The Longest Day

What do you do when you reach rock bottom?

Matt Calman's most consistent tool for dealing with problems throughout his life was alcohol. But it got to the stage where he was no longer willing to put up with the dark side of his drinking. So he quit.

But the problems that had been simmering away for most of his life merely came to a head. It led to a major depressive phase with panic attacks and thoughts of suicide.

Finally Matt began the slow climb to rebuild himself. He was ready to find something. It just happened to be the Coast to Coast Multisport World Championships, the toughest endurance race in New Zealand.

The Longest Day outlines Matt's path back from depression, his struggles to learn to run, cycle and kayak at an elite level and the culmination of all that training: his Coast to Coast race. Through his training he learns about process rather than outcome, and how true success and enjoyment is embedded in the journey not the destination.

This is a riveting read for sports fans and a compelling account of courage and determination.

Matt Calman is a trained artist, graduating from the Design and Art College of New Zealand with a Dip Arts (with Hons) in 2000, majoring in Photography. He worked in picture framing businesses in Christchurch, Wellington, and Vancouver from 1999 till 2007. He retrained as a journalist at Massey University in Wellington in 2007 and worked at The Dominion Post newspaper from 2007 till late 2010. His main role since leaving the newspaper has been raising his two daughters, though he continued working as a freelance writer, blogger, and photographer for a number of publications. He lives with his wife and daughters in Christchurch.

What do you do when you reach rock bottom? Matt Calman's most consistent tool for dealing with problems throughout his life was alcohol. But it got to the stage where he was no longer willing to put up with the dark side of his drinking. So he quit. But the problems that had been simmering away for most of his life merely came to a head. It led to a major depressive phase with panic attacks and thoughts of suicide. Finally Matt began the slow climb to rebuild himself. He was ready to find something. It just happened to be the Coast to Coast Multisport World Championships, the toughest endurance race in New Zealand. The Longest Day outlines Matt's path back from depression, his struggles to learn to run, cycle and kayak at an elite level and the culmination of all that training: his Coast to Coast race. Through his training he learns about process rather than outcome, and how true success and enjoyment is embedded in the journey not the destination. This is a riveting read for sports fans and a compelling account of courage and determination.

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