Canterbury's Brendon Vercoe backed up his Friday efforts with telling kayak and bike stages on Saturday to win the open men's two-day individual section of the Coast to Coast.
Vercoe (27) is a physiotherapist with the spinal unit at Christchurch Hospital, and drew inspiration from his patients.
He claimed overall honours on Friday's first stages between Kumara and Klondyke, and maintained his pace on Saturday to claim the title.
''I'm really stoked,'' Vercoe said after the race.
''That was tough. No doubt about it.''
Early in the kayak section, Vercoe was overtaken by fellow Cantabrian Daniel Murtagh. Vercoe tried to keep in touch with Murtagh but rolling three times and remaining upside down for what he thought was a good couple of minutes did not help.
''I was gasping for breath, taking some deep ones.''
Murtagh became isolated on the 70km bike to Sumner. This worked in Vercoe's favour as he was able to gain momentum with other cyclists, overhaul Murtagh and pull away to a sizeable lead.
Some of his spinal unit clients gathered to witness him finish in 12hr 49min 26sec.
While honours were thinly spread in the two-day section for Otago-based athletes, Fiona Dowling - soon to be based in Alexandra - maintained her dominance of the open women's section from day one.
Dowling (26), a physiotherapist from Kilkenny, Ireland, was another to struggle with the technical nature of the kayak section.
''I'm not a great whitewater paddler, so it might have actually suited me in certain respects.''
Although Dowling has contested several multisport events, her entry into the two-day Coast to Coast section was the first long-distance event she had contested.
