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date: 07/10/06
TROPICAL POWER COAST 2 COAST OFF TO AN EXCITING START!
October 7, 2006; Toco, Trinidad – The rainy season
made its presence known on the first day of the Tropical
Power Coast 2 Coast Multi-Sport Race, with heavily overcast
conditions creating a cool but humid climate for racers.
A record field of about 40 competitors left the start line
at the Toco Lighthouse at 6:00 am with a demanding course
of cycling and running ahead of them.
The route began with a short 1.4 km run along Trinidad’s
picturesque northeast coast, followed by a 30 km cycle
to Matelot. Athletes then transitioned to Stage 2: a challenging
32 km run through beautiful rain forest trails to Blanchisseuse,
made trickier because of the rainy conditions.
First across the End of Day One marker in a time of 4:34:40
was Trinidad and Tobago marathoner Cantius Thomas, part
of a relay team that includes cyclist Guy Costa and South
African paddler Andrew Blackburn. The first individual
entry across the line was Multi-Sport World Champion Richard
Ussher, in a time of 4:35:15. Ussher completed the cycle
stage in a faster time than Costa, but said that the run “really
took it out of him”, due to a combination of the
heat, humidity and muddy conditions – so much so
that he took a “time out” in the Paria River
to cool off and regain his energy. “The bike ride
was great,” he says, “and it was pretty cool
to have a police escort for part of the way – but
because of the rain, I was a bit wary of all the little
bridges we had to cross, so I slowed it down.” While
he says the run through the forest was absolutely stunning,
it was also tough. “You know how there are some
days when you find your limits?” he laughs. “Today
was one of those days.”
Even so, Ussher holds on to the lead at the end of Day
One. Last year’s winner of the Trinidad Coast 2 Coast,
triathlete Jason Gooding, finished in a time of 5:15:10,
while Elina Maki-Rautila from Finland was the first female
to cross the finish at the end of the first day, just seconds
after Gooding. Despite the tough conditions, the course
also yielded a few personal bests – runner Erle Rahaman-Noronha
improved his time by almost half an hour.
Stage 3 of the Tropical Power Trinidad Coast 2 Coast continues
from 5:00 am tomorrow with a 58 km ride to Diego Martin’s
North Post, followed by a hilly 8 km run to Macqueripe.
The final stage of the course is the 30 km paddle to Williams
Bay, Chaguaramas, through the swells of Trinidad’s
First Boca, which sits between the Gulf of Paria and the
Caribbean Sea. Tomorrow’s weather forecast calls
for more of the same – cloudy conditions, with showers
and high humidity – so it’s still anybody’s
race.
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