Tim is a well known adventure racer, who has been around for years and got into podiums in a lot of national and international events. His recent achievement is a 5th place in a high profile international multiday race in China. When he was asked to help to design a multisport course in his backyard - Lakes Entrace he could not say "no" and put a lot of effort into the distance. Here is what he has to say about the event.
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It’s 07:00 on a cold and wet Sunday morning in November 2013 and I found myself sitting in my car at Brimbank Park in Keilor, a north western suburb of Melbourne. I am feeling overwhelmed and nervous thinking, as I take in my surroundings, that I am in way over my head, that I am out of my depth, I am outclassed, out equipped and I’m about to be exposed as the fraud and pretender that I really am.
I am fighting that voice inside my head that is screaming at me that I don’t belong, that I’m not good enough, don’t know what I am doing and that I don’t have the right or what it takes to be a part of that which lies before me this day.
Adventure Racing, in particular Mark Burnett’s Eco Challenge is the reason I run today.
When I first saw Eco Challenge Australia on TV sometime in the late 90′s or early 2000s, something stirred within me, something raw and natural came to life, emotions were awakened and life seemed to take on new meaning, it’s purpose made clear.
Adventure! Life was to be an adventure, it was to be lived, enjoyed, explored and conquered!
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Australian Multisport Championships
The idea to race the Freycinet Lodge Challenge has been with me probably from the first time heard about it: two days of racing in one of the most spectacular regions of Australia sounded absolutely fantastic.
Most of our fellow adventure racers were there, bringing back great memories and stories, so the Australian Multisport Champs was on the must do list for a long time. Race headquarters was located at the Freycinet Lodge at Coles bay Tasmania, a place of exceptional beauty with stunning views of the granite peaks of The Hazards, white sand and blue sea including Wineglass Bay (voted by several travel authorities as one of the world’s ten best beaches).
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It was my second Geoquest and probably around 10th smaller (30-50hours) expedition race. I’ve got a spot in a very good team again with Hugh Stodart, and Sam Stedman and Jenny Roberts from Townsville. It is amazing how team got formed, from different and so remote spots. I’ve raced twice with Hugh both times quite successfully with 10th place finish at 2011 AR World Championships in Tassie and 13th at 2012 Ordos Adventure Quest in China.
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Ordos Outdoor Challenge began (for me at least) rushing frantically to the airport on a cold Tasmanian afternoon while remembering all the things I had forgotten on the way (a sleeping bag being the number one concern).From here I flew to Melbourne meeting up with Serge and Maria, and after briefly being held up by security for each having far too much hand luggage we began our convoluted journey to Ordos. We took a stop at Guangzhou, a night in Shanghai, where we had a little poke around this extraordinary city and another stop in Zengzhou before finally arriving.
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Well, we’ve just gotten back from UMC – the Upper Murray Challenge. Have you ever done it? It is multisport event with marked course, 38km MTB, 25 km downriver kayaking and 25 km run over the top of mount Elisa.
On Friday at 15:50, we jumped on the bike, rode from the office to the carpark, packed the bike in car with Maria already ready to drive. Going as fast as we could, by 4:05 we were driving out of the city. Every minute counts , so if you are stuck for 5 minutes or more in the city ,the drive afterwardswill take 20 minutes longer as the traffic gets worse and worse!
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This is cross-interview with Brendan Hills from team Asses Ears Bites Back and Hugh Stodart from team City Bike Depot.
1. Tell us few words about your teams, strong and weak sides, please. There were new members in both teams, and some jumped in literally last week. How did you find each other, was it easy to be on the same page with new people you‘ve never raced before?
Brendan: Our team, AEBB, was Lloyd, Doug, Mary and Brendan. Mary, an Irish girl from Wellington, joined the team fairly late, but with enough time that we were able to set up one trans-Tasman training session. We discussed our team goals a lot before we arrived in Queenstown, so I think we were pretty much on the same page by the time we started. Our ambition was to finish ranked, stay uninjured, and still be friends afterwards. It doesn’t sound like much, but in expedition adventure racing, you can’t take any of those three things for granted.
Hugh: Our team had never raced together before, but we ended up with a reasonable mix of skills and a good match of speed. Given we had come together at the last minute and we all had similar expectations about having a good crack and just seeing how we went, we also ended up with a pretty relaxed attitude which made getting ready and racing good fun.
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The opening day of the 3 day stage race in China started with a 80 minute high paced Prologue, followed by a 45 min rest and then Race #1, which lasted 4:50 hours. Temperatures were near 30 C plus and the sun was burning hot. Adventure Junkie had a strong start to there first race overseas in this team and in China with a 6th place in the Prologue and a 9th place in Stage 1 giving them 7th place overall. The day’s highlight was the opportunity to race on the local tricycle.
“Absolutely amazing race, impossible to compare with any races which I’ve done before”- Maria Plyashechko, after completing the Patagonian Expedition Race, 2012.
After 6 years of racing, I eventually got there - to the finish line of the Patagonian Expedition Race; the Last Wild Race, the adventure at the end of the World. What else to say…. I have been dreaming about it since the moment when I first heard about adventure races.
The place and course.
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All updates are by Chilean time, -14 hours to Melbourne time. Refer to the race overview Map below for CP locations >>>
Sat 25 Feb:
Congratulations to team Red Fox Gore-Tex with successful finish and 9th place in Patagonia Expedition Race 2012!
Maria: "
Here we go! One day later than planned cruise boat loaded with finishers reached Punta Arenas. It's really hard to imagine how far we were- travelling from the finish took us nearly two days. Race is absolutely amazing. If you, guys, still do not have plans for the next February strongly recommended! The best race I've ever done! Absolutely exited."
