Why you might ask …

by Peter Green

You may wonder why someone would want to run every Full Monty since the Coastal Challenge began in 2003 and isn’t finished with it yet!. As I cast my mind back to March 2003 there were about 50 of us on Akles Bay wondering what on earth lay ahead of us. 3 hours and 54 minutes later I hit the finish line at Balmain Reserve and was HOOKED.

So why do I do it?

The great thing is every year is different because of the tide variances and each year when I get across the finish line (albeit getting slower each year) I can’t wait for the next one.

The king tide of 2007 where the Okura swim was 750 metres (not the normal 100-150), will for me go down as the hardest as the water interaction was the most intense right from the south end of Akles Bay. And yep still my slowest time!!)

The uniqueness makes it so special, combining running, rock hopping, scrambling, wading and a couple of compulsory swims in an event makes it an enviable challenge. Apart from the comradery of all the other participants my best friend has always been Vaseline, graciously applied to most parts of the body before hitting the start line. And yes there is generally always blood spilt at some stage… normally thanks to a hidden submerged rock.

And there is one little thing now, As the only person to have completed all 12 Full Monty’s the challenge now is how many can I do ??

To be able to have an event in a city of 1.4 ish million people is amazing.

And now a series… The new locations look sensational and I will be adding a few more full Monty’s to the collection in 2014/15. Hope to see lots of you out there joining me in one or more events in what will be a magnificent series.

Cheers

Peter Green