This is not the BBC. We interrupt our usual programming to bring you a newsflash:
The Coast to Coast! Well, not the whole thing. It was actually sponsored by Speights, purveyors of horrible-tasting beer. A can of it was given to the competitors as they crossed the line, as a way of saying "Hey, well done! You just spent a year of your life training, a day or two slogging hard out in driving rain: have a sub-par beer!" Personally, if I had just run, biked and kayaked from one side of the island to the other, I'd want to be drinking something a bit more slathered with congratulations than the contents of the local river and some colouring. Just sayin'
Anyway, point being, my brother did The Longest Day (which is the Official Name of the one-day event, and which is done by individuals. Crazy, hyperbolically fit, batsh-t insane individuals). Our family decided to go down to the finish line at Sumner and wait for him to come in. 4 hours and many inaccurate (but highly chipper) texts from the crew later, he made it. And dammit, he even had a grin for the camera. (Steve Gurney welcomes everyone when they cross the line, and they get one photo with him, and one with the crazy old guy who started the Coast to Coast. Just to prove that they, too, have been inflicted the Crazy virus and are filled with germs of Insanity.)
It took him 13 hours and 41 minutes. To run/bike/kayak from one side of the country to another. That is some serious speed. I am ridiculously proud of him, and keep telling people about it excitedly. It's quite a strange feeling to have about a sibling - I feel like you're meant to hate them, and stay locked in the teenage years of mutual avoidance and dislike.
I'm also highly proud of the fact that even though he was exhausted, some vestiges of sanity remained. How do I know that? When his flatmate/friend who was crewing for him asked how the beer was, he shrugged and said, "It's cold, I can barely taste it. I'm really thirsty". He rocks somethin' serious.
2 comments:
Wow, that's an impressive effort! I couldn't IMAGINE doing anything like that!
Me either! My brother is the kind of person who gets home from work, and runs for 10km. I am the type of person who gets home from work, and blows bubbles in the sun. I figure he does enough exercise for the both of us.
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