It would be hard to imagine the Kathmandu Coast to Coast without Elina Ussher on the start line. A wee bit like bread without butter, Mick without Keith, or a dentist with false teeth !

The four times Longest Day winner will be lining up on Kumara Beach for the 20th time this year, and her consistency means that the other women will know that they will have to bring their A games.

“Obviously I would like to go faster- it’s always about the same time. The hardest part of the day for me has often been the final bike leg and that’s where I’ve lost the race quite a few times. It’s an area we’re trying to improve- I’ve got a new Trek Time Trial bike so hopefully that helps !”

Ussher’s last victory in 2017 saw her ride down Robyn Owen on South Eyre Road, but the veteran says that was more about the south african’s then lack of experience on a time trial bike, rather than her own performance.

“My time wasn’t that fast and the TT bike was something very new to Robyn at that time. I think she made me look like I was going better than I was”.

The Finland born flier will be approaching 49th birthday come race day and with age and experience comes wisdom. So what advice would Ussher give to the 28 year old version of herself ?

“Not to worry too much about what others are doing, and get your nutrition right ! I still have so many things I can improve there. It’s easy to get caught up with the course and river crossings and so on, and you can lose track of your fuelling. It’s very hard to get on top of things later on if you’re not eating and drinking from the start.”

Having raced the event more than any other woman, Elina Ussher has done extremely well to keep her body in shape to continue putting hurt on the other leading contenders.

While conscious of body maintenance, she says there’s an element of luck and she still has a few busted bits.

“Massage is expensive, all the maintenance is expensive, so fortunately I’m not spending that much money on those things. I always have some little niggles. My right shoulder is really munted. I used to dislocate it many times in the past while Adventure Racing. Arthritis is now an issue and surgery will be needed at some point in the future”.

So combining the arthritis with a more recent sciatic nerve issue, the Cable Bay based mutlisporter has become something of an expert at pushing through the pain barriers.

Victory late last year in Opotiki’s final ever Motu Challenge race showed that Elina Ussher is again in good form building towards the Longest Day, and also underlined her love for the sport.

“Doing sport is my life. I’ve been doing it for so long so my body is used to it. I get more stressed if I have to sit down for a couple of hours. And Coast is almost the only multisport race left in the country- that’s one of the reasons why I’m racing it time after time. I would say that the course is probably the best in the world for a race like that.”