One and a half years ago, Lucy McMorran rode home from work using clipless bike pedals for the first time. A car waited as she pulled out onto the road, and she pushed her foot against the pedal to clip herself in. Little did she know, she was already clipped into her bike and hence accelerated without control, falling in the process.
While the high school student rode home that afternoon with blood dripping down her knees and tears streaming down her face, this small setback didn’t stop her from competing in New Zealand’s biggest multisport event earlier this year.
Coast-to-Coast, the challenging feat of running, biking and kayaking from the West Coast to the East Coast of the South Island, including a tedious trip over the Southern Alps, is conquered by few. The 17-year-old, in a team with her father Mark, was not only able to conquer it, but even placed fifth in the family two-day team event.
Her stint included the infamous 30.5km mountain run, as well as the 69.5km cycle to bring it home, in which she rode a bike with clipless pedals.
This extreme adventure isn’t anything unfamiliar to her, as uncovered when discussing her training schedule. Each day of the week consists of a long paddle, trail run or bike ride: “just doing stuff” as she would put it. Her motivation? A love of adventure, with every weekend holding a different place to discover.
“You just see rivers and things you would never otherwise see if you weren’t doing that training.” she said.
Coast-to-Coast isn’t McMorran’s only sporting goal. She is also captain of her school’s water polo team and a competitive road cyclist. Just a few weeks ago she took first place in the U20 girls time trial in the Cycling Northern Tour, and also placed fifth nationally in the U18 Hill Climb. She has only raced competitively for one and a half years.
“Just the going fast and competing in race conditions was a lot of fun...I’m not sure how far that will take me, but it would be cool to be on a national stage at some point.”
Longing for a competitive atmosphere and the opportunity to explore our beautiful backyard, McMorran intends to do the entire 243 km Coast-to-Coast race on her own next year, likely making her one of the youngest competitors to do so.
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