Though Allan led at the end of day one, the race did not go entirely his way yesterday, with Christchurch's Nathan Peterson asserting himself in the first and second cycling stages before Allan reeled him in on the third stage, a 15km run through the Poolburn Gorge.
The women's race is a nailbiter, with Kath Kelly (35), of Millers Flat, taking the lead from Sarah Fairmaid, of Cromwell, who retired sick at the end of the first mountainbike stage yesterday.
Mitch Murdoch, of Queenstown, remains hard on Kelly's heels in second place.
‘‘I would say it was really good as far as the course is concerned. And my body is not too bad. A massage will fix all the bits, I hope. I feel pretty good actually, although I didn't a few places on the run. I was first all day today,'' Kelly said shortly after arriving at the Tarras camp yesterday.
Allan punctured and crashed during yesterday's first mountainbike stage and said he was feeling some pressure going into day three today.
‘‘But I am actually pretty relaxed about these things. Obviously, I would like to win, but this is what it is all about, sitting around relaxing with friends,'' he said.
Allan and Kelly won their respective two-day Coast to Coast events this year.
Allan said the two events could be compared, as both were well-regarded multisport races, but: ‘‘I honestly believe this is a really big test of multisporters. Mountain biking is part of multisport and they don't have that in the Coast to Coast . . . Here you have to be a strong cyclist but you are still tested in kayaking and running".
‘‘When you look at adventure racing, moving through the natural environment, you have to wonder what tests an athlete more - cycling on a well-paved road or mountain biking, which has a lot of variables, including sheep running around,'' Allan said.
Day one's stages from Alexandra to the Upper Manorburn Reservoir took place in strong winds and high temperatures.
The wind caused problems on Lake Roxburgh for many kayakers, who were competing in what organisers believed were the roughest conditions in the 12-year history of the event.
Kayak marshall Roy Bailey had high praise for Shirley Boys High School team competitor Keiran Gray (17), who, despite paddling ‘‘one of the most tippy boats'' in the competition, went to the aid of another kayaker who had been tipped by waves and been in the water for several minutes.
Gray is a member of the New Zealand development sprint kayak team and took up the sport aged 13, through surf lifesaving.
Gray said afterwards he did not know the man he had helped, but the man had thanked him at transition for his help.
He said his boat was difficult to control if he stopped paddling, but the pair had managed to hold both boats steady while Gray righted the tipped boat so the other kayaker could get back in.
The Shirley Boys High School team comprising Gray and runner/bikers Simon Wilson (16) and Michael Neeley (17) was in second place in the schools male team category at the end of the day.
Gray's diversion on Saturday did not materially affect the team's result, and it was still chasing a large margin set by Dunstan High School yesterday.
On Saturday's mountain sections, two athletes, Lynette Stoke, of Queenstown, and Steve Skinner, of Twizel, became ill and required medical attention from St John before being flown by separate Lion Foundation rescue helicopters to Dunstan Hospital for treatment and observation.
Stoke was suffering from the effects of the flu, medication and the conditions, her team-mates said, while Skinner had experienced dehydration and then become hypothermic, his partner, Denise, said.
Race organiser Neville Grubb yesterday said both athletes had recovered and been discharged but would not be continuing in the event.
The race was taking place in perfect conditions, and because stage two was such a test he did not expect any major changes among the leaders today.
The race finishes at Molyneux Park, in Alexandra, with the fastest athletes expected to arrive between noon and 1pm.
