Organisers of the Coast to Coast are keen to grow participation from schools and younger aged competitors.
Building on the growing popularity of school's adventure racing and multisport events, there will be an official schools category for three person teams consisting of one cyclist, one runner and one kayaker, for the event being held on the 12th and 13th of February next year.
Organisers hope school teams will use the Coast to Coast as part of their build up to the South Island Secondary Schools Adventure Racing Championships being held in late March and April's New Zealand Secondary Schools Adventure Racing Championships.
 Competitors get underway in the Two Day Coast to Coast event on Kumara Beach on the South Island's West Coast(Photo: Marathon-photos.com; click to enlarge) |
The minimum age has been lowered to 14 for the new official Coast to Coast schools three person category with Event Director Richard Ussher stressing how keen he is to grow the grass roots participation of the event."
"We want to reach kids as they choose their sporting pathways in life," he said. "Coast to Coast athletes make the event part of their lifestyle and parents that compete can have a real influence on their kids, sharing their Coast to Coast lifestyle and experiences."
Ussher said the event has also heavily reduced entry fees for the official schools category, $750 for a team of three, making it very affordable for school aged competitors. There will also be discounts for school students across of all the other sections.
"We have reduced the pricing across the board for schools aged competitors," Ussher said, adding that competitors still needed to be 18 for the One Day Longest Day World Championship event and there are different age restrictions for each event in the two day event.
As an extra early bird incentive competitors entering before the end of July go into a prize draw worth thousands of dollars, including a Giant bikes sponsorship package worth $5000.
Ussher said he's been encouraged by the early entries and that the Giant competition, where competitors had to post their most creative training secret online via social media, was encouraging some imaginative entries.
