The NIB Coolangatta Gold is one of the premier events in the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n sport of Ironman (surf lifesaving)

Ironman (surf lifesaving)

The sport of Ironman was developed in 1964 in Australia by Mr Valentine Trainor to combine the four main disciplines of surf lifesaving into a single race; swimming, board paddling, ski paddling and running...

. The event is organised by Surf Life Saving Australia

Surf Life Saving Australia

Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries including New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the United States...

.

The Event

The event takes place annually near Coolangatta, Queensland

Coolangatta, Queensland

Coolangatta is the southernmost suburb of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It has a population of 4,869 and is named after the schooner Coolangatta which was wrecked there in 1846....

 over a course of approximately 46km. The 2006 course was as follows:

Leg	Discipline	Route	Distance
1	Surfski	Surfers Paradise to Greenmount SLSC	23.km
2	Run	Greenmount SLSC to Coolangatta SLSC	0.65km
3	Swim	Coolangatta SLSC to Bilinga SLSC	3.50km
4	Run	Bilinga SLSC to Currumbin SLSC	4.00km
5	Board	Currumbin SLSC to Burleigh Heads SLSC	5.50km
6	Run	Burleigh Heads SLSC to Surfers Paradise	10.00km
			Total 46.65km

The NIB Coolangatta Gold is one of the original Ironman endurance events involving a 23km surf ski leg from Surfers Paradise to Greenmount before a return journey north that includes a beach run of 0.65km from Greenmount to Coolangatta; a 3.5km surf swim to Bilinga; a 4km beach run to Currumbin and a 5.5km board paddle to Burleigh Heads before the final torturous 10km beach run Burleigh Heads to Surfers Paradise.
Made famous by the 1984 movie of the same name, starring surf lifesaving legend Grant Kenny

Grant Kenny

Grant Hayden Kenny OAM is an Australian former Ironman, surf lifesaver and canoer.- Career :Kenny made headlines in 1980 when he won both the Australian Junior and Open Iron Man Championship on the same day as a 16 year old. Kenny then won the Australian Open Ironman Title for the following three...

, Kieron Hyndman and a then young up-and-coming actor named Colin Friels

Colin Friels

-Background and training:Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland. His mother was a mill worker and his father a joiner. He lived in Kilbirnie until 1963, when his family moved to Australia, arriving in Darwin, Northern Territory before settling in the Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows...

, the movie was filmed in conjunction with the running of the inaugural race in front of a massive crowd at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.
Many of the scenes in the film are action from the original race held in January 1984 that was won by Guy Leech

Guy Leech

Guy Leech is a former Australian Ironman surf lifesaving champion.Now retired from formal competition, he won seven Uncle Toby's Super Series races and twice won The Coolangatta Gold. Leech remained undefeated over surf's toughest event and in 1989 won the Uncle Toby's version titled the "Gold...

, who at the time was an unheralded 18-year-old from Manly. Leech also won the second running of the event a year later and went on to become one of the most recognised faces on the Australian sporting landscape.
The Gold was contested in 1984, 1985, 1991 and 1992 before being reformatted and reborn in 2005 as an exciting new era for Surf Life Saving Australia with the modern event now also including a shorter women’s race, team event and masters competitors along with for the first time in 2007 the race being open to non surf lifesaving competitors.

Men

Year	Winner	Second	Third	Racetime
2011	Caine Eckstein	Nathan Smith	Alex Tibbets	4:15:26
2010	Caine Eckstein	Cory Hill	Josh Minogue	4:11:41
2009	Caine Eckstein	Dean Mercer	Nathan Smith	4:00:51
2008	Caine Eckstein	Tim Peach	Nathan Smith	4:14:15
2007	Rhys Drury	Shannon Eckstein	Drew Cairncross	4:10:58
2006	Zane Holmes	Nathan Smith	Dean Mercer	4:25:01
2005	Caine Eckstein	Jeremy Cotter	Shannon Eckstein	4:20:14
1992	Darren Mercer	Michael King	Dean Mercer
1991	Michael King	Darren Mercer	David Kissane
1985	Guy Leech Guy Leech Guy Leech is a former Australian Ironman surf lifesaving champion.Now retired from formal competition, he won seven Uncle Toby's Super Series races and twice won The Coolangatta Gold. Leech remained undefeated over surf's toughest event and in 1989 won the Uncle Toby's version titled the "Gold...	Stephen McBean	Gray Parkes
1984	Guy Leech Guy Leech Guy Leech is a former Australian Ironman surf lifesaving champion.Now retired from formal competition, he won seven Uncle Toby's Super Series races and twice won The Coolangatta Gold. Leech remained undefeated over surf's toughest event and in 1989 won the Uncle Toby's version titled the "Gold...	Lawrence Reece	Craig Riddington

Women

Year	Winner	Second	Third	Racetime
2011	Courtney Hancock	Elizabeth Pluimers		-
2010	Alicia Marriott	Courtney Hancock	Elizabeth Pluimers	-
2009	Alicia Marriott	Hayley Bateup	Courtney Hancock	3hrs:15.39
2008	Hayley Bateup	Courtney Hancock	Alyce Bennett	3hrs:18:45
2007	Alicia Marriott	Elizabeth Pluimers	Hayley Bateup	3hrs.22.33
2006	Hayley Bateup	Kristy Harris	Elizabeth Pluimers	3hrs:17:13
2005	Hayley Bateup	Alicia Marriott	Elizabeth Pluimers

The Gold Coast Gold

In 1989, 1991 and 1995 The Uncle Toby's Super Series

Uncle Toby's Super Series

The Uncle Toby's Super Series was a professional Iron Man circuit that ran from 1989 to 2001. It was considered by many to be the pinnacle of Surf Lifesaving and inspired many young kids to become involved in the sport...

held their own version of the race which was the same course although it was not organised by SLSA and was not officially The Coolangatta Gold. The Uncle Toby's Gold Coast Gold was also held in the afternoon and would finish at sunset where as The Coolangatta Gold has always been raced in the morning.

It could be argued that The Gold Coast Gold was a greater race than the Coolangatta Gold as the field assembled for The Gold Coast Gold was far more elite as it was raced when the sport was at its peak and most competitors were at a professional level. The television coverage was also far more extensive.

Gold Coast Gold Results

{| class="wikitable" width=700px
!Year!!Winner!!Second !!Third
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|1989 || Guy Leech || Craig Riddington || Trevor Hendy
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|1991 || Jonathan Crowe || Murray Cox || Jon Robinson
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|1995 || Scott Reeves || Jonathan Crowe || Michael King
|-