Preparing for the Kathmandu Coast to Coast is one of life’s great juggling acts. First of all there are the three race disciplines that are all crying out for love and attention as you build towards your race, and that’s before you even begin to think about all the logistics you and your crew have to sort before the event.

Porirua’s Deborah Lynch has ramped things up another notch heading into this year’s Longest Day. Her buildup has had a fourth discipline thrown into the mix, in the form of swimming. Lynch returned to her triathlon roots and finished an impressive 7th in the women’s 30-34 age group at December’s Ironman 70.3 (half ironman) World Champs in Taupo.

“I probably really only focussed on the race in the last few months beforehand, while I dealt with work, study and travel. I was really stoked. The swim was to be expected. The ride was really good fun- they put together a great course, and I probably had one of my best paced runs. It was nuts how many people were there, and the weather was incredible”.

With Coast to Coast the major focus towards the back end of summer, the kayak wasn’t allowed to gather dust on it’s racks. A reasonable block of training in the boat ahead of the Motu Challenge, where she finished second behind Elina Ussher, meant the paddling skills weren’t entirely neglected. 

“My coach Tim Brazier basically held my paddle to ransom. If I completed my assigned swimming load during the week, I could go kayaking at the weekends !”

Consecutive sixth place finishes in the last two Longest Days disguise the true potential of the bubbly Deb Lynch. What is clear is that she can put in an absolute flier over the mountain run. In 2024 she smashed out an impressive 3 hours 46 minute mountain run, with Simone Maier and Hannah Lund about four minutes adrift. However at Mount White, her prospects unravelled. A mechanical issue 200 metres into the kayak stage took an eternity to (sort of) fix, as the other contenders disappeared downstream.

“This year for me, I guess it’s just making sure I don’t do anything stupid. I don’t have to do anything special in the kayak- I just have to stay upright and tie the ropes properly ! A couple of years gives you a bit more time, experience and confidence in it.”

So in the overall picture, does she see herself as someone who could step onto the podium, or even win the Longest Day ?

“I’d like to think so. I think I’ve shown in the last two years that it’s all there in the first half. Just have to put a second half together. Like I said- nothing special. I just have to do the basics right- stay upright, and making sure my boat’s in good condition- just paddle ! I think my kayak splits can be similar to the others. Maybe the biggest opportunity for improvement is the last cycle.”

Simone Maier is unquestionably the queen of the race right now. Only Rebecca Kingsford came close to matching her kayak split, but the five times champion seems to get stronger as the day goes on, and her final ride to New Brighton Beach left a lot of broken bodies in her wake. Lynch says she’ll be aiming for a stronger performance in the final bike leg.

“It was probably my weakest leg in Taupo, but I do think it should be reasonably easy to fix. I’m definitely improving as I spend more time on my time trial bike as opposed to my road bike. I think I’ve got most of the tools there to at least give the overall race a good nudge.”

There’s sense of fun around racing when you chat with Deb Lynch and she sees keeping that grounded approach as being a key for her.

“Obviously I had several years in short course triathlon where you did get stressed in this high octane environment but I’m now really enjoying the longer stuff. I guess you can be more relaxed going into it. Then you’re having more fun, and if I’m having more fun, I’m usually doing a bit better !”

Long may the fun continue !