The Great Outdoors - Great Scott!

Marlborough multisport enthusiast and viticulturalist Sara Scott is gearing up for the Queen Charlotte Classic | By Craig Sisterson | Photography by Jim Tannock


On the first Saturday in November, local viticulturalist Sara Scott will be going for a sea kayak in the beautiful waters of Waikawa Bay in the Marlborough Sounds. Not a bad way to spend an early spring day, getting out into the fresh air amongst some stunning scenery – especially with a few friends.

Or a few hundred – because Scott will be kayaking (and biking and running) through the magnificent surroundings as part of the 2009 Queen Charlotte Classic, one of the highlights of the New Zealand multisport calendar. “It’s just one of those races you put on your list,” says Scott. “You honestly could not get a better race with more picturesque scenery.”

Scott is a recent convert to multisport, first becoming involved three years ago courtesy of deciding to give a local sprint triathlon a go, after many years playing age-grade and representative hockey. She was quickly hooked.

“Everyone says it’s an old cliché that you catch the bug, but you honestly do!” Since then she’s tackled a number of events, from sprint races to wilderness marathons, including winning the women’s team competition at last year’s Queen Charlotte Classic, and twice taking part (finishing once) in the granddaddy of them all; the Speight’s Coast to Coast.

“When you make it to the finish line it’s just kind of overwhelming that you can actually cross from one side of the country to the other under your own fuel,” she says of Robin Judkins’ iconic 243km adventure race from Kumara Beach to Sumner.

But don’t be fooled into thinking you have to be an élite athlete to enjoy multisport – the vast majority of entrants at events such as the Coast to Coast and the Queen Charlotte Classic are involved more for the personal challenge than any thought of winning.

“It’s just really challenging yourself, and setting goals and achieving goals,” says Scott, when asked what she loves most about multisport. “It’s personal satisfaction.” And that participatory element helps create a great sense of community, she adds. “You meet so many fantastic, like-minded people who are all working for a living and doing this just for pure love and passion for it all.”

Scott herself laughs when asked whether she was already a high performer in any triathlon or multisport disciplines before she started three years ago. “No, no, no; I was a terrible runner, average cyclist, and not a very good swimmer.” Like many, she fell in love with multisport anyway.

“I think the first bit where I actually thought this would really be fun, was actually the Marlborough Women’s Triathlon … I borrowed a bike and loved that bit of it, so ended up a couple of months later buying my own bike. And I thought, well I can swim, and I can run – and so just got into it.”

As Scott says, anyone can participate in multisport; you’ve just got to set some goals and give it a go. “There are so many people out there who don’t actually believe in their own ability to do this … and they look at you and say ‘it’s so amazing that you do the Coast to Coast’, but honestly, anyone could do it! Really, [if they trained] anyone could do it.”