The Coolangatta Gold

The Coolangatta Gold is one of the premier events in the sport of Ironman (surf lifesaving). The event is organised by Surf Life Saving Australia.

In 1984, Peter Schrek was writing a movie featuring the talents of ironman legend Grant Kenny, about two brothers competing for their father's love. Needing a dramatic climax for the movie, Schrek was sitting on a Gold Coast beach when he came up with the idea of racing from Surfer's Paradise, all the way down to Coolangatta, and back up again. Schrek ran up to someone on the beach, and after explaining the course, asked if he would do it, to which the person replied, "Hell no". Schreck then asked if he would do it for $20, 000 prize money, to which the person replied, "Hell Yeah".

For the filming of the race, the producers decided to run The Coolangatta Gold as an actual event, rather than film set up shots. Many well-known ironmen at the time competed, but it was won by the unheralded 18-year-old Guy Leech, from Manly. Leech went on to win the second race in 1985 in conjunction with the movie premiere, and again in 1989 in The Gold Coast Gold. The race was run again in 1991 and 1992, won by Michael King and Darren Mercer respectively (with local Daiman Cartan coming a very close second both times), before escalating costs prevented it from being held again.

In 2005, it was on again, this time with a new women's and master's events. In the men's race, Caine Eckstein would mirror the events of the original race and the movie, running past his brother Shannon Eckstein, and defeating much more recognised ironmen in Zane Holmes, Dean Mercer and Jeremy Cotter.

The 2006 race saw Zane Holmes become the only ironman in history to win a series title, and Australian title, a World Championship and the Coolangatta Gold. 2007 continued the tradition of upsets with veteran Rhys Drury making a break in the board leg and taking win. The period from 2008-11 saw a domination from Caine Eckstein. After returning to win his second title in 2008, Eckstein was pushed all the way in 2009 by veteran Dean Mercer, and in doing so, broke race record pace by over ten minutes, and equalled Cuy Leech's record of three wins. In 2010, after racing with Cory Hill in the ski leg down to Coolangatta, Eckstein broke away to win by almost ten minutes, and became the first compeitior to win three in a row. He extended this record in 2011, and his victories now stands at five.

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