Robin Judkins is not ready for a Coast to Coast obituary just yet.
Judkins, who ended his role as race director at the weekend after 32 years, will maintain an association with the multisport event.
Judkins (64) sold the event to Queenstown-based Trojan Holdings last year and, over the next few years, will fulfil a ''Colonel Sanders'' role.
''Basically, I'll be the hooter and beer man,'' he said.
He will still send the competitors off from Kumara Beach by sounding the hooter, and be there to meet and greet with a can of the sponsor's product as they finish on Sumner Beach 243km later.
For Judkins, signing off comes with a degree of mixed emotions.
He built the race up from just 79 competitors in 1983 to regularly catering for a course limit of 800.
He has piloted the event through stock market crashes, global downturns, earthquakes and weather fluctuations, and even had to dodge an axe thrown by a disgruntled competitor.
''Thankfully, I saw it coming and ducked out of the way,'' he smiled.
Recent years have been particularly difficult for the Coast to Coast. The global recession was followed by the Christchurch earthquakes, and the Longest Day was washed out in 2010.
Numbers have fallen away from Canterbury and lower North Island competitors, but there has been an increase of 7.5% each year from Otago and Southland, combined with a growing international profile.
Mike Davies, managing director at new owner Trojan, was at Judkins' side throughout the weekend.
''I learned that there are a lot of volunteers out there that the competitors don't see,'' Davies said.
''There's a huge operation behind the scenes. It's supported by schools, Search and Rescue, mountain rescue, jet-boat clubs and Lions clubs. It's been a great experience to get behind Juddy and understand how the thing works in the background.''
Davies had a close look at the course with a run from Goat Pass to Klondyke.
''It was pretty rocky. It wasn't too bad for a 100kg body to get over the riverbeds. It was a good experience and I talked to a lot of the competitors.''
Davies said the first thing the new owners had to do was understand the event before they instigated any changes.
There would be a debrief in the coming weeks, after which he planned to announce several changes for the event.
