Adventurethon Australia are Top Dogs and ARWS Oceania Champions

Top Dog 24 was the fitting name for the new adventure race from Wild&Co, staged in Canberra and the Capital Territory and hosting the 2023 Adventure Racing World Series Oceania Championship.

Fifty-two teams arrived at the Pavilion at the Stromlo Forest Park, home to some of Australia’s best mountain bike trails, which the racers would enjoy as part of the weekend’s racing.  There were full and half-course (Little Dog) options to suit different levels of experience, and additional ‘championship checkpoints’ for those wanting to race for the ARWS Oceania title.

After a tough race it was Team Adventurethon Australia who were the first ever AR Top Dogs and claimed the Oceania title, along with a free entry to 2024 Adventure Racing World Championships in Ecuador! 

On a weekend of cool and overcast conditions teams raced a course including gravel road and mountain bike trails, river and lake paddling, trekking and navigation. There was a cave checkpoint and an archery challenge and teams had to stay together from start to finish.

The Tog Dog 24 teams covered 120km (150km with the Championship Checkpoints) and their course took them west towards the NSW border.  From the opening trek there were big views of the Murrumbidgee River valley and a 12km kayak along the river was stage two of the race.

Race Director Chris Dixon said, “I was worried there would be a lot of carrying due to low water, but recent rains made it an enjoyable paddle.  There were some exciting rapids and in places racers had to finda way through the rocky riverbed, at one point doing a ‘kayak limbo’ under a fallen tree trunk.”

The biggest stage of the race followed with a 40km ride over the Blue Range and the first championship checkpoint was just over the state border.  This required an uphill hike-a-bike to collect and 10 teams opted to go for the longer championship course, the rest taking a shorter and easier route to the next checkpoint.

The ride took teams back to the Murrumbidgee via a foot rogaine at Cotter’s River, then past the start area at Stromlo into Canberra, where the Top Dog teams join the shorter ‘Little Dog’ route.

This included another rogaine in the National Arboretum and for the Top Dog teams a spectacular night paddle past the illuminated capital buildings on Lake Burley Griffin.  (The Little Dog teams mostly completed this in daylight.)

Those on the championship course had further to go, paddling under Commonwealth Avenue Bridge to find a checkpoint on the shore of King’s Park.  Both courses then finished with a final ride on the Stromlo trails in the quiet hours of Sunday morning to reach the finish line.

The first finishers were the ‘Little Dog’ teams, and there was a close race with the lead changing on the final stages. 

First to finish (overall and male winners) were Last Minute Buzzer Beaters (Derrick Cant/Adrian Harper) in 06 hours 49 minutes 29 seconds. The pair were racing together for the first time and only met up at the race start!  On the finish line Adrian said, “We lost about 15 minutes looking for CP X and had to race hard to make up the difference on the way back for the win.”

Finishing just over 2 minutes later for second overall and as first premier mixed team were Lambeth Racing (Kieran Macdonell & Clare Lonergan). They aimed to finish before dark, and were very happy to do that!

Third, only 6 minutes later, were Tiger Adventure Racing Maniacs (Monika Lee & Andrew Slattery). Monika has been one of the most prolific racers this year, competing in Terra Nova, Rogue Raid, Explore Gippsland, Hells Bells, Wildside Adventure and now Top Dog 24!

The fastest team on the Top Dog course were ‘Faff Attack’ (Minh-Tam Nguyen and Mark Van Der Ploeg), finishing in 15 hours 55 minutes 05 seconds.  Team Resultz Racing (Robert Joford and Michael Reed) were quicker, but portaged their kayak on the Lake Burley Griffin stage, which was against the rules.  A one hour penalty pushed them into second place.

A total of 22 teams finished the Top Dog course in male, female and mixed categories, and in the whole race only 3 teams retired, with all the others crossing the finish line.

The Oceania Championship race wasn’t such a close contest as Adventurethon Australia dominated and lead from start to finish.  They crossed the line in 16 hours 39 minutes 18 seconds to take the title and win the big prize of a place the Ecuador World Championships.

The team of Mitch Nissen, Brock Hawke, Narelle Crozier and David Jennings are a very experienced quartet, with many different endurance and multisport events behind them, including GODZone and One Water Race. On the finish line they said, “Great course, it was awesome.  We liked the rogaines as they were runnable but the hike a bike was long and hard.  But then it wouldn’t be an adventure race without a hike-a-bike!”

In the male category the pair of Stephen Machale and Tommy Doman racing as ‘That’s a Paddlin’ were quickest, despite also getting a one hour penalty for portaging, and in the women’s Championship category the Mountain Designs Wild Women finished in 20.03.01 to record another full course finish.

Speaking after the race Kim Beckinsale thanked the Wild&Co team for getting the new event off the ground.  “This enabled us all the opportunity to out on a fantastic adventure around Canberra,” she said.  “Wild Women had a wild and wonderful time on the course, especially the white water paddle down the Murrumbidgee River and riding the Stromlo trails.”

Wild&Co will bring the race back to Canberra next year. “I’m excited about the possibilities for racing in the ACT,” said Dixon.  “There are so many possibilities for future Top Dog races and we’ll be back bigger and better in 2024!”   

Team Chipesti Win the First Oceania Adventure Racing Title at Gold Coast

The first ever Oceania Adventure Racing Championship was held at Gold Coast and in the city’s hinterland hills and parks, and it delivered an innovative and tough course, world class racing, and a weekend to remember!

The weather was the wild card, as it has been at so many adventure races this year. With heavy rain and storms predicted through the weekend some sports events were called off, but adventure racers are tough, adaptable and equip themselves for the conditions, so the race went ahead.

The winners of several past series races were in the line up, racing for the title, a place at the Adventure Racing World Championship in South Africa, and a prize pool of $10,000. They would paddle, trek and mountain bike non-stop over a 178km course, which would stay open for 36 hours. There was also a shorter course of 143km which would be open for 24 hours, and both courses started near the Aquatic Centre, which served as a comfortable race HQ.

Among the favourites on the Championship course were Alpine Avengers, 3 Points of Contact, Thunderbolt AR and Team Rogue. These teams included some of the most experienced and successful Australian adventure racers of the past decade, with lots of international and expedition race experience between them. Joining the favourites were Team Chipesti from North Queensland, who have had strong races in the past couple of years and shown their potential, without yet notching up a win.

The start for the 36 hour teams was at midnight, so getting any rest before the race was challenging, especially with the excitement and uncertainty about what lay ahead. Teams set off in kayaks towards the Nerang River, making their way through the city nightscape in a very unique start.

Luke Smyth from Chipesti said, “Paddling through the skyscrapers of the city and the million dollar houses on the canals was very

different to the paddling we do back home, or in any other adventure race, and was one of my favourite stages. We had a strong paddle and made a break from the pack (or so we thought).

“We cruised into the first transition and to our surprise Alpine Avengers were already there assembling their bikes! They made a strategic move to portage their boats along the city roads on a trolley for a big section of the paddle which paid off. The race was on!”

It was, and these two teams would dispute the lead for the entire race, on a course which offered navigation challenges and tactical choices, as well as demanding endurance and strong team work.

Teams were only given the checkpoints for the next stage at each transition, and Race Director Chris Dixon set teams a puzzle by giving them the choice to collect the first paddle checkpoints on leg one at the start, or on leg 9 when they paddled back the same way to the finish. It was the same format for legs 2 and 8, mountain biking on the trails of the Nerang National Park.

All of the top teams made the same choice on the paddle checkpoints, but as they rode into the night on stage two, teams took many different options. Team 3 Points of Contact opted to collect all of the checkpoints, leaving none for stage 8, while the other lead teams left some for later. It was a bold move, which left 3 Points of contact behind the other lead teams, but with more checkpoints in hand, and would only play out towards the end of the race.

Legs 2 and 3 (trekking in the Nerang Conservation area), also allowed teams to collect the checkpoints in any order they chose, and it was the same on a paddle from Hinze Dam around the south western arm of Advancetown Lake, and on a later hill trek in Numinbah. There would be no rest for the navigators and most teams would have to make smart choices based on their speed and endurance, deciding how much of the course they could tackle in the deteriorating conditions.

For the leaders, it was simpler; they would do the whole course as fast as possible!

Alpine Avengers and Chipesti swapped the lead, twice taking completely different routes on free navigation stages, but these choices didn’t separate them by much. Thunderbolt AR stayed in a consistent third, just behind the leaders, while 3 Points of Contact gradually slipped further back, and in the end didn’t stay close enough to the leaders for their early tactical choice to get them on the podium.

Smythe picks up the story for Chipesti. “It was a game of cat and mouse, constantly swapping positions with Alpine Avengers. We had lost some time looking for two checkpoints on Leg 7 (18km trek) so we knew we had some work to do going into Transition 4.

“Leaving the transition we started a 60km MTB leg with over 2000m of climbing! We pushed hard to catch the Avengers and make the most of the remaining hours of daylight. The last 10kms of the bike leg went through the Nerang MTB Park, with multiple checkpoints. We knew the race could be lost in the bike park, being so close to the finish and as it was the last challenging navigation in the race. With some extra serves of caffeine we worked our way through picking up the checkpoints.

“To our relief we rolled into the final transition still in the lead! We quickly packed our bikes and jumped into the boats. The remaining legs to the finish were an 11km paddle and 7km beach run. We knew the teams behind us were all seasoned athletes and not going to let us get away easily, so we knuckled down and emptied the tanks, leaving nothing to chance to cross the finish line and take the win!”

Their winning time to take the title of the first Adventure Racing World Series Oceania Champions was 24 hours 36 minutes 55 seconds, and after the win the team posted on Facebook; “Feels so good to finally pull off a win in the adventure racing scene! Bring on South Africa!”

Only the top 4 mixed teams and the male pair, Team RUSH, completed the full 36 hour course, getting all of the checkpoints.

The Vortex Divas were the only all female team to cross the finish line and Liz Woodgate summed up their experience.

“We planned our route working on the slower times, knowing the weather would be a factor in making the cut-offs. Our priority was to cover as much of the course as possible, collect as many CP’S as we could and finish every stage.

“We were happy with our navigation and it's great to have a team with 4 navigators. Angela did have to hand over the map when she lost her glasses in the big hike, but unbelievably the other female team, Wild Women, found them and handed them in!

“The big (last) MTB stage had us pushing our bikes for what seemed like hours up steep rocky trails that even the local teams said they never ride. The sting in the tail was there were many descents that were also too steep and rocky for us to ride down! It poured with rain, turning the trails into little rivers!

“We had a strong tailwind and torrential rain for our final trek along Surfers Paradise Beach, more famous for bikinis and skyscrapers than thermals and waterproof pants!

“We always knew the Oceania Champs would be a hard race, and it delivered, but at no point did we think of quitting. That's just not in our nature and I’m super proud of this tough, resilient, thoughtful and upbeat group of women we call Divas.”

The 24 hour race experienced the worst of the weather, and all of the teams had to miss some checkpoints.

Six male pairs managed to finish the 24 hour course, lead by team Pair of Kooks, and the Premier Mixed class winners were team Crazed Curlews Kooky Kiwi, even though they crossed the finish line last, after more than 23 hours of racing in torrential rain.

They put their success down to good navigation (by Mitchell Krome), strong team work, and being able to make changes to their plan on the fly. Tara Hassan commented. “I think we managed to pick just the right amount of course to do to still make it to the finish inside the cut-offs and on the (mostly) intended route.”

The team are all part of the Tri Adventure (Noosa) training group and benefitted from the experience gained there. The group founders, Jan Leverton and Kim Beckinsale were racing too, and putting into practice the combination of self-awareness, critical judgement and determination they coach, to be the only female pair to reach the finish.

Beckinsale said; “Jan and I raced as Mountain Designs Vintage Wild Women and we had all the gear we needed, plus more, and we either put it on straight away or carried it just in case. I think that made a huge difference.

“The most challenging part was riding in Nerang on flooded trails when it got dark as the rain was so heavy you could not see much, which was hard enough without trying to navigate!

“We got to TA5 for the paddle back just on daylight and it was still pouring with rain and a slog with rain and tide against us. Finally, when we arrived at TA 6 it had stopped raining, but we kept on all of our wet weather gear as it was so windy!

“We headed to the beach. Wow! The ocean was a crazy washing machine and there was no one on the beach at all. Usually Sunday morning at Surfers it would be packed with bikini clad tourists, but not that morning!

“What got us through? Persistence, a positive outlook, having and carrying the right gear, and the navigation skills to find the checkpoints I guess.”

You can find the full results and information about other Wild and Co. races at https://www.wldnco.com

Race photographs and reports can be found on the Wild&Co Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/wldnco

For a full calendar for the 2023 ARWS Oceania Series see; https://www.wldnco.com/arws-oceania-series . The next ARWS Oceania Championship is scheduled for 27-29th October 2023.

The next race in the series is the Alpine Quest 48 hour race, starting on November 10th and organised by https://adventurejunkie.com.au

#arwsoceania #adventureracing #arworldseries Destination Gold Coast Trail Brew #goldcoast #trailbrew #StrongerTogether Adventure Racing World Series - Oceania Region

Gold Coast gets ready to host the first Adventure Racing World Series Oceania Championships

The first Adventure Racing World Series Oceania Championship race takes place in Gold Coast and its hinterland hills and rivers between October 21st and 23rd.

The best Adventure Racers in Australia will arrive in the city for 36 and 24 hour races, combining river paddling, trekking, coasteering, beach running, and mountain biking.  They will race non-stop, navigating by map and compass, and must find all the checkpoints and finish as a team if they want to claim the Oceania title.  The podium teams will share a $10,000 prize pool, and the winners claim a free place at the Adventure Racing World Championship in South Africa next year!

Welcoming the event the Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, said, “The Gold Coast's varied natural landscape is the perfect location to host this tough international competition and will provide the ultimate challenge for Oceania's top adventure racers.

“Securing this pinnacle international event reinforces our reputation as an appealing sports and events destination and helps diversify our city’s event calendar.”

The race is the culmination of the 2022 series, and for race organisers Wild and Co. is third time lucky.  Event Director Chris Dixon said; “It’s been exciting to see the ARWS Regional Series developing around the world with over 50 races now part of the global movement.  In Oceania it’s taken time to get the ball rolling but in 2022 we’ve had three great races: Terra Nova 24, GeoQuest and Hells Bells.

“After attempts in 2020 and 2021 to run a championship event, we will finally stage the first ARWS Oceania Championship race and it’s going to be awesome!  We have 40 teams competing, including the top four teams in the Oceania rankings.

“It’s been a challenge and privilege to design and develop a course on the Gold Coast in Queensland.  There are plenty of interesting and challenging nature corridors and waterways that give access to some fantastic trails and bushland. We’ll include spectacular coastal and hinterland sections with a big hill (or three) and some great paddling and world class mountain biking connecting it all together.  As with every race this year, there will be some hike-a-bike, but the views will be worth the effort, and of course it wouldn’t be a Gold Coast race without a beach run!”

For an extra challenge the 36 hours teams will start at midnight on Friday, with the 24 hour teams starting their course 12 hours later at midday on Saturday. The Gold Coast Aquatic Centre will be the HQ and start/finish.  The races are unsupported and open to teams of 4 and pairs, and it is the 36 hour premier mixed category teams of 4 who will be racing for the ARWS Oceania title and the big prizes.

Looking at the contenders Dixon said; “Thunderbolt AR and 3 Points of Contact have been the most active in 2022 and both have wins under their belts from races this year.  Alpine Avengers and Rogue are both very strong and there is the talented Queensland team, Chipesti, who are hungry for a win.  It’s safe to say the race for the win is wide open.  Will local knowledge play a factor?  It’s going to be very fun to watch.”

The team with the most local knowledge are 3 Points of Contact, led by Gary Sutherland, and they think they have guessed where the course will take them, but will only find out if they are right when the maps and route book are handed out at 14.00 on Friday.  For this race their regular team are joined by Mark Murray, and they will be hoping to repeat their win from Hells Bells earlier in the year.

Thunderbolt AR lead the ARWS Oceania rankings and team captain Hugh Stodart said, “Most of us have been to the Gold Coast before but not explored or raced in the area. We expect the locals will have a significant advantage! We are just looking forward to racing again. As always we will not be the fastest but will do our own thing and see how it goes.”

Chipesti are the jokers in the pack (in more ways than one), not having raced against the other teams in the Oceania series this year.  A 36 hour race is ‘short’ for this team, who have years of ultra endurance experience in mountain biking and ultra running behind them.  (Sarah White has won the international 7 day MTB stage race, Crododile Trophy in the past.)

Luke Smyth said, “As a team we've only raced the longer expedition length races, so we're excited to see if we have the pace required to race at the front on a 36hr course.  We are also really excited to see what the Gold Coast region has to offer, as we’ve not done much racing in that area before.”

Over the coming weekend teams will find out exactly what the area has to offer and Dixon says, “With its majestic sub-tropical rainforest, spectacular waterfalls, pristine beaches and iconic skyline, the Gold Coast is the perfect backdrop for an epic Oceania Adventure Racing Championship event.”

He added, “There will be several legs with multiple route choices and the race winners will need to make good decisions look for any advantage they can get, and still be the fastest on the day.”

Fans, friends, sponsors and family will be able to follow those decisions and see how the race develops by watching the live race tracking at https://live.trackmelive.com.au/Oceania22/ and there will regular news, photos and video on the Wild and Co. Facebook page throughout the race. https://www.facebook.com/wldnco

For more information see;

https://www.arworldseriesoceania.com/

https://www.wldnco.com/

https://arworldseries.com/

Adventure Racing World Series Oceania Champs Set for the Gold Coast and Alpine Quest Join the Series

The venue for the Oceania Championship final of the Adventure Racing World Series has been announced today as the Gold Coast, and the race will now be part of a 5 race series, following the news that Alpine Quest has joined the premier adventure racing series in the region.

The ARWS Oceania Championship final will take place in the Gold Coast from 21-23rdOctober, when adventure racing teams will mountain bike, paddle, trek and navigate their way around 180km (full) or 100km (half), non-stop courses.  

The ARWS Championship category is open to teams of 4 which must be mixed sex, and the elite teams will be chasing the Oceania title, ARWS ranking points, and the ultimate prize of a paid-for place in the 2023 Adventure Racing World Championships.  There is also a cash prize pool of AUD$10,000.

The race isn’t just for the elite teams, however. The course will be designed to be achievable and accessible to all abilities, remaining open for 36 hours, and allowing teams some choices to provide short-cuts should they need them.  (2 person teams and all-male and all-female teams can also enter, but won’t be included in the ARWS championship category.)  The sport of Adventure Racing is unique in allowing the world’s best and novice teams to compete together on the same terms. 

The weekend of racing also includes the shorter (half) course, which has less distance and a shorter time limit, but many of the same amazing challenges and locations.

The event will be staged by specialist race Management Company Wild&Co and Event Director Chris Dixon is excited about the partnership with the Gold Coast and the opportunities it offers to racers. 

“With its majestic sub-tropical rainforest, spectacular waterfalls and cascades, pristine beaches and iconic skyline, the Gold Coast is the perfect backdrop for the inaugural ARWS Oceania Championship,” he said.  

He added. “The Gold Coast also offers visiting teams an abundance of accommodation and services for a great trip and is very accessible, by road from many population centres, or via the international airport.  It’s a great location for our Championship race.”

Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate, commented.  “Diversifying our city’s major events calendar is critical as we navigate our way out of the global health pandemic and this high-energy, international, event fits that bill perfectly. 

“The Gold Coast's varied natural landscape is the perfect location to host this tough competition and will provide the ultimate challenge for Oceania's top adventure racers. Securing this pinnacle international event reinforces our reputation as an appealing sports and events destination.”

Alpine Quest Strengthens the ARWS Oceania Series

The 2022 ARWS Oceania Series has now expanded, with the inclusion of the Alpine Quest race, which offers teams a very different location and challenge in the wilderness Alpine terrain of Victoria.  

The inclusion of the race also brings into the series the experience and expertise of Serge Kurov and Maria Plyashechko, who have organised over 30 adventure and outdoor events over the last decade.  The pair have a passion for adventure racing, and they have competed internationally all over the world; including in Patagonia, Abu Dhabi and China.

Maria commented. “We feel that the ARWS is the right community of experienced Race Directors in which we can run high quality races for our participants to enjoy. We will be a part of an established and transparent structure, with a clear vision and goals on all levels. The advantages the ARWS provides to Race Directors are well-defined and for the participants of the Alpine Quest the ARWS referee will offer an additional point of communication. 

“Participants will also have a chance to gain Oceania points to participate in the ARWS regional series ranking, and to compete for the chance to be ARWS Oceania Champions in 2023.”

She added, “It’s been tough couple of years due to Covid restrictions, but we are looking forward to a new chapter with the ARWS community of Race Directors and racers.”

Alpine Quest will take place on Nov. 11-12th and you can find full details at https://alpinequest.com.au

The ARWS Oceania Calendar

The first race in the 2022 Oceania ARWS Series will be the Terra Nova Adventure Race on April 2/3rd in Shoalhaven, NSW, with 120 and 70km courses, and a maximum 24 hour time limit for the full course.

This will be followed by the Mountain Designs Geoquest, which is the oldest 48 hour race in Australia (going back to 2002), and where the list of winning teams is a who’s who of world class of Australian adventure racers.  The venue will be Shoal Bay, NSW, and the course distances 220 and 120km.

The action then moves to S.E. Queensland, where the 24 hour Hells Bells Adventure Racewill take place over the weekend of August 6/7th. 

Entries are now open for all 2022 events in the ARWS Oceania Series, and you can find out more information about the races and the Adventure Racing World Series at; https://arworldseries.com/oceania. 

Interviews with the Race Directors and participating teams, plus details of media opportunities and participation, are available on request from Chris Dixon @arws address?.  

Photos with captions – available from arworldseriesoceania.com

About The Adventure Racing World Series

The Adventure Racing World Series is an association of 48 races across 5 continents and 23 countries. The series supports world-class, international, expedition races, which are the pinnacle of the world’s toughest sport, and the development of professionally organised racing at a national level through the ARWS Regional series. 

Each Regional Series has its own ranking and championship final, and the ranking points feed through into the global ARWS ranking.  The winners of the annual Regional Championship receive a paid-for place at the next Adventure Racing World Championships.