The 10th Torpedo7 Spring Challenge Women’s Adventure Race took place in a range of conditions on Saturday in Golden Bay, with over 1300 women competing. After a week of sunshine, the event day delivered some adverse weather with periods of heavy rain throughout the day, but it didn’t stop the teams in any way from making their way through the 3-courses that Race Director Nathan Fa’avae had created. The scenic and adventurous routes, with 450-teams winding and weaving their way down to the sandy Tukurua beach at the Golden Bay holiday park, made the event golden in every way possible.
In total, 1350 women took on the challenge which saw teams of three racing on one of three course options, a 3, 6 or 9-hour event each consisting of mountain biking, hiking, rafting and navigation. These were projected winning times so some teams took nearly double that of the winners to complete the challenge! The course was open for 20-hours with teams racing into the night, the last team finishing at 10:30pm. The different events translate to beginner, intermediate and advanced and there was also a short canoe stage in this years event which teams didn’t know about until the race briefing on Friday night.
Fa’avae said “I’m thrilled with the course this year, it was a real mix of environments, from the river to the sea, mountains to the beach. It offered variety and an ideal level of challenge, whilst being scenically stunning. The weather tested our logistics and the staff team worked solidly to deliver the event, but overall we’re really pleased”.
Based around the Aorere Valley, all teams began their events at Salisbury Falls with a raft down the Aorere River, through 2-majestic gorges. The 6 & 9-hour teams had a testing 14km raft stage to Devils Boots, near Rockville and from there the teams went different ways. The 3-hour teams rafting stage was shorter at 8km and they exited the rafts at James Road Bridge.
3-HOUR
Once out of wetsuits the teams mounted their bikes and venture across farmland tracks and MacKay Pass to reach Plain Road. Then it was a hiking/navigation stage to the finish line at the Golden Bay Holiday Park. Teams passed through Milnthorpe Reserve collecting a couple of checkpoints, then a short canoe stage over the Parapara channel to take the beach to the finish line. The first teams out of the rafting stage were local Golden Bay team Bay Fitness Beauties (Renee Riley, Jodi-Anne Peters, Kristien Dixon), who shared a raft with Motueka High School team, the Priceless, Princeless, Princesses (Jessie Fa’avae, Davis Sunbye, Kyla Rayward) who were racing in the School Division. It was the school team that transitioned fastest onto the mountain bike stage and then the dual began. Ultimately the Bay Fitness Beauties pulled away on the hiking stage to win by 8-minutes, leading the Motueka High School team, who finished second overall from 150-teams in the 3-Hour event, and winning the school category. Nelson school team, Two Vegans And Another Meathead (Maegan Watson, Lilli Wilkinson, Hannah Spencer) were second school team and third overall. The 3-Hour Veteran section was won by I Agreed To What? (Catherine Todd, Sam Watts, Jodi Kearney).
6-HOUR
From the rafting exit the teams embarked on a bike loop in the Aorere Goldfields, collecting 5-check points along the way. The stage ended at Plain Road where they switched to hiking gear where it was then maps and compasses in hand for a hiking/navigation stage. Teams spent a chunk of time in Milnthorpe Reserve collecting check-points, before the short canoe paddle over the channel, accessing the beach to the finish line. The fastest time for the race was Richmond based Veteran team Always An Adventure (Marjolein Edwards, Pam Morris, Jackie MacIntyre) in 5:14. In the Open category Christchurch team Em’s Power Cookies took the top spot in a time is 5:21 (Kate Cambie, Becky Clark, Amy Jane Milward) while in the 6-hour Junior division it was Nelson team Trapped In The Map (Jess Alloway, Charlotte Tucker, Hannah Martin) who comfortably won their grade in 6:01, nearly an hour ahead of the second place team. The Super Vets division was won by Christchurch team Crazy, Mad And Fast (Sheryl Fraser, Kate Anderson, Kate Rattray) who also had a fair amount of daylight between them and the next team.
9-HOUR
Refreshed after the rafting stage, teams had a quick mountain bike link back to the Aorere Valley. Then it was onto an advanced navigation challenge, traversing under the Wakamarama Range to reach the Naked Possum cafe. From there it was back on bikes to join the 6-Hour course, except there was a catch, the 9-Hour teams had a checkpoint at Druggans Dam which offered multiple route choices and options. Once off bikes it was through Milnthorpe, a quick canoe and run along Parapara Beach to the finish line. Starting at 6:00am the longer course teams had had a stunning morning as they gathered on a lush grassy paddock under a starry sky, but as the sunlight brightened the day, it also highlighted the ominous clouds that hours later would bring some heavy periods of rain. The veteran grade panned out as predicted with the experienced teams quickly establishing themselves at the front of the race where some dynamic racing took place. With only minutes separating the top teams for the first half of the race, it meant teams had to push hard the whole way and minimise mistakes.
In the end, the hard work and accurate navigating rewarded Queenstown team – Tussock (Emily Murray, Georgie Murray, Anna Coleman) who crossed the line in 10:02. Nelson team Cinderella & The Ugly Sisters (Lynley Coventry, Jane Orbell, Jane Martin) pushed them hard for a tough fought second place. Third was Canterbury team Super Charged (Stephanie Rumble, Jenni Blyleven, Suzanne McLister).
In the 9-hour open division, the domain of the elites, the three teams expected to feature raced intensely throughout the day to finish within 7-minutes of each other. The 9-hour has more demanding navigation and the specialist navigation team from Christchurch, El Equipo (Emily Kelly, Lara Prince, Georgia Whitla) entered with a strong chance of winning. Lara Prince from El Equipo commented “we got a gap on the first hiking stage but never enough to get out of sight. About midway through we reached a bush section and we managed to get clear and lead off the stage by about 5-minutes… the mountain bike ride in the Goldfields our route wasn’t the best and we lost time, but we regained it through the Milnthorpe hiking stage, but on the final run along the beach Torpedo7 passed us in the final kilometre”. Susie Wood of team Torpedo7 even said “Both El Equipo and Rebel Warriors raced super well, and El Equipo probably deserved to win! But we sneaked past in the final stretch”. Wood complimented the strength and patience of her team mates, as her navigation wasn’t as accurate as El Equipos. The Rebel Warriors raced strongly and contested the race all the way, eventually taking third.
With team Torpedo7 of Nelson taking the win, it made it number five for team captain, Susie Wood.
Event Director Jodie Fa’avae concludes “it was the best Spring Challenge we’ve run, after 10-years our systems are working better and we’re getting excellent feedback from the participants. Golden Bay was an excellent venue, despite the weather. The local support has been exceptional, farmers and residents have gone to great lengths to welcome and help the event, it’s been so amazing, we can’t thank them enough. It was a really fun weekend and a massive success on many levels”.
The 2017 event will be in Geraldine. www.springchallenge.co.nz
SPONSORS: Torpedo7, Merrell, Ems Power Cookies, McCashins, Bluebridge, Tineli, Buff, Camel-bak, Yealands Wine, Bowater Toyota, Pics Peanut Butter, Absolute Wilderness Freeze Dried Meals, Living Light Candles, Golden Bay Kayaks, Wildside Travel, Golden Bay Holiday Park.
Torpedo7 Spring Challenge Golden Bay (2017) results
