For the first time in recent memory, there was no past champion in the field and no firm favourite.
Canterbury multisport and alpine guide Sam Manson (32), despite being one of the top-ranked athletes over the past decade, had been forced to settle for a minor placing on each of his previous eight attempts.
Manson burst on to the scene in 2012, contesting the two-day team category and dived straight into Longest Day competition in 2013.
He finished ninth and has remained in the top 10 since.
Like previous champions before him the road to victory has not just been about fitness and endurance but also about focus and sacrifice.
"I changed my lifestyle completely. I left a lot of friends behind. They’re still mates but I had to make a lot of changes.
"I came a long way so it’s pretty cool I can reap this reward," he said, adding he would probably ease back for a bit and catch up with those he left behind on the way to the top of the world championship of multisport podium.
The reward for his sacrifices was made even more special as he was greeted on the finish line by race great Steve Gurney, a nine-time champion and the last Canterbury-based athlete to win the race, 20 years ago in 2003.
The race itself proved one of changing fortunes throughout, the first stage turning into a cat and mouse battle on the 55km bike to Aikens. From there, Wanaka’s Hamish Elliott blasted his way over the 33km alpine stage to hold an 8min lead on Australian champion Alex Hunt heading into the 67km river stage down the Waimakariri.
But just as the race appeared Elliott’s he was overcome with severe cramping at the compulsory portage stop at Halfway Rapid, where due to low river levels athletes had to walk their kayaks around the rapid before embarking again and continuing down the river.
This played into the hands of a chasing group of three — Manson, Ryan Kiesanowski and Hunt.
Manson and Kiesanowski got the jump on Hunt on the river near Woodstock, to open up a 4min lead when they paddled their way into the Gorge Bridge transition area to the 70km bike to the finish at New Brighton.
Kiesanowski pulled away early in an attempt to take control but was overhauled by Manson on the turn into South Eyre Rd 60km from the finish, to power away to break the tape in 11hr 40min 15sec, with Kiesanowski second in 11hr 47min 36sec and Hunt third in 11hr 56min 13sec.
"I can stop now. I’ll probably have the year off," an exhausted Manson said at the finish.
"This is what I came back for. I guess that’s why I’ve done it nine times, and I wasn’t winning so I just kept coming back and coming back.
"It feels so good."
"Sam definitely deserved it today. He was strong on that last ride. It was tough out there. It was headwind all the way. It was a real race of attrition," Kiesanowski said.
Earlier in the day Calum Sutherland (Napier) was victorious in the two-day individual men’s race, completing the course in 11hr 58min 21sec, with Jesse Whitehead second in 12hr 15min 56sec and Richard Greer third in 12hr 26min 31sec.
By Wayne Parsons
