While I have so far stuck to Multisport races, with Spring Challenge scheduled to take place right next door in Wanaka it was going to be hard to resist. Not being organised enough to form a team before the extremly popular women’s only Adventure race sold out I was lucky to find two ladies short of a 3rd member. Unlucky for them they just scored a team member who only bought a compass two weeks ago!! Guess who wasn’t going to be on map reading duties then…?!

The evening before the race wasn’t all about carbo loading and gear checks, oh no, there were maps to collect and routes to plot & plan, eventually I got to bed a little bit weary with a mere 5 hours worth of sleep to be had! 

It might be the ‘Spring’ Challenge but 6am sure felt like I should have still been tucked up in bed! With over 1,200 women participating (awesome!!) even the 9hr wave start was looking busy. With participants lining up on the beach of Lake Hawea in clusters of 3, wetsuits adorned, you might think we looked like the female wave start of an Ironman race….don’t worry, the bike helmets, running shoes and stripy thermals (ok maybe I was the only one sporting a stripy thermal!) cleared that one right up. So eager for adventure Nathan had to use his teachers voice to make sure there wasn’t a mass start before the actual start! 

The real whistle blew and it was game on! Fast starts are always manic, add in trying to keep tabs on two other people and it really does become tricky. A few little hills helped spread the field out a bit and I took some relief in knowing my team mates were in sight. After a short and sharp warm up the river and masses of rafts were in sight….time to go paddling! We were lucky to hop in raft no.1 with the pros of everything adventure that made up the Torpedo7 team. We had a pleasant trip down the river, making sure we got in some chit chat and discussed the best options for post race dinner. A nice splash through the Hawea wave made me thankful I wasn’t in the front! Our guide only had to use stern words a couple of times to ensure there was more paddling than chat as a group of 4-5 rafts chased us down! 

Out of the raft and more running in wetsuits before transitioning onto our mountain bikes. And so began the epic bike ride….! We were eased into it pretty nicely with some single track and flowing river trails collecting a few checkpoints on route. After a couple of hours our luck ran out and it was time to hit the hills and begin the climb…..the climb that just kept on giving….oh well we had been warned! After another couple of hours (maybe more, maybe less I decided not to keep track of how long the climb took!) and many a push-a-bike section we arrived at the top of the Pisa Ranges.  Here at 1,400m our efforts were rewarded with amazing panaormic views including the snow capped peaks of Aspiring national park. After negotiating some snow on top it was a sweet downhill section into T2. 

Here the bikes were happily ditched for run shoes and it was exciting to set off on foot….until we realised the legs were a little bit grumbly after the long ride, funny that! It was enjoyable to get into the rogaine section with more detailed use of map reading skills and route choice. It was also a good excuse to trek instead of run…wouldn’t want to zoom too quickly and miss any checkpoints! My team mates did a sterling job of navigation to each checkpoint. After 2 and a bit hours through some scenic farmland with enough rock, gorse and creeks to keep life interesting it was time to hit transition again. 

Yeeha the final leg, a nice fast blat on the mountain bikes with some sweet single track thrown in and a handful of checkpoints to pick up. We were hungry for the finish line at this stage so rode in single file with the heads down and before long the sounds of the finish line could be heard. We crossed the line as 3^rd open Female team and more importantly achieved our goals – we were still friends and not too hangry!!

It was a fun & adventure filled weekend and a fantastic intro to adventure racing with a well run event and great atmosphere. Huge thanks to my team mates (I might still be wandering around Dean’s bank if it wasn’t for them!), race organisers and as always to Torpedo7 for the support!