Hobart endurance athlete Alex Hunt has come along way since his high school teacher first suggested he give multi-sport a go.
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The 27-year-old engineer will contest his 11th Freycinet Challenge this weekend as the defending three-time champion, having recorded a breakthrough win in 2015.
“The first time I won Freycinet was pretty cool as I had wanted to win it for a long time,” Hunt said.
“It took me eight years to finally crack it.
“I had a couple of years where I came second; and the last time I did so was in 2014 where Mark Padgett was leading me by three seconds overnight.
“I led him all day until the last half of the run and then he cracked me, so to come back the following year and finally win it was a great feeling.”
Since that moment of achievement, Hunt has not relinquished the crown with a fourth-straight title beckoning on Sunday afternoon at Coles Bay.
The former Calvin Christian School student is again favourite to secure the open men’s crown despite a hectic 2018 calendar that has taken him to all parts of the world.
Hunt came second in February’s Coast to Coast – considered one of the biggest single-day multi-sport events in the world featuring running, riding and paddling 243km across New Zealand’s South Island – but also raced in Sweden for the first time and returned home from China a couple of weeks ago a teams winner.
This weekend competitors will complete a 16-kilometre trail run, 10km kayak at Muirs Beach, 40km cycle and 20km mountain bike on Saturday, before a 10km paddle, 40km Coles Bay Road ride, 20km MTB loop of Freshwater Lagoon/Friendly Beaches and 9.5km foot race to the finish line on Sunday.
Hunt’s brother Robbie is in the men’s field – along with Dave Unwin, Matthew Pilkington, Tim Warren, Andrew McDavitt, Daniel Nicholas, Simon Perraton and Callum Fagg – but Hunt seems to think he will have him covered.
“My brother’s going alright at the moment and he’s always been a much better runner me,” Hunt said.
“He has beaten me a couple of times this year in some running races, but I don’t think he’s quite got it in the boat yet.
“One of my mates Callum Fagg, who comes from a cycling background, is just getting into it, has worked on his paddling a lot, but he might struggle on the run.
“Hopefully there are a couple of surprises as well.”
The former Blue Dragon mountain bike challenge and Icebreaker Challenge victor puts in between 15 and 20 per week training either side of his day job with JMG in Hobart.
I normally do seven sessions during the week... I try and get a big day in on Saturday which involves a couple of hours in the boat, a couple on the bike and them maybe a run or swim after that. Sunday is a day for a long two-to-three hour run with maybe an hour-long paddle after to keep things interesting.
- Alex Hunt
“I normally do seven sessions during the week in the morning and night before and after work Monday to Thursday, and then go to the gym session on Friday morning before a rest in the arvo,” Hunt said.
“I try and get a big day in on Saturday which involves a couple of hours in the boat, a couple on the bike and then maybe a run or swim after that – it’s normally a six-and-a-half hour session. Sunday is a day for a long two-to-three hour run with maybe an hour-long paddle after to keep things interesting.
“For Freycinet you can probably get away with a bit less training, particularly if you don’t want to be super competitive, but with some of the longer races we do over in China where your racing for six hours a day – you need to do that preparation to stay on top of it.”
He may have a decade’s worth of Freycinet Challenges under his belt, but Hunt says they don’t get any easier.
With backing up on day 2 problematic for most of the 343 participants taking part this weekend regardless of their prowess.
“It all depends on your year, how you’re feeling and how much work you’re focusing on which discipline,” Hunt said.
“In the early days I always struggled with the paddle – I hated it – and over the past few years it’s something that I’ve become better at and I’m quite enjoying it.
“Two days of racing is probably the hardest thing for a lot of people, but having done a bit of multi-day racing in China I’m a little get a bit used to it.
“I’ve never been able to ride that second-day road bike well so that’s a personal hurdle for me.
“It’s important that you know what to eat when you finish racing to back it up the next day, which is something you learn over the years – but it’s different for everyone.”
Hunt has contemplated touring the world to make a living out of endurance multi-sport events ever since his year 10 high school teacher flicked him information about the old winter challenge held at Franklin.
However, he just enjoys being outdoors.
“You could certainly do it for a living and I have toyed with the idea. There probably is just enough money to do it but it would be a pretty big commitment,” Hunt said.
“Growing up we were always bush walking, sailing and just outside doing other stuff. We had a really good outdoor education teacher who was pretty keen to get people outside.
“I was just doing cross-country at the time when he suggested I give multi-sport ago, so I did the run and a couple of other mates did the bikes and the paddle and I really enjoyed it.”
Following this weekend Hunt will head to China again next week for another teams event, before focusing in on a serious crack at Point to Pinnacle. He will then start his three-month lead into next year’s Coast to Coast.
Racing starts at 8am on Saturday and 7.30am on Sunday with presentations to take place at 2pm.
FAST FACTS
- WHAT: Freycinet Challenge.
- WHERE: Freycinet National Park, Coles Bay.
- WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, October 6-7.
- PROGRAM: Day 1: 16km trail run, 10km kayak, 40km cycle, 20km MTB. Day 2: 10km kayak, 40km cycle, 20km MTB, 9.5km trail run.
- MORE INFORMATION: www.freycinetchallenge.com.au
- LIVE RESULTS: www.webscorer.com