Kodak Urban Max – Melbourne
By: Bridget Dixon (Team B1nB2)
Armed with hydration packs, energy bars and a dose of anxious caution, Brett and I lined up at the start line for the urban max. The objective was to make your way to a series of checkpoints that were located within 10km of the city. You could use public transport, and of course your own feet, to get you around as quickly as possible. It was up to you to choose the best route possible, and ensure that you made it to some of the checkpoints within certain time constraints.
It was a weird feeling at the start as you were not given anything but a map. There were no checkpoints marked on the map and it soon became apparent that we were not to get the race instructions until we had reached the first checkpoint location. After the starter hooter sounded, Gary from Maximum, screamed “Federation Square” and we all tore off like a pack of madmen, wanting that all important head start on solving the clues and working out where the locations of the checkpoints were to be.
The clue sheet contained riddles that had to be solved in order for you to identify where the checkpoints were. With the help of a mobile phone and our friend Brendon, who was sitting on the internet (and not very happy about being woken by two hypo adventure racers screaming cryptic clues at him early on Saturday morning), we managed to identify and mark the location of all but one of the checkpoints. One checkpoint had no clues - very helpful! There was an optional ‘time saver’ checkpoint, with a mystery activity. If you completed this, it would mean that you did not have to visit one of the other checkpoints. At race start, Gary had warned that it was one that “some people may not want to do it”. Being very cautious, I decided that we should only go there as a last resort and Brett finally agreed (luckily for him).
We set off to the Melbourne Aquatic centre on tram and then by foot. Here, we had to shoot 3 goals on the Basketball court from outside the 3 point line, being an ex-netballer, I had this one completed and we were out of there in 5 shots. It was on to the golf driving range where we had to sink a 5 metre putt. We waited in line and were luckily enough to have Brett sink it first putt (I didn’t even get a go!). Feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, we headed down to Docklands on the light rail to find a checkpoint at the Pirate ship and then it was back to Southern Cross Station on the train. Bad timing gave us no option other than to get the express train to Clifton Hill and run back to Abbotsford. Here Brett did some horizontal rock traversing at ‘The Lactic Factory’.
We intending on getting a train back to Southern Cross and out to the Zoo but found ourselves marooned at Flinders Street Station. At this point, we abandoned the train and ran to Southern Cross only to find that our train just left and there would be a 20 minute wait for the next. A quick change of plans saw us heading into the city to collect the checkpoints that were hidden there. We were still unsure of the requirements of the ‘time saver’ checkpoint and decided to get our trusty internet ‘clue breaker’ on the job. Brendon discovered a Barber shop at the checkpoint location and gave us the phone number. We called to find that one of the team had to have a No.1 all over. By now we had done the checkpoint at the most difficult location, and Brett was not keen on the buzz cut, so we skipped this and headed up the Rialto tower.
At the next checkpoint, we were given the clue for the mystery checkpoint but unfortunately it was written in Chinese. A sprint down to China town and a chat with the locals pointed us to the Chinese Museum and then on to the Gaol. From there we headed to Boost Juice in Elizabeth St to buy and try an ‘Urban Maximiser’. After a couple of tastes we identified Watermelon, Orange, and Mint to complete this test. The next task proved a little more challenging as we headed to the Queen Victoria Market. Looking for “Off ya tree Bongs” amongst the 100’s of stalls took some time and we got some pretty weird looks as we ran around the market yelling “does anyone know where ‘off ya tree bongs’ are”? Finally we found it with some help from one of the local stall holders and we were back on the tram heading to the zoo. Missing our stop, we had a decent run back to collect the final two checkpoints. Back on the train we got off at Flinders Street and sprinted to the finish to find ourselves 4th overall and 3rd in the mixed category. Waiting another two hours for the 60 teams to come in, gave us a chance to chat to the racers. There was a lot of experience amongst the group, with John Jacoby’s team winning outright and B1 & B2 (that’s us) having the honours of being the first (and one of the only) teams to collect all checkpoints without resorting to the ‘time saver buzz cut’. It was great entertainment watching the teams arrive and all the guys removing their hats to collect points for the haircut and, especially funny to see an ‘all girls’ team arrive and collect those points too. One girl had bravely taken the seat and had the #1.
The spirit of the race was fantastic with everyone frantically waving whenever they saw another team out on the course. One thing that was particularly entertaining was the public. Everyone saw us racing around with maps, pens, bibs and hydration packs looking madly for hidden clues and presumed we were part of the ‘Amazing Race’. Some were keen to help, others worried that we were cheating, and even a bunch of drunken guys gave us considerable grief for being on the tram, which they felt was ‘against the rules’. After a while, we took to just smiling when the public were saying “look they are in the Melbourne leg of the Amazing Race”.
To finish in a good time, we spent a lot of time running (quickly) and I was certainly feeling very fatigued by the end of the race. It was demanding on your body as one minute you would be sitting on a train and the next you would be sprinting to some location. It was very stop-start and quite different to the type of exercise we usually do. However, this event was heaps of fun and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Plenty of teams were in it for the entertainment and fun, some even taking the opportunity for a lunch stop at a local café. The ‘maximum’ events are extremely well organised and certainly provide a diversion from the discipline of triathlon. For more information visit www.maxadventure.com.au.