The X-Marathon Experience!

Well, I was always planning on doing this event this year having booked leave from school to fit in both the Lorne Adventure Fest and the X-Marathon, so my Tri Adventure partner Jan and I had planned a big drive holiday from Queensland with boats and bikes. When Team MD’s (Leo and I) won Hells Bells earlier this year we won a free entry to the X-Marathon (thanks to an arangement between Dare you Adventure & Adventure Junkies). So I planned to team up with Schlossy at the X-marathon as both Gary & Leo were at that time unable to commit. In the meantime I was hit by a car a week out from Darkside and was quite thankful that it was postponed till March 2015. Soon I was on the road to recovery for Lorne & X-Marathon and Gary and Leo decided they were now keen race X-Marathon too……so Jan lined up a new partner from our Tri Adventure group – Cassie Percival who has also signed up for XPD 2015.

After a great race at Lorne placing 3^rd overall and 1^st in the Veteran Women’s category and recovering quite well, I knew I would be ok to do the race with Sloshy! This was the first time that Schlossy and I had raced together as a team of two so I was certainly looking forward to it, and having Gary, Leo, Jan and Cassie out there on the course too, made for a great weekend of adventure racing…..

Here is Gary’s race report!

Team MD had a great weekend at X-Marthon AR on the weekend, It was hot but not humid , the conditions on lake Eildon were perfect and even though the field was small the competition was high class. Kim and Schlossy won the mixed and finished an incredible 4th overall. Leo and I finished up second overall after trading the lead all through the race with Jarad Kohlar's Peak Adventure and Adventure Racing heavy weights Hugh Stoddard and Josh Street teaming up after extended family camping adventures to form team Round Oz Recovery. 

Our Journey started weeks before the event with Leo and myself being crushed under heavy workloads and high temperatures with humidity levels above 95%, We both decide we needed a break so X-Marathon was to be our Holiday / Xmas party. I forgot to bring everything , which I didn’t discover until I weighed my bike box at the airport and it was only 25kg instead of the 30kg I normally travel with….."Oh well who cares it’s a Holiday Race"

We also didn’t get the race notes so arrived thinking we could only use tyre tubes for the bike transport/paddle leg which the race directors so kindly supplied . Which as they handed them over informed us they had holes and hoped we had a patch kit "Oh well who cares it’s a Holiday Race"

All other competitors except for both the Team MD and Tri adventure Teams had inflatable rafts.

We headed out the morning of the race to drop off our gear with the great boats we hired from Peak Adventure who provided a great service dropping off and picking up the boats. Leo only took us the wrong way twice "Holiday Race"
We got to the start and I had forgot to leave my runners out at the T/A so lucky I bought my big pack to carry them on the bike "Holiday Race"

The race started off with a foot orienteering event around Eidlon  township, using Google Earth maps which we didn’t get till the gun went off. Leo did a great job nailing everything and getting  us into second place , but with my lack of planning I had to jam so much gear into my pack we left the T/A in fourth "Holiday Race" .We caught and passed MD 2 but the other men’s teams were leaving us behind up the long climb. So still in 4th, but wait we soon discovered our strength, downhill madness we made up over 5mins on the first descent to move into second which we held till the paddle.

This is where we unleashed our second super power PADDLING 
Hugh and Josh headed off in a clockwise direction as did Jarod 10 mins in front , we wanted to do our own thing and even though we had planned to go clockwise we decided to go the other way thus keeping our super power under wraps until it was to late for the poor other lead teams. We came out in front and now on our holiday were leading the race. 

The Trek was Hilly and the Temp was rising. We traded places with Team Peak up the initial hills, these speedsters were obviously not having a good day.We snuck away but then our first real challenge. Leo's Thermostat jammed closed and we had to have numerous breaks so his radiator could cool down. 

Lucky we were in no hurry for our Holiday Race . We sat in the shade on top of hill and admired the many beautiful arms of the dazzling Lake Eildon . Finally steam stopped coming out of his ears so amazingly still in the lead we headed down to the Lake for a refreshing swim to the other side to continue the trek. Knowing now Leo's Thermostat was cactus we could manage it better and backed off the pace on the up hill sections and managed to finish the trek in 1st.

The notorious Bike Transport/Paddle/ bike leg was next. Our first effort capsized but with a re-shuffle we were off , the bikes were dragging but we had the tied on well so even if the went upside down we were confident we would have bikes at the and. So only 55mins for a 3.5k paddle "Holiday Race"

The three teams were all back together for a nasty steep Hike a Bike, we managed to keep for a while but the Temp gauge snuck back into the red so we backed it off and Hugh and Josh motored away. Team Peak were also in trouble. We relied on our 1st super power, down hilling to catch back to start the 3.5k paddle back with our bikes in equal 1st. Unfortunately one of our patched tubes had sent the air on a "Holiday" so lucky we had our bikes to keep our flat tube afloat

We headed out onto the last bike in a distant 2nd and enjoyed the cooler conditions to cruise nearly to the finish without incident. We got a little confused in some exclusive marina precinct and then my rear tyre tried to go down but after telling the tyre air it couldn’t go on "Holiday" as we were short staffed the latex jammed the exit and the air had to stay.

Hugh and Josh met us at the finish and kindly shared some food with us. Thanks boys it was great racing with you. What a great Holiday

Thanks Leo, Kim , Dave ,Jan and Cass

Wildside Wandering with Team Mountain Designs

Wildside Adventure Race , Forster 2014

We all arrived in Forster Friday at the Nial's home. Terry and Sheryl have been welcoming athletes into their home since the start of the Forster Ironman and they volunteered to run the Start/ Finish line of that event for 17 years. These incredibly generous and giving people made our race preparation a much easier task.

On Saturday we got a race briefing and completed all the competency testing. Team Bear Hunt had the most difficult tent to put up, but at nearly half the weight of ours, I was extremely envious.

4.00pm map hand out and we were off to start the planning; we had 23 hours as the gear boxes had to be loaded onto the transport vehicles by 3.00pm Sunday.We didn't get maps for the first trek leg or know where the race was to start, but with 33 maps in total we had a huge task in front of us.

We decided to get a good night sleep and stopped course planning at 10:30pm and then recommenced at 6:30am. This took longer than expected as we finished laminating our maps at 12 noon leaving us a very short time to pack boxes. We made it with minutes to spare and were soon on the bus for a short trip out to a Wooton Winery where we were given the first trek leg maps and were told the start would be at 1.00am. A good feed was provided and I limited myself to only one glass of red. The tents provided had no bedding so we were all huddled together shivering our way to the start time on the cold hard ground, our tent soon fell into fits of laughter with stupid jokes, reminiscing on past races and way too many Dutch Ovens.

Wildside AR.....and they are off!

The gun went off and we all disappeared into the darkness across the paddocks and into the bush trails, Team Tiger and Bear Hunt were first to start swimming across the first river and after assuring us the water was warm enough we quickly nuded up and frolicked in after them. It wasn't long after this that Jody started up with a mild fever and some nausea, we eased the pace to manage her condition; she had also rolled her ankle which was making her a little unstable. Knowing how tough Jody is, I wasn't worried about her ability to continue, I was more worried she would push too hard and her condition could become serious. We were surprised after 6 hours to be the first team to the kayak.

G1 in action with G2 just one step behind

The sun had been up for an hour and the paddle across Wallis Lake into Forster and out to Nabiac was spectacular with clear waters and an abundance of bird life. This was a 5 hour paddle and we all soon realized that none of us had done sufficient paddle training. We all had sore backs, the beginnings of blisters and sore bums. Glenn who was heading up search and rescue did a professional job of strapping Jody's ankle. Thanks to Glenn this held till the end of the race and gave Jody the confidence to traverse the many challenges that lay before us.

G1 in action....these kayaks are heavy!

Onto Leg 3 MTB/Rogaine/MTB. The temperatures were soaring, we were still nursing Jody and now Darren was starting to feel the effects of the heat and needed a little help up the hills also. CP 12 was a little ambiguous with the description being 'car' but the CP circle drawn off the side of the track. Our first grid search of the CP location began. We got lucky on this one as Jody rode around the bend outside of the circle and soon spotted the car.

Hot day for the team on the bikes!

The Rogaine went smoothly, this was through a MTB trail park south of Taree and the single tracks would have been awesome on our bikes but unfortunately we had to run. We remounted our bikes for the short ride into Tinolee for our next paddle leg on the Manning River. After the first CP at the Taree Council Chambers, Jody's condition deteriorated and the vomiting began, some in the boat but most over the edge for the fish. She got into warm clothes as she now wasn't able to paddle to stay warm enough. I was quite worried she would fall in as she was also falling asleep; we had to keep yelling to keep her awake. 

The heat is taking it out of everyone!

We reached Coopernook after 5 hours and put Jody to bed on the doorstep of the pub out of the wind, after 4 hours she still couldn't stand up without being overcome with nausea, so back for another 4 hours sleep and dawn. The anti-nausea tablets were finally working and we were able to start our MTB very gently to a large volcanic plug in the forest called Big Nellie, a short trek to the summit for some spectacular views stretching up and down the coastline. Back on the bikes for the grind into Comboyn with both Jody and Darren on tow, G2 [Gary Palmer] and myself had to be wary of not blowing ourselves up with the extra work load. We vowed to have a quick TA here as our last one was 8 hours, we got out in 25 mins but only got as far as the first cafe for a much needed calorie hit.

Taking every opportunity to refuel!

This trek up to the highest waterfall in the southern hemisphere, Ellenborough Falls was going to be a cracker and we were all really excited. Darren was still suffering in the heat and was quickly closing in on his first technicolour yawn. Our pace had slowed and I was now worried about getting out of the gorge before dark as I only had a token mandatory light that was probably good enough to read by but not for jumping around boulders. We had unknowingly passed Team Tiger from a nav error and were in the lead. Tiger caught us just before the climb out and we trekked up the stairs together. Shaun from their team was also in a lot of discomfort in the early stages of bronchitis, which would later see him retire from the event. We got Darren straight to bed as he has physically spent from vomiting numerous times on this trek. He was now a concern, we needed to stop the nausea and get fluids and calories into him. 

In the Gorge with Tiger

Thankfully for us the lovely ladies at the Falls Kiosk decided to stay open all night for the racers and we were able to feast out on chicken vegetable soup, pepper steak pasties, sausage rolls an assortment of cakes muffins and beverages. We slept here for 4 hours which gave Darren some much needed convalescing. He had an organic juice and some soup broth from the kiosk and we were off for a 110km MTB which was one of the longer and more challenging legs of the race. We were back in third but soon passed The Stromlunauts. Tiger Adventure, who were having a great race, were thriving at the front of the field . 

We soon had a minor glitch as Jody's chain broke and then 30km into this leg our next challenge presented itself, the derailleur bolt on G2's bike snapped. We took off the derailleur and converted his bike to a single speed. He now had a max speed of 18km per hour and he could no longer tow anyone. Jody stepped up here and rode without needing any help she was finally starting to get back to her normal fun-loving, storytelling, practical joking self that we had been missing all race. Darren was in recovery mode but still grovelling on tow. He was doing it tough but was determined to keep up. We passed Tiger on a sketchy downhill and cleared the next CP quickly which could have been tricky, but we had questioned the Race Director on the CP location before the start as there were 3 x Track/Creek junctions in the CP circle. Our first of many, ‘hike-a-bikes’ began and finally G2 could help me tow Darren. We entered a more technical navigation plantation section and more hike-a-bike. We were approaching the end, our food and water was gone as we had predicted 8 hours for this leg and it had taken 15 hours. We rode into Barrington straight past the TA and the bemused faces of the TA officials and went straight to the servo for a pie, sausage roll, ice coffee milk and an ice cream each.

Off for a short 5km trek up to the Barrington Adventure centre to pick up our tyre tubes for the paddle back to the TA we had just left. We were all feeling good now apart from being cold from paddling into dusk on the Barrington River. Again a great TA spot, our servo was closed but the TA hall had a microwave, so we heated up our cans of chunky beef soup and I concocted us a dessert of mashed banana and sugar on wraps and heated them up in the zapper.

Look at these for paddles! G2 on the tube!

G1 and his new paddle!

Jody just going with the flow!

We rode out of Barrington for another epic 87km leg, our stomachs were full and we felt good, the next 30km was on tarmac and with a top speed of only 18km/hour it was easy for all but G2 who was spinning his nuts off on his newly detested single speed bike, his trusty steed had also developed a rear brake problem, we were starting to wonder if his bike would see the finish. This was no cheap dunger bike either but a $10,000 black stallion. I think it is going straight to the knackery when he gets home. When we left the tarmac the nav got tricky with our intended trail no longer existing, we traversed through farmers fields along a ridgeline through a  creek  and, hey presto, the trail was back. We were now on some of the sweetest flowing single track you could hope to find. We couldn't find the trail out, so we back-tracked about one km to try a different route, I crashed from falling asleep so G2 took over the nav, it was getting tough and I was a zombie. G2 thought he knew where we were but wasn't sure so we dropped to the ground for a sleep, 6 mins later it started to rain so we were up and refreshed after a good night's 6 minutes sleep and brisk morning shower!  G2 and I got down to the business of nutting out our new route; again the track was no longer in existence. 

We fell back on our Rogaining experience and traversed the terrain cross country till the track once again appeared. We were now faced with a big hike-a-bike which took us off course and onto the wrong peak, after a little two and fro to determine exactly where we were, I gambled on a motor bike track with the assumption that the dirt bikers had to come from somewhere and it was probably from the tracks we wanted below us. Yahoo! We were back on course, another broken chain for G2 and with no more trouble, no food and some water, thanks to a kind resident who spared some of her tank water, we arrived at Bulahdelah. Again we headed straight to the cafe for a pie, hamburger and flavoured milk. We had again planned for an 8 hour ride and it had taken us 15 hours. We packed up our bikes for the final time; G2's bike just crumbled into dust into his box, thankfully the old girl just made it.

Team MD's arrive at the cafe!

When a pie has never tasted so good!

We left Bulahdelah feeling good and had an uneventful but very nice trek through to the Myall Lakes TA. The wild flowers on this leg were beautiful and in abundance. A quick nap and we were off on our final ‘bum-numbing’ 5 hour paddle into the cold of night and strong wind which kept us wet and fresh. Things started to get a bit funky here with the 'sleep monsters' claiming our sanity. Out came renditions of 'row, row, row your boat' and a boat load of other verbal diarrhoea that couldn't be repeated.

We quickly departed the Bungwahl TA, with chattering teeth and began our last epic trek leg running to warm up, we were in great spirits with the finish in sight and we were starting to believe we may win this race.  We had a little trouble with the first CP, surprise, surprise another ambiguous CP placement. Dazza nailed this one for us with some deductive sleep deprived logic, we took pity on Team Search 4 Hurt and told them where this CP was  as they had been doing it tough and had been short-coursed and were disappointed to have missed the 2  big MTB legs.

Team MDs refueling before hitting the beach.

We hit 7 Mile Beach in good spirits but Dazza's mental state soon deteriorated through sheer exhaustion. He thought his food and water were poisoned. We were worried he wasn't eating enough and upon Jody's request he informed her he had just eaten some grilled fish. Where from? she enquired...with a look of disdain on his face he informed her "from the ocean".

Jody tries to give Darren some water!

We finally came to the location of the now famous [only to us] CP 57, control description Dune. Well for 3 x hours we crawled through the thick dune scrub doing a grid search 250m either side of the centre of the circle. Finally, a race official turned up to see what the problem was. He could’t find the control either. It was eventually located  500m from the centre of the circle. With a hearty chuckle amongst ourselves of this amusing trick that had been played on us, we continued on toward the finish and a frosty beer.

Darren's mental state deteriorated further and he could no longer differentiate between fact and fantasy, he no longer spoke, he only pointed, nodded and smiled. I continually asked him if he was going to finish, he always nodded with a determined glint in his eye. We had reverted to carrying him for the last 6km. Within the last 3km he needed to stop and sleep 3 times, doubt was creeping in. He put in a final effort up the sand hill and we coasted to the finish with relief - our goal had finally been achieved. Darren passed all medical checks and after a night’s sleep was back to his normal self.

Team work all the way to the Finish!

G2 finished amazingly, holding strong throughout and helping out every time it was required.

Jody had a rocky start through illness but finished as strong as us boys. Darren's determination got him to the finish.

Team Mountain Designs - Winners Wildside AR  2014

Finally, it was the teamwork that inspired me from a group of rookie's who tackled and won their first expedition race.

Thank-you guys, for a truly memorable experience! What an amazing species we are.

Written by Gary Sutherland Team Mountain Designs 2014

Team Mountain Designs - Darren, Gary S (G1) , Jody and Gary P G2 

Hells Bells done and dusted, Gary’s off to the Wildside!

It’s been a while since we have posted on our blog as so much has been going on. Now that Gary and Sloshy have joined forces with their AR event companies, Sloshy has missed out on the Ridgeline Series and Gary has missed out on competing in his 10^th Hells Bells, so it’s been more racing for Leo and me.

Following Geoquest there have been so many adventures had by the team…..here are a few highlights!

Ridgeline Race 3 

Leo & Kim and the Balloon Tower

‘The Culminator ‘– Leo and I teamed up for this one which was located at the base of Mt Tamborine at Cedar Creek. The course was a mixture of Rogaine style and traditional point to point navigation, despite the race being in the middle of winter, it was a pretty warm day making conditions on course fairly challenging. There was quite a unique start to the event with a balloon tower competition used to spread teams off before setting off on bikes. The navigation was quite challenging and with the rogaine format it meant you did not really know where you were placed, but got to see most of the teams out there on the course. There was a good range of maps including the two foot navigation sections which used orienteering maps. In the first foot Rogaine we made a pretty monumental error which had us go back to the TA and start again, so after losing about 15 mins we had to make no more mistakes.  The bike course  back to HQ before the final foot rogaine was challenging with plenty of hike a bike action and some gnarly technical descents, which suited perfectly….I was a little more cautious. We got back to the TA in 2^nd 6 minuted behind Team Rogue (Paul Elby & Liam St Pierre). Somehow we managed to catch up to them with just 3 CP’s to go…..at the final control we made our move and outran the boys back to the finish….and solved the Clue ‘Octopus’ before they arrived at the finish.  This gave Team MD’s 3 wins from 3 races in the Ridgeline Series 2014.

Wild Women AR  

Kim & Gina on the Plank Walk Challenge

I had to ditch the boys for this one, being an all-girls event, however Gary and Sloshy were the event organisers, so it was still a big team MD affair!  I teamed up with Gina Dunsdon who had earlier this year raced for Team MD’s with Sloshy at the MDARA Sprint event at Mt Cotton. Gina and I had strong competition out there with almost 50 teams all taking part in the 3^rd edition of this event, which was the ‘first ever all women’s AR event’ in Australia.  The event started with a few fun challenges on foot including a target throw, and team plank walk. This spread the teams out well before getting out onto the bike course. Were probably in 3^rd place at this stage as we had had to line up for the planks, but that just added to the challenge. The bike was hilly and Gina and I did not mind the hike a bike section at all. We had an awesome ridgeline ride through the Dulacha State forest before heading to the trails around Ewen Maddocks Dam. Gina and I were in the lead by this stage but team Area 51 and tri Adventure Vintage were in hot pursuit.  We got a lead in the 1^st paddle and maintained it on the Trek, and paddled back to the TA without another Team insight. Gina and I were able to really enjoy the ride to the finish, as we had plenty of time to note make mistakes under pressure. Thanks Gina for a great day out!

MDARA Woodford 

Gary, Kim & Leo drop bikes off at TA

This event was in a new location, flat and very fast one indeed. The event was located on the western edge of the Beerburrum state forest, on the same day as MTBO had an event on the East side of the forest. Sloshy was sick in bed so Leo, Gary and I teamed up as a three for this event. We started with a very short trek to separate teams before the bike. Just one set of maps so Gary was on the nav, I had the control descriptions and Leo the ferret. We took the lead early, and made it to TA 1 for a trek. Great fun was had bush bashing to most of the controls….not sure that it was faster, but just a good challenge, back onto the bikes for the super-fast fun ride back to the HQ for the mystery leg. As it had rained overnight the sandy trails were compact and fun to ride. The mystery leg was a Solo SUP paddle to 3 CP’s, so each team member had to go out & back to one each. The final leg was a short trek around the water ski park and the race was all over by 11am for us……so there was another event on that day….that I thought I would not get back in time for….so off I went!

King of the Mountain 

Kim interviewed after King of the Mountain Win

This is an iconic Mountain Running event held in the Noosa Hinterland town of Pomona and certainly one that has definitely contributed to my involvement in the sport of adventure racing. So I had time to get to the briefing at 2pm and the start at 3pm, and as the MDARA race was less than 3hrs long I did not feel too hammered. So I rocked up in my Team MD’s post event outfit, muddy race shoes and toed the line for the start. I was running 3^rd -4^th female in the run to the base and held 2^nd spot most of the way up the mountain. With just 50m of climbing to go I get to the front and never looked back. I descended the mountain fast but cautiously knowing I was in the lead and just had to get to that finish line unscathed…..easier said than done I can assure you! I crossed the line in just over 30 mins and securing my 3^rd King of the Mountain victory, somehow backing up after an adventure race that morning…..this felt like a dream! But I am off the NZ in October to Race up Mt Edgecombe in the King of the Mountain in Kawarau.

Ridgeline Gold Coast Adventure Race (GCAR)

Gary & Leo at GCAR presentations

Gary, Sloshy and the Ridgeline Team have brought back their own version of the former Anaconda Gold Coast AR, which is actually a multisport event as it does not have navigation. This course is probably one of the toughest multisport events in Australia, and Gary made it tougher, with added single track on the bike. There was also a version that did not have a swim or ocean paddle, allowing for people to work their way up to the full distance course, with a river paddle only option. Leo formed a 2 person team with former MD team mate Nick More completing the paddle and the MTB legs, whilst I was up for the entire adventure. Great results with Leo’s team taking line honours, with fastest splits in the MTB (Leo) and run (Nick) and I was overall female winner.

Cyclegaine 

Gary & Sloshy marking up maps

This was a 6hr rogaine style MTB event. Gary raced with Sloshy as they were missing being out racing and took overall honours, Leo teamed up the Brett Stevens and Ray Deetleefs and were on the podium, and I raced mixed pairs with Alex Austin (who was my team mate for the Ridgeline Step Up event) and managed to take the win in the mixed team category. Great results for Team MD’s again especially Gary and Sloshy who actually cleared the course in very wet muddy conditions…..it rained for the full 6hrs!

Straddie Salute 

Kim, the Cleveland Mayor and the Straddie Salute Trophy 

I was the only Team MD’s member rocking up to this off road triathlon event on the picturesque North Stradbroke Island. I still love a race with an ocean swim and as I am heading to Lorne for the 10^th Anniversary of the Lorne Adventure Race (former Anaconda AR) in December it was a good chance to try a new off-road multisport event. The swim was rough and choppy and challenging, the bike was 60% road and the rest flat off road, meaning it was fast and furious, and the trail run was hilly but rewarding as there was beautiful scenery and plenty of up’s and downs mostly trails. I was crowned Straddie Salute Female Champion and took home the biggest most beautiful trophy ever!

MTBO 

Part of the skill of AR involves keep your Nav skills sharp, so instead of resting up after the Straddie Salute, I backed up the next day with a 38k MTB course at Wild Horse mountain. I was a bit tired and fatigued and when I lost my zinger (that’s the electronic timing stick) I just did the rest of the course with Jan……so we shared the nav decisions like you do in an AR event….great training!

6- 12hr Rogaine….Gary had a niggle, in his hamstring so he had to pull the pin on this event however Gary Palmer (Gary’s wild side partner …..read more about this later) was still up for some good navigation practice and competed in the 12hr event. I opted to race the 6hr in an all-female team with Jan & Gina to get some final navigation practice for Hells Bells and not have to race as hard as I do when I race with the boys. Leo was off in NZ skiing with his old school mates and Sloshy was setting the course for Hells Bells.

The Flight Centre Epic 

Kim receives trophy for Endurance Champion

The Flight Centre Epic is one of Queensland’s most iconic MTB endurance events and has been going for over 10 years……I opted for the 11k trial run on the Saturday (preparation for NZ) and the 87k MTB event on Sunday……good training. Somehow I ended up racing in the elite women’s field and had a cracker of a day finishing 3^rd Elite female on a very tough day of racing especially backing up after the trail run the day before. I was shattered at the end as the mud on the course for the first 2-3 hrs, meant there was plenty of hike a bike and stopping to scrape the mud off wheels that had stopped turning. The trails at Spicer’s Hidden vale are pretty technical too, so it was a great chance to see how far I have come on the MTB since first having done this event as a point to point race back in 2005. A great tough weekend that definitely toughens you up! But will I recover enough for Hells Bells????

Hells Bells 

Leo & Kim set off on the paddle in shallow water!

Gary and Sloshy and the Dare You Team created another great AR event which lived up to its name and did not disappoint!  I was not recovered…..I was tired and exhausted from the Epic and a big week of work…. up late may nights making assignments (the end of term for a teacher is always pretty busy and stressful)…..and having had so many weekends of non-stop racing, I was not sure how the body would react, but at least now I was officially on school holidays….Leo was backing up after a big training weekend with Gary the previous weekend as well as a week of skiing in Queenstown! This year saw a change to an early start to Hells Bells which meant more racing in daylight, and thus more opportunity to see the spectacular scenery. The setting was Delaney’s Creek near Woodford and Somerset Dam, Mt Mee and the D’Aguilar National Park, a totally new area for adventure racing! Map handout was 6am and race start was 8am, so just 2hrs to prepare 5 maps and pack 3 boxes…..think we just had 2 minutes to spare before the start. The format was Bike, Paddle, Bike, Trek, Bike, Trek, Bike, and it was a big mass road ride out to CP4/TA1 for the start of the paddle, with not much chance for teams to split, so we had Adventure Junkies, Rogue, Area51 and Team MD’s all sharing the work at the front to the pack. The paddle was Rogaine style, so Rogue and just one team travelled anticlockwise and the rest of the teams clockwise, and again there was not much chance to split up, with all teams in full sight of each other. 

We got back to TA and out on the bikes in 2^nd behind Adventure Junkies and headed to CP6 – Fig Tree. We found the tree but not the CP hidden in the massive roots…..so the three teams were soon all together again, however we managed to get a slight advantage out of CP 7 from Area 51 and in and out of TA 2 – CP out before they arrived. On this foot leg we had to locate the first CP to find the location of the next and so on….we overshot the first one, and had to backtrack in the creek, so did Adventure Junkies and Area 51, and many of the Fairy Bells Teams….we basically did this leg alongside Adventure Junkies working together to find CP G at the base of the cliff. We both arrived back at the TA and set off on the bikes together again, and we in for some serious climbing……now I was starting to feel the previous weeks of non-stop racing, so Leo and I settled into a good rhythm, sharing the bike navigation and happy to be in 2^nd place. Going a bit easy meant we did not blow up on the hills and made no mistakes, and arrived at the TA CP15 just 6 minutes behind Adventure Junkies…..and were now more than 7hrs into the race. 

We then set out on a foot navigation leg that proved to be very challenging for every team. We nailed CP O, M, and L then had a pretty horrendous bush bash out to the trail up to P. We were then stumped at this point as we could not find P, we checked and cross checked and were 100% sure we were in the right spot, so had to abandon and keep moving…..had the Adventure Junkies found it???? We had no idea…..so we headed for CPK at the lookout. We got to what looked like a lookout….no CP….progressed to another lookout……no CP ….now starting to get worried we checked the map again and realised it was a bit off the high point….and were relieved to see Somerset lookout in daylight and find the punch with no flag! We ran all the way down a great ridgeline and overshot the track to CPN and so went the long way in and found it no worries and hightailed it back to the TA to find that we were ahead of Adventure Junkies and had a 20 minute lead on Area51 going into the leg……but we had to report that we had not located P. 

Mystery Leg that challenged many a team!

We were then informed of a mystery leg….more CP’s on foot which we had to draw on our map. Now as I was going to mark up the map and Leo was having a feed, I noticed that Leo had trimmed map…..but luckily it had 99.9% of the part we needed. I personally never like to crop any of the maps as you just never know in AR what you are going to get……. Anyway it was just getting dark so on with the Ay Up’s and we chose to get CP Q by following the trail to the track creek junction, then walk in and out up the creek….spotting a beautiful Owl along the way. Unlike many of the team we had no troubles locating CP S & R although we did note that the hike up to R would certainly test teams. Just as we were heading back to the TA we noticed lights and knew the Adventure Junkies were hot on our heels…..and we were about to find out if CP P was misplaced or if other teams had found it. 

Leo and Kim at the Finish....whats in the mug? Beer!

To our delight it had been hung in the wrong spot, and we were credited the CP, so we had a lead and just had on bike leg to go, it was now almost 7.15pm. Knowing we did not have much of a lead, we raced hard all the way to the finish and enjoyed the great lights of Brisbane from the top of MT Mee, and crossed the line at 8.19pm after 12hrs and 19 minutes of Hells Bells. A great result for us to make it 3 in a row on the Trophy for Team MD’s ……now Leo gets to put this on his dining room table! Rounding off the podium were Adventure Junkies (1^st Male Team) at 8.44pm and Area 51 (2^nd Mixed Team) at 9.45pm. Now I get to relax and enjoy 2 weeks holiday! Oh and the Prize for Hells Bells this year was  a free entry into the X-marathon Adventure Junkie Race on 13^th & 14^th December in Eildon Victoria , so  I have lined up Sloshy as my Team MD’s partner!

Leo hugs the very special 'Hells Bells' Trophy with Kim!

Wow…..what a year for Team Mountain Designs, so many great places visited and so many awesome adventures!

Jodie & Darren prepare for Wildside

What’s Next ……well Gary is off to the Wild Side……..This is an all new AR Expedition 5 Day event based in Forster NSW. He is teaming with one his original race partners Jodie Miekle & her Geo half partner Darren Harrow from NSW. Jodie now a mum with 3 kids has had some time away from the sport, but is back into it again

having competed at the past two Geo half events, alongside Darren. They have been preparing by doing some of the Kathmandu Adventure Races in NSW and putting in some big training weekends.  Also joining the team is Gary Palmer one of Queensland’s more experienced adventure racers, who races for Team Cyclezone who have finished top 5 at Geoquest in the past 2 years. So Gary Sutherland has been training the house down, when he has not been running around the bush setting crazy courses for all of us. Although this Team MD’s line up will not have raced together as one unit before, the experience and strength of Team Leader Gary Sutherland will certainly be a force to contend with at the Wildside!

Geoquest Crescent Head 2014 – Was it a beautiful playground…..or was it a battlefield???

Team Mountain Designs - sporting the new Geoquest Race Bibs!

The scene was set for a great showdown between last year’s top Geoquest finishers and Seagate, arguably the best Adventure Racing Team in the world. Seagate were tired coming off an expedition adventure race in Africa; Peak Adventure - last year’s winners would be strong despite their chief navigator Rob Preston also backing up from Africa; Outer Limits – 2^nd in 2013, would be both fresh and strong coming off a top performance in China, a few months ago; and we knew Cyclezone Mooloolaba would be in there for the fight as well. So with the ominous weather forecast of gale-force SW winds and 100% chance of 15-25ml rain over the weekend we know we were all in for a challenging weekend of adventure racing #GeoquestAR style.

Gary & Leo - Gear Checks

 

Leo & Sloshy at the paddle competencies....Which way should we tip in????

Kim's looks focused......at this stage we had no idea the paddle would be cancelled!! 

Team Photos, Competencies, Briefing and Preparation

This is a very social time where all teams get to meet up again for the annual Geoquest pilgrimage on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. Gary having completed 11 and stepping up for his 12^th Geoquest was spared from the competency checks along with 2 others Mat Bacon (Team One Chick & 3 Token Blokes) and Damon Goerke (Peak Adventure Shotz). Despite the reprieve, Gary still did pretty much everything except for the swim & wet exit….even taking me out in the ocean over a few little tiny waves to check the foot holds were right in the Stellar for the choppy ocean conditions predicted. Soon it was time for the course to be revealed, and we were informed of a possible cancellation of the paddle if the winds forecast were above 15knots……what a blow…..all that ocean paddling practice too! Anyway soon we were back at the house with the crew – Lea, Blounie and the Sutherland crew pouring over the maps, and preparing our gear. The course included 14 legs, 32 CP’s, 21 maps and distance of some 227km with a MTB mass start and 5 more MTB legs with two rafting sections to get our bikes and bodies across waterways; 5 treks including an orienteering relay and another archery; and 2 paddles one with a 2km portage. Gary and Sloshy were working on the route choices while Leo and I were going through all the CP descriptions, adding notes and working with support crew on what their roles would be at each of the TA’s along with time approximations as Kylie was cooking up a storm in the kitchen feeding us hearty homemade soup and pasta!

The Course is revealed!

Course description & planning sheet - seen hanging around Kim's neck the entire race!

Leg 1 – MTB – Crescent head to Hat Head National Park -20km

As the paddle leg had been cancelled it was a mass MTB start at 8.00am, so this meant that about 140 of us were all gathered at a tiny cross road just out of town. We all lined up and off we set along the bitumen for the first 5k. As a team, we sat near the front of the pack ready to make a move a bit closer up when the road turned to dirt. There was no point in using up too much energy at this stage! The dirt soon turned to sand and we found ourselves moving right up to the front of the field, just nudging ahead of Peak Adventure, and Seagate……maybe we just had a bit more experience with sand riding, with all of the team being Sunshine or Gold Coasters! We all got to CP1A at the same time and proceeded to Hat Head. We came into the TA round about the exact same time as Seagate and had about 2 mins on Peak Adventure. We had a quick transition into our ‘split trek gear’ before heading to the TA right on the beach!

The alternate MTB course - this was instead of the ocean paddle!

Leg 2 – Trek Split – Hat Head National Park – 8km

We had agonised a long time over this split during preparations, but finally decided that Sloshy and I would cross the creek straight to F, run to I at Hungry Hill then H on Third Beach; Gary & Leo would swim and do the Hat Head Point CP’s C, D E as well as G up on Connors Hill trail. Sloshy and I were first team back and instead of meeting the boys at the TA on the beach, we opted for a quick transition first…as we all had to get in together! We soon realised that the boys must be back and headed to the TA where they had been waiting for ages…..ouch…..minutes lost! So after a lightning fast transition by Leo & Gary we set off on the bikes in 3^rd…….just as Outer Limits were arriving back in TA. We noticed that other teams must have struggled with the sand riding as there seemed to be a big gap to the rest of the field.

Sloshy in TA - getting ready for the split!

Leg 3 – MTB – Hat Head to Smokey Cape -22km

Again we were riding on sandy trails, and I was in my element…..thinking that this was actually a blessing in disguise, as most people hate sand…..but we obviously didn’t mind it at all. This section now had a few steep pinches so a lot more effort and energy required getting through the course. We started to pass many of the Geo Half Teams who had started at Hat Head with the Trek Split. It was also great to come across the Tri Adventure Cowgirls right up there amongst the leaders eating up the sand too! There were just 2 CP’s on this leg and they were on the track and relatively easy to find, so at the end of 3 legs, somehow we were in the lead!

Leg 4 – Trek – Smokey Cape to South West Rocks -11km

We set off on this lovely coastal trek, and instantly the boys put the hammer down I felt I had nothing, so I told Gary I’m only running on 80% and that I had come down with a sore throat ( I had tried not to tell the boys I was not 100%) …..so I might need a tow….so soon Leo hooked me up and we were off running up the Smoky Cape ridgeline collecting CP6 at the gate before the steep trek up to find CP7 at Little Smoky peak! On the way down we decided to take a little detour…..instead of going down the track (which seemed to be going the wrong direction) we continued to  bush bash……right down to the road….and only then, realising that the track was the right one, and we did not take it! So we hit some houses and the road and took the long way into to CP8 at the monument now just trailing Peak Adventure. We ran together past Trial bay Gaol to CP9 at Laggers Point before stepping onto the beautiful beach on the way up to South West Rocks. This beach was absolutely stunning and we couldn’t hold ourselves back surprising cameraman James Pitman who said ‘Hey MD’s you are ahead of Seagate’……he seemed surprised……I think we were too! We ran up the rocks smiling as we head into the TA.

Team Mountain Designs signs in.....

Leg 5 – Orienteering Relay – South West Rocks -5km

At this TA we meet the lovely Amy from Geocentric who is handing out the relay maps. This was a Google Earth map with 4 CP’s. We were all required to get just one CP, and take the tracker as the relay baton. Sloshy headed out first; meanwhile we were back at the TA getting our gear sorted for the next leg, as we had to fit paddles on our packs, add food for at least 5hrs and be ready to run our leg of the orienteering when Sloshy arrived back. I was second out on the course, and had the easy CP in the street, but went slightly too far to the right and ended up in Gregory street, so after realising my error, I turned left and ran direct to the CP, on my return Gary too the map and tracker and headed out for the CP, as I was trying to scoff down some hot chips and ham & cheese toasty and a lemon squash……no wonder I didn’t eat much of my packed race food! Gary was in and out went Leo,  just as Peak Adventure were leaving the TA….they had blitzed the orienteering without a doubt!

Leg 6 – MTB & Raft – South West Rocks to The Pines Picnic Area, Yarrabinni National Park-30km

Team MD’s were second out of the TA, but Outer Limits were breathing down our necks, as we headed out on the road to the Macleay River, our paddles were catching the wind like sails and made it quite difficult riding. Upon arriving at CP 12 we were to blow up our rafts and paddle with our bikes to the other side. We saw that Peak Adventure had just got on the water and we were just starting…..their craft however did not look to stable or efficient….but they were trying very hard to get off the bank. We had two small lilo’s and one double, one battery pump and one hand pump. Leo and I paddled one single and Sloshy & Gary on their single, towed the bikes on the double. This was effective, as we motored past Peak Adventure and caught the lead Geo Half team just as they were exiting at CP13. We came across two blokes fishing on the side of the river, with a fire ready to go and a weekend camp set up…..they had no idea they were about to be inundated with about 50 or so rafts and around 200 people in the next 4-8hrs! Now off the rafts we had to somehow fit everything back into our packs and make our way to the next TA. The boys all had pack-racks fitted to their bikes which meant much less weight to carry on their backs, but the ride up to the Pines Picnic area in Yarrabinni National park was still rather testing.  At some point on this windy dirt road just after we had passed the sign to the infamous Mt Yarahapinni (the location of the 2006 Geoquest hike-a-bike from hell) Sloshy noticed we did not have the map to get us out after the trek. It was not on his board…..Gary was super cool….he just said calmly I can get us to Scott’s Head, we might just have to see if the Geo Half team we had only just passed, have the same CP 16 as us. We lost momentum here for a bit as we were really worried.

Leg 7 – Trek Rogaine – Yarrabinni National Park - 8km

We had to go slow now as we needed to wait for the team GB to get in to see if we could solve our problem…..So we changed into our trekking shoes, Sloshy & Leo got the map from the TA officials, while Gary and I snuck over to GB as they arrived to see if 16 was the same……phew it was….so we drew it on the map, and just the written directions from the main road to Scott’s Head after that. Our spirits lifted again as we headed out on the trek…..we were still in the lead! This was a Rogaine leg where we were required to get 6 or the marked 7 CP’s….mostly creeks and high points and not many tracks….it was 8k….it looked slow going and it was! We headed to CP V first….the description was creek junction, so we followed the main road down into creek to the first creek junction, turned NE and headed to the next junction, and took the SW fork to the CP……as we were heading back up north from this CP we were greeted by Peak Adventure on the same route. It was getting dark now….so on with the AY UP lights!  Our next target was CP U, so along High Knob Track we headed east, but unfortunately we dropped into the creek a bit soon, and hit the junction before both S & V, so we headed to CP S first and then went for U. It was on our way to CP U that we met Seagate, in some of the thickest masses of lantana that you have ever seen…..it was nasty but we made our way to the CP together…then went our separate ways! We headed for High Knob Road again and all the way to CP P, choosing to miss CP Q which would have been a nasty climb…..looking at our route choice now, it seems like we might have gone for Q if we had done U and S in the planned order. Anyway it was quick travel out on Way Way Creek Road to CP P and there being a little track down into the creek made the bend quite an easy find! So just R and T to go we headed to R first and headed up the creek….this was very slow travel, and in hindsight I think a better attack point would have been from Leonards Road……but anyway after much twisting and turning and crawling through barb wire vine, wait-a-while and lantana we eventually found the gully that led on up to CP R. We exited direct south and took Leonards Road to CP T at the high point. As we headed for the TA we saw the Cowgirls who were just about to embark on the epic trek, and then Peak Adventure on the bikes heading out…..we wondered who else had eased their way ahead! No one…..well done Sloshy….great nav!

Map 10 - Leg 7 Rogaine Map

Leg 8 -  MTB Yarrabinni National Park to Scotts Head -17km

We left the TA in 2^nd place, however as we were leaving Outer Limits and come into the TA as well and we were sure Seagate were not too far behind. Gary was on nav duties now and we made our way up to CP 16. It was a tough climb and there were a few Geo Half teams heading out as well. I know it felt tougher than it was because we had all our pack rafting stuff too…… It was not long before we were on our own heading out along Leonards Road again…..but unfortunately we took a bit of a wrong turn finding ourselves at a dead end track, and having to backtrack up a hill……now it was somewhere about now either just before or after CP 16 that Sloshy realised that the map that we did not have ‘Map 11’ had somehow reappeared…… ‘Oh no’ …..the support crew must have dropped it off somehow! Minutes later we were greeted by Race Directors Craig & Louise who had to stop us…..this was a breach of the rules…..we knew it…..but it was out of our control we had not played a part in getting the map at all…….it had just appeared…..the support crew had obviously panicked and tried help us out…..but yes it was against the rules……but we did not even need the map…….we had it all written on Gary’s Map 9…..but a penalty was applied. We had to ride all the way back to the TA at CP 14/15 and return the poisoned map! So up, up and up we rode once again…..we had already just been passed by Outer Limits and knew Seagate were not far back……now we would be giving away hours! Oh well sometimes things don’t go your way…..and this was just not our day…..! Map dropped off, back out Grassy Head Road, and onto Scotts Head, although we had now ridden an extra 10k of hills we were still in 4^th place…..over an hour behind Peak Adventure, Outer Limits and Seagate….who were now fighting for the top 3 spots.

Tucking into some soup and pasta in the TA 

 

Blounie helps sort her gear! 

Leg 9 - Paddle – Scotts Head to Macksville -11km + 2k Portage

We greeted our support crew (Kylie, the girls, Blounie and Lea) here once again…..they had hot soup and warm clothes for us ready to go…..we took a bit longer in this TA than other teams 18 mins whereas Seagate, Peak and Outer Limits all just 5 minutes…..wow….impressive! Despite our misadventure, we had still come in to the TA in a time similar to our estimate……so we set off down the Nambucca River at around 9.18 pm. It was a beautiful night out on the water, with the moon brightly shining in the sky. This was the first real paddle of the race, something that we had been looking forward to….especially Leo as he has been putting so much time an effort into his paddling all year! Sloshy & Gary in the Fenn XT led the way and Leo & I in the Stella just sat on the wash! Suddenly Sloshy realised he had forgotten the tracker…….oh no….we could turn back, but the crew would have already been driving down the road with it stored in our gear! Bummer another penalty! The portage worked well, and being very familiar to  Gary (as it was the same portage as they had done in 2006) we managed to get the wheels rolling down the road quite well…….just wondered what the cars travelling on the 80k highway thought though! We found the re-entry point quite easily, bashed through some mangroves got back on the water and made our way to Macksville.

Kim in TA - preparing AyUps for the next bike leg!

Sloshy get's ready!

Gary gets the Ay  Up's ready for the bike ride ahead!

Leg 10 - MTB – Macksville to Eungai State Forest – 43km

This was an important TA to refuel as we would not see the crew for more than 10 hours……so a bit more hot soup (cauliflower, this time) and some coffee & hot chocolate was enjoyed by all. Off with the wet clothes and on with the dry ones….it was going to be a long, cool night on the bikes, so we decided to start dry and warm. Off we set on the bitumen out of Macksville, heading for the hills! The boys were absolutely motoring once again…..and again I was struggling….so Leo hooked me up on the tow rope again…..and boy did I spend quite a bit of time on that two rope on this leg! We had quite a few CP’s to collect on our way out to the Archery/Trek and some would prove to be more challenging than others. Gary had his eye on the maps, Leo and I were doing distances and Sloshy was setting a strong pace……we were moving quite well….there were some really steep pinches that we had to walk in parts and some sections where it was just way too steep to tow….this was Geoquest!  We located CP 19 on the track bend and were heading to CP 20 when the track we were on just ran out!  Mmmm was this a Bycroft twist or were we in the wrong place???? We had checked at the top before descending that we were right, so we pushed ahead through the think forest of lantana. The track, was no longer a track and there was evidence of others being there, but had they turned back????? We pushed on down into the creek, up the other side and soon found the track on the other side and the CP…..phew…..this would certainly sort a few teams out later……as who in their right mind would send us down a track like that????? Craig & Louise would! The hours were just flying by and we certainly were on the other side of half way to the TA. We certainly had to keep our distances correct and focus on the map all the way to CP 21 as we made a few minor errors which cost a bit of time……maybe just fatigue was setting in. CP 23 / TA was at an old quarry, but we somehow just rode straight past it……locating it on the way back up the track thinking we must have taken the wrong track. 43k done!

Gary riding through the night!

Leg 11 – TREK – State Forest – 8km

Here we were greeted by Linda and Rob who were entertaining themselves at the archery. We got lots of instructions and went in one ear and out the other and then realised it just meant we just had the do the archery first before we went out on the trek. We had to get 4 on the board before we would be allowed to head out! With Sloshy being a former champion archer, and with Leo, who got 3 out of 3 at the Rogue, this should not be a problem. So up we step…..Leo – miss, Gary - miss, Sloshy - Hit, Kim – Miss, Sloshy - Hit, Leo – miss, Kim – Hit, Gary – Hit (in the red)….we are out of there! Leo (sorry…..but more practice next year….if you want to be a champion like Gary & Sloshy). So we get our map and off we go from the TA to W. This was in a creek junction…..surprise, surprise!  Sloshy is on the maps…..it’s still dark as it is just after 4am…..not too long till dawn but for now the AY UP’s are going strong and getting a great work out. So down another creekline we go to find W, and here we have to find the directions to X! Guess what…..another creek junction……but, but this area of state forest is a bit more forgiving, the travel down the spurs is nice, so we stay out of the creek and just jump into the junction at the last minute to find  CP X and the directions to Y . Yay Y is at a high point, so up we go over a few creeks and spurs to find the high point…..we get a bit stuck on the way….but Gary has a quick peek and realises we are on the wrong ridge…..so down and up we go onto right one…..Y was a little off the high point down the spur, so it took us a few goes to find it…..and then we had our final clue to  Z…..and you guessed it…. ‘creek junction’. It was now light as we made our way to Z and up the spur out of there back to the TA. We are once again greeted by the very excited TA officials Rob & Linda who were now offering coconut water….so the boys and I could not resist but pose for some photos! We were are told that Peak adventure had only just left……no one else had even arrived at the TA but Seagate were now in the lead with Outer Limits not too far off the pace.

Gary and Sloshy slam down a can of Coconut water!

Leg 12 – MTB - State Forest to Gladstone – 29km

So it was nice to be on the bikes again and in the light, and to be on some flatter faster trails. Leo was doing a great job keeping me on tow and Gary on the maps was setting a solid pace. This ride took no time at all even though there were 4 CP’s to collect along the way.  At CP 27 we were to pick up our rafting gear and cross the river. Here we found Peak Adventure having somewhat of an adventure on the rafts…….they had to split up and go over and back twice to get themselves and their gear across…….so this was going to take them a while. In the meantime while we were inflating our lilo’s we realised one of them had a big hole….we tried duct tape and strapping tape and nothing would hold. So the solution was Leo would paddle and I just sit there with my finger on the whole…..lucky this worked…..and I just got to sit there like a princess! So we nudged ahead of Peak Adventure here as we hurriedly packed our gear back onto our pack racks and backpacks and hurried to the next TA.

Leg 13 – Paddle - Gladstone to Upper Belmore via the Belmore River -15km

Our support crew were so excited to see us ahead of Peak Adventure and made us do a fast and furious transition……but this time we did not forget the tracker or any maps! In the skis and off we set down the Belmore River. It was a beautiful afternoon paddle with heaps of wildlife to keep us entertained along the way…..it was actually quite hard to stay awake now that we were sitting down…..and I could tell Gary was falling asleep and so was I! The weir came up fast and just as we were getting the ski’s up the steep bank we could see Peak Adventure rating fast……so we sped up and got back into the water on the other side of the weir and paddled strong all the way to the TA at Gladstone.

The Final Map CP 32.....off we go to find the CP in the Sand Basin!

Leg 14 – Upper Belmore – Crescent Head via the Beach – 11km

The crew basically met us at the water’s edge with our packs ready to go….no food….it was all in Sloshy’s pack….and we just had to wear the shoes we had on. Now we were on the final leg of the course and it was a race to the line between us and Peak Adventure for 3^rd & 4^th spots, as Seagate & Outer limits were long gone! I was suffering big time with the pace the boys were going, I was hooked onto Sloshy’s tow rope and he was working hard along the bitumen road on the way to CP 32 which we would find in a sand basin using a Google Earth map. I think we all had visions of XPD Tassie where we spend hours searching for a CP in a sand dune……but this was not the case this time. As both us and Peak Adventure spotted the CP at the exact same moment and then headed for the beach for the final 7k run to the finish line.

Sloshy towing Kim as we run down the beach towards the finish!

I was still on tow as we were running along the soft sand…..Leo and Gary were urging me on….but I had nothing…..Peak Adventure passed us and opened up a gap. I needed a short nature stop and soon I was back on tow…..feeling like I could at least keep running…..but no chance of catching up……so we ran down the beach passing a few Geo Half teams on the way and across the bridge into the tiny town of Crescent Head. So after 29hrs of racing Team Mountain Designs finish Geoquest in 4^th Place just 4 minutes behind Peak Adventure in 3^rd place and a couple of hours behind Seagate the winners and Outer Limits who finished 2^nd . What a great race and what a great opportunity we had to race head to head with some of the best AR athletes in the world. Thanks Geocentric Outdoors for such a great #GeoquestAR and thanks to all the teams for who made that battle at the front so exciting. Most of all I think it is great that so many teams signed up for Geo this year to prove that AR is Australia is certainly alive and well and just going from strength to strength.

Team Md's approach the finish line!

All smiles now!!!!!

A very special thanks to our awesome support crew who did everything they possibly could to be there for us and help us speed up those transitions to keep us in the fight for the lead for such a big part of the race……Thanks Blounie, Lea, Kylie, Dersley, Diggy, Emily, Charlotte & Sarah!

To our major sponsors ‘Mountain Designs’, thanks for continuing to support us and the sport of Adventure Racing for such a long time, and especially your support of this race called Geoquest – Australia’s Premier Adventure Race……for without your support Adventure Racing in Australia would not be what it is today!

To AY UP lights, where would we be without your support? Well….….we would still be out on leg 7 at the Pines Picnic Area that’s for sure! Thanks for the new lights and B2000 Lithium Polymer batteries….just love the 3 settings….to keep us going longer and stronger!

Thanks also to our supporters Hoka Shoes, Berghaus, Salomon Footwear, and Area 51 for making the products that help make it easier to get to the finish line or just get there faster…. and recover faster too!

Finally thanks to all our supporters out there our family and friends at home who were watching the dots….we hope we kept you on the edge of your seats and that you had lots of fun watching us all night….and day! We certainly gave it a good shot and we’ll be back for more in 2015!

Team MD's - ready for the next adventure!