First-up win keeps Alex Todhunter on Coast to Coast course
28 Mar 2023
Old Boy Alex Todhunter (14889) is already eyeing the individual category of the Kathmandu Coast to Coast after winning the two-day race this year with teammate Mitch Fraser.
It was Alex’s first outing in the gruelling event. However, he’s already keen to do it again.
Amazingly, he reckons the hardest part this year has been the training.
“I started off relatively slowly, only training a couple of times a week. As I got fitter and stronger, I was able to increase the load until I was training five to six days each week,” Alex says. “It was hard because I didn’t have a very good gauge of where to rank myself against other competitors. This made setting goals, such as aiming for the podium, difficult.
“I put my training schedule together myself, so knowing exactly how much running and biking I should be doing was difficult. Due to this, I had to deal with a minor injury in the lead-up to the race, from training more than what my body was capable of.”
Alex completed the mountain-run leg and the final bike into Christchurch while Mitch did the initial bike stage and the kayak, together with a short run at the start.
“The idea of running from one side of New Zealand to the other was the initial attraction but I’ve also always enjoyed having a physical challenge to work towards,” he says. “At Christ’s College, I spent four seasons rowing and always enjoyed the journey of training and working up to a big event.”
A School House boarder from 2015–2019, Alex is in his final year studying towards a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Canterbury. Once finished, he hopes to go into some form of vehicle design, whether it be cars or aircraft. With that in mind, he’s already looking for opportunities to move overseas and start his career.
In his spare time, Alex enjoys skiing, rock climbing, and mountain biking. This year, he is also working as a weekend tutor in School House.