TALES FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK........
Royal National Park, 24th June 2007

What a race......what a day......
We drove into the Royal National Park at around 7am to rack our bikes, just as it started to rain. Little did we know that this was going to be the theme for the day! We checked in and got ready then headed down to Reids Flat for the briefing. There were a number of courses on the day ( or maybe ways of doing the course), and our team, "Xterra Adventures", was on the yellow course.

Before we knew it we were off. A nice easy run to warm up, then a steep climb to the first CP. The view was great from the CP, but time was ticking and we couldn't afford to admire the view. Heads down and we were off again, running through light scrub, past a rusted lawnmower (how did that get there, and why was it there??). We pressed on and eventually made it to the first TA, where we boarded the row boats. How funny was this leg? There were people going left, right, straight and into each other. We saw lots of different methods like the Roman Slave method (two people rowing), or the Aero Method (one rower, the other crouched down low in front in an aerodynamic position), the English Gentleman method (gentleman rowing and his sweetheart draped over the rear seat), and a whole heap of other styles. We chose the Roman Slave style, cos I wasn't going to do all the work. And of course it started to rain on this leg, and basically, didn't stop.

We managed to survive the rowing, and headed up to the bike TA. We enjoyed the descent and the somewhat muddy ride out to the next TA. I couldn't help but enjoy this ride with some stunning chasms, and a magic river beside us the whole way. We made it out to the run TA, as the rain got heavier, and started the Forest Island run. The scenery just got better
as we went, the river, the bush, those palm trees....it made you forget the aching legs. Oh, and the rain got heavier still. I think I enjoyed this section of the race the most.

The ride back to the start/finish was probably the worst part of our day. The track was soo wet and muddy, that it was hard to watch where you were going, as the mud kept flying off the wheels into our mouths, eyes, ears and anywhere else it could find.

When we got back to TA, we heard comments from those that had finished before us that it must have been a bit muddier out there now.......you only had to look at the faces and bodies
of the riders coming in, they were covered in mud! We jumped onto our kayak for the final leg of our race. Apart from my team mate getting cramps every 200m, we finished the paddle OK, and crossed the finish line with big smiles on our faces. I can remember saying at the start, that we were lucky to be doing the kayaks last, as we could stay dry all race.........famous last words.

We might not be fast, but we sure do have a great time, and love competing in these races.

Gary and his team put on a great event, and I would like to thank him and his team for their efforts in making this race one to remember.

Glenn Hartley