KATHMANDU 24 HOUR CENTRAL COAST - 22/23 SEP 07

TALES FROM THE TA

For the last three years I have gained immense enjoyment from adventure racing as a competitor so this time I went out on a limb and decided to volunteer for my first 24 hour event as an official. My wife has been doing it for a while now and she always has a great time at the events helping out. Instead of covering the event on a blow by blow description of the legs of the race, I thought that I would just cover those little things that happen to many of the competitors and officials at the event.

Firstly I am always amazed by the courses that Max, Aroc and Geocentric can dream up, variety is the spice of life! This event saw 46 two person teams and 13 Solo competitors do all their preparation at the finish area at Budgewoi and then have to drop their bikes off miles away. Then, early in the morning get a bus to the start line on the Hawkesbury River. The bike drop closed at 10pm but there was still one team waking the startled official at 2.00am to drop off their bikes. They then had to get back to Budgewoi and be ready for the bus trip at 7.00am; I hope they had their maps and boxes squared away!

It was an overcast, dull, cool and miserable day that greeted the competitors. This was the first adventure race for some competitors and they were in at the deep end. At 8.30am they were off on the first paddle leg of around 14k for the doubles and 20k for the solos, with three checkpoints to pick up on the way. Unfortunately the tide was out when they arrived and the majority of the boats and at least one team member from the doubles were covered in mud as they struggled to get the controls. One solo competitor rolled out in the chop, and was struggling to get back on his ski when the competitor trailing gave him a hand to get back on. It was a long cold paddle for him. My admiration to the solo competitor paddling a plastic white water kayak against the tide for 14k. Matt Bacon and Paul Barry followed the fleet in a double kayak keeping an eye on things as well as the coastal patrol boat that helped out on the water leg. The field was well and truly spread out when they arrived at the first TA.

TA 1, The Max boat trailer consumed a large part of the TA area but the solo support crews managed to get their gear in and all the boxes were ready as the teams arrived. There was plenty of time for a chat as it was around a two hour wait for the first competitors to arrive. The exit point for the kayaks soon became a bog hole with the low tide and the steep bank to the TA area. There was no pushing or shoving as the teams waited their turn to exit. It became difficult as mud was stirred up, cold/wet competitors with legs that kept giving away after the long paddle, boots being sucked under in the mud. They then had to load the kayaks onto the trailer, dive into tubs for food and dry gear, scrape the mud off the feet and legs and then commence the trek leg. Some were quick to leave the TA but quite a few competitors took their time and just took it all in their stride. The TA was quickly packed up by all the volunteers; kayaks and tubs loaded then the procession were off to the next TA. In the meantime the competitors were having a great trek along the Great North Walk. Some ran when they could and others walked. Apparently everyone enjoyed it including the climb out of Mooney Mooney Creek.

TA2, The competitors picked up their bikes at this TA to set off on a 40k odd MTB ride with some trails, roads and single track including a few hike a bike sections. The feedback varied on this leg but there were some pretty good downhill sections to keep the competitors on their toes. I did not get to this TA so I did not get too many stories from the competitors as they came in. Hugh Stodart who was the first in off the bike, said, it was awesome including his dismount on one of the down hills!

TA3, The TA was manned by CREST volunteers on the radio and Army reserve personnel looking after the medical side of things. The control was manned in two shifts as Gary knew that it would be a long night. When competitors arrived at the TA they were given new checkpoint descriptions for a rogaine in some very thick and testing country. Inside information was that the course was set and taped a few weeks prior to XPD as a training exercise and the controls were put out a week before the event. The time to do the rogaine would be 4 to 8 hours, especially at night. Let the fun begin!
As this was the hub of activity until the early hours of Sunday morning there were plenty of tales to come out of the rogaine. Some of these tales were relayed to me, others I saw first hand, but I think all adventure racers have had the same issues or disasters happen to them so if you get a mention don’t be offended as we have all been there!.! The first solo competitor arrived at around 1.30pm and the last team to arrive was at around 9.00pm, it is amazing how the field spreads out over the course of the event.
Peter Cox a solo competitor had lost his head torch out of his pack at the start of the rogaine, ironically Team Arkarna had picked up his head torch and a few hours later they found Peter trying to find his way out in the dark. Peter withdrew at the rogaine but he gave his bike to one of the members of Arkarna as he had stripped the peddle off his crank.
Matt Acheson lost his deralieur about 17k out from the rogaine TA, made it into a single speed of sorts and limped into the TA. With the help of a couple of support crew from different teams his bike was ready for him with a new deralieur and cable after he finished the rogaine. It worked out well for Matt as he also teamed up with Team Dn’F for the rogaine.
The Angry Dragons were the last mixed team off the rogaine after battling for over 8 hours to get all the checkpoints. They were going to pull out but after warming up by the campfire and some persuasion from the officials they continued on, very impressive they also jumped up to 6th place in the mixed class as many of the teams took penalties out of the rogaine.
One of the all female teams must have had some of their maps marked incorrectly as they missed the rogaine leg altogether and went straight to the final kayak TA.
One all male Team came into the TA just before midnight and proceeded to check into the TA, this caused a little confusion with the officials until they worked out that they had just returned from the second bike leg after the rogaine and thought that they had to return to the TA instead of heading off to the kayak. It was all uphill to get back to the TA and just as they were about to head off again they found they had a flat tyre, the AR god’s were smiling!
Teams 38 and 39 became 391/2 when one member of each team pulled out with ankle injuries, the medical team was kept busy with strapping ankles and wrists.
Two male teams had not done any navigation in the bush before, Todd Stafford gave them an impromptu nav lesson and they headed off into the unknown just on dark. They returned around two hours later and said that they could not find any of the tracks to the CPs, the lantana was just a little too thick. A couple of teams decided they were not up to the rogaine at night, it was a good call as it was a very testing leg even for accomplished racers.
The camp fire proved a popular place with the last team leaving well after 12.00am for the journey to the kayaks. Thanks to all the volunteers at the TA for keeping an eye on everyone! But they had a good time later that night sitting around the fire and listening to all the stories coming out of the rogaine leg.

TA 4. The bike ride to TA 4 was also a rogaine around the single tracks out of Ourimbah. This turned out to be another difficult section for the teams as it took between 2 to 5 hours to travel the 15 k to the kayak TA.
The TA volunteers had a long stay as the first through was around 5.30pm on Saturday with the last team at 1.40am on Sunday. The TA was located on the Wyong river just behind the shopping centre at Wyong. As it got later into the evening or morning the competitors were greeted by a cold breeze to start their kayak leg. A couple of teams pulled out at the TA but the majority pushed on with the breeze and tide helping some and slowing others down depending on timing onto the water. The kayak leg took the competitors from around two to four hours to complete.
Gary with the help of the TA officials loaded all the bikes and boxes into the trailer after the last team had left then transported the gear back to the finish. Thanks to the volunteers at the TA for the long hours spent at the TA and looking after the competitors gear.

TA 5. The TA was located at the back of Toukley shops with CREST once again set up to keep the communications open. The TA was in operation for over 12hours so the volunteers worked in shifts to keep things moving. The weather and breeze varied throughout the night depending on the cloud cover but all the competitors arrived at the TA thankful that their cold paddle was over. Most teams took over two hours to complete the paddle, there were a few longer excursions around the lakes as some of the competitors were disoriented during the night. A strobe light was set up at the TA to help guide the teams to the boat ramp. It took some teams a while to exit their kayaks as they were a little cold wet and tired from the paddle with the last solo arriving just on 6.00am. Henry, Toni, Todd and I then loaded up all the kayaks and boxes for the short trip to the Finish line.

FINISH From the kayak the competitors had a 10k run through Toukley then along the beach to Budgewoi, most teams took under two hours for the run with the last competitor arriving just after 7.00am. Some had a reasonable sleep after finishing but there were a few vacant faces lining up for breakfast. By 8.00am all the TAs and gear were back at the finish line for the teams to start collecting their bits and pieces. Gary, Henry and Toni from Max Adventure were up most of the night checking on things, moving gear or manning TAs.
Congratulations to the winners :
Male Solo Hugh Stodart 12 hrs 40 min
Male Pair Gonzo 16hrs 31min
Female Pair Control Freaks 16hrs 56min
Mixed Pair Canberra Cockatoos 17hrs 06min

Thanks to Gary and his trusty band of helpers for a great weekend, the volunteers were well looked after, everything worked smoothly behind the scenes and the competitors finished in fine spirits on what was a demanding course with ordinary weather thrown in. Thanks to all the solo competitors support crews for the time they put in and the long and sometimes anxious waiting they went through.
Roll on Max 24 hr 2008!