This is the story of extraordinary athletes competing in the iconic Australian event, The Coolangatta Gold; born from a movie and one of the toughest endurance races in the world.
The spectacle of stunning coastlines and athleticism shines bright; at the centre is the lean racing machine of Ali Day. Ali an extraordinary athlete, has won every Coolangatta Gold race he has entered, now chasing his 10th victory to become the ‘greatest Ironman of all time’. At 33 years of age, he must cope with an extreme training load and his duties as a husband and father with a young family, alongside the mental and financial pressures of retiring. By the time the race comes, we will know if he has been able to let go of the race that has defined him, the man on the back of the Nutrigrain packet.
Lana Rogers remembers watching the 1980s movie that created this race and then fulfilling her childhood dream by winning The Coolangatta Gold in 2019. With the 2020 race cancelled, Lana failed to defend her title in 2021 after collapsing and being rushed to hospital. Battling these memories and lingering self doubt from a difficult childhood, Lana reinvented herself with a new coach and club to win again in 2023. Lana’s story is about the pressure to conform to a stereotype, conquering fears to be able to succeed and the value of the community she has found in the surf life saving movement.
Conner Maggs as a brash 19-year-old, is confident he can upset Day’s fairy-tale run in his first attempt at the race. Conner’s mother encourages him to be the next winner, pushing him to train in a way reminiscent of the 1980’s film. He is young and from a generation unashamed to share their ambitions.
Threaded through the film are the stories of how surf-lifesaving evolved as a response to prevent drownings at Australian beaches, how this race was created by screenwriters as the climax of 1980’s romantic film, the explosion of the sport and the ‘cereal wars’ of the 1980’s.
