|
 |
Top stuff: Queenstown’s Sarah Coghlan on her way to third in the gruelling 60km Kepler Challenge last Saturday
|
Queenstowner Sarah Coghlan has been crowned Queen of the Mountain after the gruelling 60km Kepler Challenge run last Saturday.
The 26-year-old didn’t win overall but took the mountain title for being the first woman up the steep winding track to the Luxmore Hut – who then goes on to complete the course. Last year’s Kepler Challenge female winner Shireen Crumpton beat Coghlan to the hut but blew a knee further on and had to withdraw.
Overall, Coghlan, a graphic designer at Print Central, took six hours, 13 minutes and two seconds to come third – her same placing as last year. Coghlan came in 17 minutes behind winner Victoria Beck of Dunedin.
Asked how she felt this time around, Coghlan – sucking in air and slumped into a chair immediately after finishing – said: “About the same – very, very painful.
“The toughest part is around four to four-and-a-half hours. After that it’s about whatever you can do to make it to the finish line.
“My legs just started to get really fatigued and exhausted – then the mental side of things comes into it and you’re thinking ‘How on earth am I going to finish when I still have an hour and a half to go?’
“You go through patches of wanting to stop and give up. But then you think ‘That’s ridiculous, I’ve done all this training, I can’t give up’. And that gets you going again,” Coghlan says.
“Once I got to the huts, the checkpoints, I stopped and relaxed. That kick-starts you again.”
Will she give it another crack in 2012?
“Right now, the way I’m feeling, no. But I said that last year.”
|
Your say
There are no comments on this article.
Have your say
You will need to register or login before you can post a comment.
