part of the race ‘‘so I kind of knew what I was in for, and it was just a matter of executing it’’.
‘‘There’s definitely highs and lows ... but on the whole I didn’t go into the hurt locker for as much or as long as I’d mentally prepared for.’’
He also appreciated the ‘‘one advantage’’ of being older, which was coping better when things went wrong on Saturday, such as taking on water in his kayak and ‘‘nutrition challenges’’.
Also helping to fuel his motivation were the ‘‘pretty aggressive cut-off times’’ for The Longest Day competitors, in which they’re pulled from the course if they’re too slow.
Walker hasn’t got any plans for more endurance events for now — instead, he’s looking forward to spending more time with his three kids and supporting his wife, Anna, with her racing endeavours, which include the Lake Hawea Epic mountain bike race next month and the Routeburn Classic running race in April.
