It was a close race for the top two teams in what was the biggest adventure race to date with almost 600 participants in the Paddy Pallin Adventure Race at Avoca on the NSW Central Coast. Team Crank – Matt De Belin, Alison Curtin and Matt Shields fought it out for most of the event with AROC regulars Matt Koerber, Mark McDonald and Selina Stoute racing together as TerraX ARNutters. It was not until the final 2 checkpoints on the bonus leg that Crank finally made the break and raced to a deserved win in just over 3.5 hours. TerraX ARNutters ended up over 5 minutes back as Mark McDonald succumbed to cramps and struggled to keep up with the lightening speed these teams had maintained throughout the whole event – even on the 180m climb up to Kincumber Mountain.
The new era of adventure racing has dawned. It was a whole new suite of names and teams that took out the rest of the placings. Jaap Bakker's Wednesday night orienteering practice paid off and the tall Dutchman took his team Dirty Torquers (Jaap, Peter Wilson, Sarina Tomchin) to a third overall. Meanwhile, local team Barnseys's Smuggling Wombats (Mark Tucker, Benjy Morris, Dean) took full advantage of their local knowledge and familiarity of the bike trails and hill climbs to win the all male category and 4 th overall. After questioning about the team name, Tucker laughed that it referred to their mate who had got them on the adventure racing train - it was a jibe at his growing butt size if he didn't get training! Mike Sumner, a veteran of adventure racing took the Sydney Northern beaches team First Step to Ventoux (Sumner, Sam Bogaert, Duncan Markham) to second in the male category. They were followed by Gonzo – Paul Carruthers, Andrew McKenzie, David Longman.
There were 40 teams that made the cut-off for the bonus checkpoints that took teams coasteering around the rocks at South Avoca. Unfortunately the big swell and rough seas meant that the most exciting part was altered – perhaps saved for another time. The rest of the field still managed to get a small taste of it with a final checkpoint out on the rock platform. Puzzle Partners (Melissa Backhouse, Scully Waldron, Megan Divett) just missed out on the bonus checkpoints but still managed to cross the line first in the all female category. Sue Thompson's Gu Gu Girls (Thompson, Catherine Mackay, Carmea Steyne) have got the AR bug and are entering every event around. They are improving every time and for this event stepped up to second place. Third in the females was Missing in Action made up of local Central Coast girls Cheryl Nas, Cathy Donnet and Cheryl Small.
The Novice Course paddled, rode and ran but avoided the big hill and with energy left could laugh at all the other teams. Team Fancy Pants (Steve Penny, Nigel Watts and Patrick Chidambaram) where the first in the male category, Where's the esky? (Matt and Kristy Davis and Andrew Myers) only found their esky at the end when they crossed the line first place in the mixed. Las Tres Chicas (Alice Prudoe, Kirrilee Russell and Felicty Brown) will be ready to step up to the Classic course after their first place in the female category.
There were some notable teams too – the team that did the whole event in plastic, non breathable convict get up, the guys in their brady bunch hairdos, Jefferson Taylor in his grass skirt, the Old Bulls (Dick Ogilvie, Paul Prudhoe and Terry Murphy) with a combined age of 175 years – great effort!
Thanks to Paddy Pallin and all the sponsors – Each person in the winning team for each of the categories in the Classic Course walked away with over $400 in prizes ranging from Salomon XAPro shoes, Berghaus soft shell jackets and Rudy Project Glasses plus a voucher for an Icebreaker top and socks. There were also memberships and boot camp packages from Fitness First, one hour massages from Chirosports, bike gear from City Bike Depot, Wigwam socks, Paddy Pallin tech tees, Princeton Tec lights, Continental tyres and lots more. The Paddling Primates had few navigation errors and spent 1.5 hours lost – to help them out for their next adventure race they won a special training package with AddVenture Training.
A great start to the Christmas folly – keep up the training – it makes up for all the Christmas cheer and see you all for the next Paddy Pallin Adventure Race in Canberra on 23 February 2008.
