The 43-year-old planning consultant says he recalls as a kid seeing the event — running, biking and kayaking 234km between the South Island’s west and east coasts — and his brother-in-law also did it many years ago.
However, Williams only got up close to it when he was support crew for his wife one year.
"It was a bit of an eye-opener.
"I was like, maybe if I could learn to kayak, [I could] give it a go.
"That was probably the big thing putting me off, because as you get older, trying to learn something new is not always as easy."
But Williams says Queenstown Kayak Club instructors Steve Norton, Alex Martin and Hamish Excell are "really good at helping you out", and he found last year’s kayak leg was "pretty good".
Kayak training, though, can be quite time-consuming, "just with the whole driving somewhere, getting in the river and then having to get out at a different location".
He says his aim this Saturday is to "just get it done — like most people, just trying to get through the big day and try and enjoy some of it, I suppose".
"I think this year it could be a pretty challenging paddle with low flow probably."
