Elvis sang and people barfed but it was as we promised – The Mountain Hardwear Edge of Reality was the ultimate expedition which took teams to the edge of reality! It had it all; superb sea kayaking around the spectacular coastline including Bingie Bingie Point and Mullimburra Point, thrilling coasteering with jump ins and channel swims in turquoise water, beautiful trekking legs with unbelievable creeks, vegetation and views, challenging navigation, hike-a-bike sections and river kayaking (and for those in the dark and even not so dark, hike-a-kayak!). To add to the challenge was the Kiehl's Ropes Challenge amongst the Brou Lake spotted gum forest. The event pushed everyone both physically and mentally. It pushed quite a few teams over the edge.
What a superb location with an Aussie wildlife extravaganza. Who needs to go to a zoo when you have Beachcombers Holiday Park . There were kangaroos and wallabies everywhere, lots of large goannas, a few emus, scorpions, black and brown snakes, sharks and jumping fish. And what superb weather which set off a simply magical area.
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This was definitely an expedition to test the best, there were no easy bits in the event and the teams had to work hard the whole way. Those who went out too hard in the beginning suffered later, especially in the hot weather. Team Hammer Nutrition (Jarad Kahlar, Rob Preston , Richard Mountstephens) had experience on their side and ensured they started at a pace they could sustain. Dufflecoat Supreme (Steve Dowlan, Adam Hunter , Wayne Bradbury) started strongly and for the first half of the event the lead kept swapping between these two teams. Hammer Nutrition lost a bit of time on the first rogaine with some navigational errors. |
| They made up time on the bikes only to come in again a little behind due to a different route choice. The many opportunities for differing routes – especially on the bike legs will fuel many a late night conversation between teams for months to come. |  |
There was trouble later in the first day for Dufflecoat Supreme. Steve Dowlan turned and he began suffering from the heat and dehydration, something that caused many a team to withdraw by the first night. But withdrawing was never an option for one of the toughest guys in the Aussie AR scene and with the support of his two strong and supportive team mates they took some rest, slowed the pace but kept pressing on. At the transition area leading into the steep and rough terrain of the Hanging Mountain trek leg, the officials reported Dowlan looking very drawn with wide rabbit eyes and hollow cheeks. It could be touch and go but they kept going. They were no longer in contention for first or were they? On the Hanging Mountain trek Hammer Nutrition started having troubles of their own in the heat of the day with Jarad Kohlar going delirious and forgetting his team mates names and Richard Mountstephens vomiting his guts up. These were the leading teams and all their energy was going into just finishing. With the third placed team and first mixed team, ARNuts (Selina Stoute, Mark McDonald and Alex Ramsey ) coping better with the conditions and slowly closing the gap on both the front teams, it was going to be an interesting outcome to the race especially with a brutal bike leg yet to come.
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Hammer Nutrition finally clawed their way out of Hanging Mountain and onto the last bike leg and it was here they showed their class by putting about 2 hours into the two teams behind and going on to win the event in just over 38 hours. |
The course would not beat Dufflecoat Supreme either and they hung on for second. Talking to Dowlan after the event he revealed that there were whole sections of the course that he has no memory of and even a week later he was still having nightmares about parts of the course. That is what true adventure racing is – the Edge of Reality! The ARNuts had a solid race coming in 3 rd overall and being the first mixed team. Aussie Animals, 4TC and Keen Torq'ers battled it out for a long time and in the end it was Danielle Winslow and her tough Kiwi team mates in 4TC who came second in the mixed and 4 th overall. Keen Torq'ers were 3 rd in the mixed category with other mixed teams Aussie Animals and Tangerine following.
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Of the 31 teams entered in the 50 hour event, there were seven teams that completed the whole course and over 7000m of elevation gain, another 3 teams completed a slightly shorter course with the Hanging Mountain trek leg being shortened. Another 5 teams completed the course less the Hanging Mountain trek. There were many teams that had one team member that withdrew, some due to injury but most due to heat stress. Most continued unranked for some time later but found it tough to keep going without their full team and finally withdrew. |
| The race had pushed people beyond their limits and hopefully made them realise what they really could accomplish. This is the best experience you can have in adventure races and although it doesn't necessarily feel like it at the time it certainly makes you come back better and stronger next time and most importantly more prepared and mentally able to cope. |  |
There were some great performances in the Mountain Hardwear Edge of Reason – the 25 hour course. David Baldwin , recently recovering from a broken hip and a few other bones, thought it best to start back again on a shorter event and with James Hall and Libby Adamson (The Lucy and Cisco Fan Club) won the event in 26 hours. It was James ' and Libby's first time at such a long event and they were lucky to have such an experienced racer and top navigator with them to show them the ropes. Dirty Torquers (Sarina Tomchin, Joel MacKay and Andrew Black) were thrilled to finish second. They had tried one of the shorter 3 hour events, done well so decided to step it up. Looks like they might just be naturals at this sport. Driver (T rent Birkett, Cameron Godwin, Peter Young) were strongly out in front for most of the first day in the 25 hour event but a couple of navigation errors let them down dropping them into third place overall and first all male team. On the spot, Hoot-Hers (first female team), A pair of Peters and a Sam and My physio keeps me moving were the remaining teams to finish the 25 hour course.
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Whilst not in the winning bunch there were some noteworthy teams. Yukon Goldfish captain Richard Barnes took two AR novices on the 50 hour course and with a tandem mountain bike. They were not fast but they just kept going to show that perseverance pays off coming in 13 th place. |
The all girls team – The Toyboy Racers (25 hour course) had a tough start needing to be rescued on the kayak proficiency testing. With a little guidance they went out into the waves again to pass the test. It gave them the confidence they needed to keep going when they got pummelled by the waves and sharks in the second leg of the race. In the coasteering leg they were joined by the officials– they didn't mind though, they said it made them feel kind of safe. They kept it up, other teams started to pull out and they moved up the ranks. Eventually, after almost 29 hours they withdrew simply because they were happy with where they got to and thought they'd prefer to have a proper meal and good night sleep than stay out another night. It was the longest they had ever been out and it was truly inspirational following these girls through the race.
For some amazing photos and full results go to http://www.arocsport.com.au/adventure/EOR/EOR_livesite.html
There are many thanks to go out to all those that helped make the event a great success. Firstly to t itle sponsor Mountain Hardwear who really got behind the event and supported it all the way. The prizes handed out by them were worth over $10,000 and included Montrail Hardrock shoes, waterproof duffle bags and Mountain Hardwear jackets, technical tees and hats. Dave from Mountain Hardwear spent the whole weekend helping out and Brand Manager, Shane Woonton was also there for the weekend to watch the race unfold. Mountain Hardwear make the best quality outdoor gear available for real users and we thought the tough Edge of Reality event made the perfect synergy with the brand. Thanks also to Kiehl's since 1851 who sponsored the ropes challenge and provided everyone with some much needed skin care products , Sea to Summit providing Nalgene and Black Diamond prizes, Hammer Nutrition providing hydration and nutrition , Euro who provided an extensive range of sunglasses and Land Rover who provided two new Defenders as the perfect search and rescue vehicles.
The area of the course was vast and remote. Radio communication towers were set up by WICEN and through them we were able to cover the whole course for safety and to allow the results to get back to base for updating the live website. Thanks to Neil Fallshaw who managed all this. Neil and his wife Robyn also run the Beachcombers Holiday Park which was the beautiful Event HQ. Thanks also to the Tuross Rescue Squad who provided the water safety as well as to the Moruya SES, RFS, ambulance and hospital for their support of the event.
| Many thousands of thanks to our wonderful group of volunteers. We ended up with a super experienced bunch of people that made the coasteering section possible, lugged kayaks, team transition boxes and water around the course and provided friendly faces and much support to the teams at transitions. What a pleasure it was for us to run the event with such a competent and friendly team at our side. |
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They were so awesome and they were Diane, Nevenka, both Daves, Michael, Emily, Brad, Todd, Kirsty, Phil, Leigh, Eddie, Ally, Celia, Tony, Grant, Shannon, Keith, Damon, Fleur, Ben, Mace, Beta, Shane , Kaz, Bluey, Doctor Anna, Bob, Drude, Nan, Ian and Biddy.
Thanks also to Chris Milne from the Edge for providing the Kiehl's rope challenge and Mark Watson who is one of the best adventure photographers in the world.
No matter how many people are involved, you can't run an event without the support of the land holders. Thanks goes to the fantastic National Parks crew and NSW State Forests team for their trust and support of the event, the Eurobodalla Council, and the many private land owners – particularly Peter at Tyrone (TA6 and TA8) and Anna and Noel at Gannon's Point (TA11), Greg and Annabelle at Greenway, Jonathon at Riverview, the Robards, the Harris's, Peter and Mary at Red Bank, Jon and Val at Tally Ho Flat, John at Waterhole Flat and the Sharon at the Narooma Pony Club.
The 2008 Mountain Hardwear Edge of Reality was brought to you by AROC Sport and the following sponsors:
Mountain Hardwear - www.mountainhardwear.com
Kiehl's since 1851 - www.kiehls.com
Montrail - www.montrail.com
Black Diamond - www.seatosummit.com.au
Nalgene - www.seatosummit.com.au
Euro Optics - www.eurooptics.com.au
Hammer Nuttrition - www.hammernutrition.com.au
