Each November the Southern Lakes Multisport Club organises a 24hr Adventure race. It has a great reputation and attracts adventure junkies from around the lower south island. It’s always fun to race local and of course to support the local club scene. And….luckily for those of us (i.e. Me!) who enjoy sleeping at night time there is a 12hr option. I got in touch with fellow T7 team-mate Hamish Fleming to see if he could tolerate my company for 12 hours…!
Fi: Hamo you interested in the 12hr
Brr-ring Brr-ring…Hamish: Yep sweet as
Fi: You can navigate right?
Hamish: It’s been a while but I’m sure it’ll come flooding back
Fi: Let’s lock it in (internal voice…I wonder if he knows how little adventure racing I’ve done..!!)
And so Team Torpedo 7 was ready to go!
Our not so detailed planning involved me taking care of the online entry, Hamish buying the maps and then catching up on the finer details whilst paddling the Clutha the evening before!
Fi: I don’t have a pump do you?
Hamish: Yep, but I don’t have any C02 canisters…
Fi: No worries, I’ve got a spare….oh but no valve?
Hamish: I’ve got a valve…
….excellent we seem to be equally unorganized but conveniently in opposite ways!
As race morning dawned the course and maps were revealed, leaving us 1hr before race start to plot and plan our route! So we huddled over a table and plotted our coordinates….ok this might be a lie….Hamish worked his magic and I learned what plotting coordinates actually is!!
By 7.30 we were away with a short rogaine to start the day. This went smoothly and before long we were back at base picking up our bikes, putting on an extra layer and stuffing some extra food items into our bags. About 30mins into the ride it was time to locate Checkpoint number one….this is where the fun began (note: read ‘fun’ as ‘frustration’!). After 50mins of rambling around in circles looking for ‘Manuka 1’ amongst 100 non de-script Manuka trees (!!), we gave up the ghost and carried on without it.
Before long we were at the base of an intimidating looking climb up to Grandview. Although the climb looked like hard work, it was exciting to know we were gaining some good elevation and getting stuck into the hills on the upcoming trek stage. I don’t think I found the climb as challenging as other people….but maybe not everyone had a teammate called Hamish to tow them up a good chunk of it!! (cheers buddy).
At transition 2 we gave the bikes a little break and slipped on our running shoes. The initial climb out of transition was a slow & steady affair but once it was done we were right up on the tops. Unfortunately, the low-lying clouds blocked any chance of a ‘Grand View’. Oh well, the terrain was fun and Hamish’s nav was spot on. After plenty of sidling between checkpoints and through tussock, we finally got some clearing in the cloud and were treated to views of both lake Wanaka and lake Hawea. With all the checkpoints bagged we enjoyed the views as we negotiated the steep downhill back to our bikes.
The next stage saw us meander back to race base at Albertown via Hawea, picking up a few more checkpoints en route. By now we had it sussed that every checkpoint was very well hidden, so employed a tactic of looking in every nook and cranny in order to spot the checkpoint!
Hooning along some flowing single track at Sticky Forest was a good distraction for tiring legs. We dropped the bikes at the outlet and had a short paddle across to Dean’s bank where we started another rogaine and the last leg of the day. The desire to get to the finish line was starting to build as we ticked off the final few checkpoints. Then we were struck with our 2nd elusive checkpoint of the day! After 45mins of making friends (did I say friends?!) with matagouri & dead willows and a few choice words later…we made the decision to call it a day and accept defeat in the face of checkpoint number 12! Later it was reassuring to hear everyone else faced the same defeat!
Back across the inlet and onto our bikes, the finish line was a quick pelt up the road back to race base and the finishing area. Adventure racers…being….well adventurer racers we biked back to the finish with buoyancy aids and paddles on board our bikes. Hamish was rocking a very alternative looking aero position with both our paddles wedged into the side of his backpack, looking like some form of rocket launchers! Classic adventure racing style…displaying no style at all!
And so after 9.5hours…we were done, satisfied with the adventure and a solid day out in the legs! It sure made the finish line beer go down nicely and there was plenty of post-race banter to share with fellow competitors.
A huge thank you to Darren, the Southern Lakes Multisport Club and all the volunteers who worked hard to pull off a great event. Cheers to Torpedo7 for always supporting the adventures and of course to Hamish for ensuring we didn’t spend any undue time out in those hills and got home before dark!
