Team LJP Report

AROC Adventure Sprint Race 5

By Phil Walker

Well, it’s officially over and we managed to compete in, and finish, every race in the first AROC Adventure Sprint Race series in Canberra. It’s a good time to look back at the series from the perspective of our team, Team LJP, and consider what we discovered about adventure racing and ourselves.

Fuelled by the lure of emulating those famous adventure racers on TV in Eco Challenges, and by our love of the outdoors, fitness and navigation challenges, Leigh, Jason and I took a gamble and entered ourselves in the first AROC race, back in November 2003. We didn’t have a clue what to expect but the people from AROC on the end of the phone, fax and emails, sounded so friendly and enthusiastic that we had a good vibe about the race, even before we got to the starting line. Five months and five races on, we have made new friends, experienced and overcome new challenges and are embarking upon a new sporting direction.

The five races in this series took us to the bushland corners of Canberra and, on occasions through the very heart of the Capital. At one minute we might find ourselves crashing through seemingly impenetrable bush and the next briskly walking (not running!) on marble floors past portraits of prime ministers, trying not to drip too much! We used paddles and pedals, maps, compasses, marker pens and pencils, checkcards, running shoes, hearts and lungs, and occasionally our brains. Our bodies floated, sunk, crashed, stumbled, glided, splashed, craved, occasionally broke and sweated. It was so good!

Each team faced their own personal challenges and ours was no different. I initially wondered what it would be like to finish a race without a major drama along the way. It took until races 4 and 5 to experience that feeling. Along the way, we contended with, and overcame a destroyed mountain-bike tyre, storms, hail and driving winds, several sinking canoes, a broken paddle, two broken bike chains, a broken ankle, twisted ankles, a wrenched knee, and muscle cramps. Good team work and perseverance, and the odd can of Red Bull ensured that nothing would keep us from finishing each race. A cold can of Red Bull on a broken ankle really does work.

The races offered an enormous variety of challenges, strategies and interesting checkpoints. Usually between 30 to 40 in number per race, checkpoints were found in tunnels and drains, in trees, in fountains, under bridges, under jetties (that was a nasty one), in Parliament House, on islands, in creek beds, on dams, on fences and hanging across the middle of creeks. I am sure I missed a few! Navigation,strategy and cunning plans were always a part of the race, as was running decoys from following teams, playing dumb after finding a CP, and sometimes helping out when other teams were hopelessly lost (or was it we that were lost?) Laughter and friendship with other teams was mandatory. Novelties included riding a waterslide (with Alina’s dog), navigating through Parliament House and running through the lake, just to name a few.

For our team, we initially gained great satisfaction in finishing our races, although initially on destroyed tyres, then on a broken ankle, and then with two broken bike chains. Finishing is its own reward and to get through these challenges and complete the course was fantastic. In races 4 and 5, we were able to push ourselves harder and achieve better results in a field of teams that had grown from initially thirteen to nearly fifty! In our last race, we placed in the top half of the field for the first time and bettered our best time by over half an hour; our slowest race lasted over five hours and our fastest less than three and a half. Perhaps our greatest achievement was for the team to have competed in, and completed, all five races. Only a few teams achieved this goal and, by doing so, this elevated Team LJP to third overall in the male team category. Consistency does pay off!

Team LJP was ably supported by Cheryl and Rob who also volunteered to help the AROC staff in supporting the races. Their support and kindness helped get us through the tough sections of the race.

The races came into being and thrived solely due to the amazing talents of Tom and Alina. Apart from being legends in adventure racing themselves, Tom and Alina have an eye for setting good courses, with a mixture of tough and novel sections, testing both the brain and brawn (I failed the former on several occasions). The fantastic courses, complimented by great administration and support activities made these races a thoroughly enjoyable and exhausting experience. The great sponsors of AROC should be congratulated on getting on board with a great race series. And what a website!

We will be coming back to race the second AROC series later this year. Time will be allowed for bones to heal and tendons to recover, before we start to prepare again. This time we will know a little of what’s in store and will relish the chance to race in AROC again. Team LJP may grow to two teams, or three, given the interest that we can create. I hope so as I want to share this fun with friends and enjoy the challenges that we can set ourselves in finishing this kind of race. And that, for us at least, is the basis for adventure racing – fun and personal challenges.

I hope to see you there – look for the three tall guys, laughing and suffering simultaneously!

Phil Walker
Captain, Team LJP