An unprecedented 738 people took part in the Season Finale of the Paddy Pallin Adventure Race Series on Saturday 18 April 2009 at Stockland’s Murrays Beach in Lake Macquarie. What a field, what a day, what a year it’s been! It had to end in true adventure race style and there’s nothing like rain and mud (though less than last year) to add that extra touch of excitement! The coasteering section had every team talking at the event hub after the race: who wouldn’t want to jump into water channels and swim fully clothed through rough swells! The last leg of single track mountain biking was also a favourite.
As always team work and camaraderie prevailed with teams helping injured competitors and team mates pushing each other to accomplish a feat to be proud of: finishing a first adventure race.
With three start waves of competitors 10 minutes apart there was some suspense at the finish before the winners of the Classic Course were announced and the bonanza of prizes started to be awarded. While mixed teams had been claiming the overall top spot in recent events it was an all-male team that came out on top this time, with team KRH (Hugh Stodart, Richard Mountstephens, David Simpfendorfer) finishing the course in 2:52.
They were followed by second male team myWorkspace.com (Chad Armstrong, Ryan Armstrong, Dean Degan) in 3:11. Mark McDonald, Heather Logie and Julien Wicks (Team Blackheart Ultrafit) were 3rd overall and first in the mixed category in a time of 3:15, with a good 17 minutes to spare before the second mixed team Outdoor Magazine Australia (Kim Philip, Sean King, Jeremy MacCue) showed up in 3:32. Teen Millie with outdoor legend Toby Cogley, along with his 16-year old nephew Josh Bell and Ian Stewart claimed 3rd place in the male in 3:19, while Just Trippin (Tsalina Phang, Luke Su, Rastislav Droppa) rounded up the mixed category podium with third place in 3:36. The first female team in were 0055 Slap Me (Rachel Merton, Kim Austen, Susan Login) completing the course in 4:29. They were followed by 3x the fun (Jeanette Dillon, Liza Whitfield, Dot Stockwell) in 4:36 and The Green Sprouts (Lynita Clark, Cami Ward, Melinda Rogan) in 4:54.
The Novice Course participants took on a much longer than usual course and seemed to have a blast. Winners overall in the Novice Course were mixed team Keen Genes (Sonia Brown, Nikki Brown, Toby Brown) in 2:31. 2nd overall and first male team was Boost (Nick Redpath, James Currah, Scott Poole) in 2:39. 3rd overall and 2nd mixed team was Leisure Gear (Leonard Davis, Anthony Torr, Ange Morrison) in 2:41. 2nd male team were Maggots (Ty Fallins, Mark Huff, Chad Griffith) in 2:46. Robyn Curtis, Narelle Van Dorssen, Simon Resch from team wecandoit proved that they could indeed do it in 2:58 which gave them 3rd place in the mixed category. All-female team Rusty Toys (Stacy Mail, Jaci Richards, Angie Physick) showed they weren’t so rusty after all when they beat the 3rd all-male team whynot (Steve Williams, Craig Murrell, Matthew Jones) by 10 seconds and won the female category in 3:06. Rio Darby (Amelia Souter, Danielle Colless, Casey Death) finished 2nd female team in 3:37 followed by 3rd female team 3 Musketettes (Sarah Evans, Julie Shaw, Libby Myles) in 3:43.
The organisers would like to thank all the participants in this season’s Paddy Pallin Adventure Race Series for their performance and their spirit at the events! We hope to see many familiar faces next season along with the newcomers who are discovering adventure racing and becoming hooked! A big thank you to our sponsors who provided wonderful prizes to winners and punters alike throughout the Series: Paddy Pallin of course, with Salomon and Sea to Summit, but also Fitness First, Icebreaker, World Expeditions, Rudy Project, UltraFIT Magazine, GU gels and hydration, Outdoor Australia Magazine, Red Bull, City Bike Depot, the friendliest bike store in Sydney, Chirosports and AddVenture Training. Thanks also to Warren and the guys at Stockland’s Murrays Beach for their assistance with the final event.
