|
| Home | News | Concept | Events | Handbook | Enter | Links | Event Team | Contact | Admin |
News
|
Owesome Opunake 30 January 2008  The Huns looking fresh on the finish line! It was O for Awesome on Sunday at the finish of Experience Whirinaki. Firstly the Opotiki Wounderers: Shane Armstrong, Karl Rendall and the Teddy brothers Jarrod and Aaron were the first official team home in the 18 hour race then in more dramatic fashion the "Huns" youth team all the way from South Taranaki snatched the win in the 12hr division. The 12hr race had started at dawn from Mangamate Falls campsite near Minginui. To make the race unsupported teams had to figure out a way of carrying truck tubes and all their gear for the day on their bikes for a 10km gravel road jaunt to the first transition. All sorts of techniques were tried with the majority of teams wearing the tubes hula hoop style around their waists. They resembled a wobbly bunch of bumper boats on wheels as they took off up the track. Leading the way early were Team Trogg from Auckland powered along by the cycling talent of Alice Ross and Ed Sai Louie, they were passed in the first transition by the Napier Boys team heading out fast on the trek. The trek took competitors through the heart of the pristine Whirinaki Forest, massive trees towered 50 metres above the tracks, blocking out the sunlight and creating an open forest floor underneath, allowing teams to head directly through the forest to try for the optional checkpoints. Team Timdogs played it safe and were first back in at 9.27 followed closely by several teams. The Troggs took a gamble expending a lot of energy and time to get an optional control at Arahaki Lagoon, which put them ahead on points but behind on time, which was to prove crucial at the end of the day. The tubing section was next, a bit of scenic rough and tumble in the Te Whati Nui A Toi Canyon and a lower canyon in the Whirinaki River. Highlights were the steep sided gorges with fluted rock walls covered by ferns and the sightings of a ghostly colony of shags on the canyon side and blue ducks, or whio, whistling in the river. Team Timdogs extended their lead and set off on the mountain bike with a 40 minute lead over the Huns and Napier Boys. The mountain bike had been described as one of the "great adventure rides". Teams certainly knew they were in for a challenge, however many didn't make it easy for themselves making early and costly navigation errors as they worked there way up to the Kaiangaroa Forest fire lookout on the ridge high above Whirinaki Forest to the west. It was Napier Boys who passed through the look out first and ventured off into the unknown down the jungly remains of an overgrown logging track in search of the sweet single track that lay on the other side. Team Timdogs and the Huns passed through not too far behind, with the later revealing their bike towing technique, an Opunake special, rope from the old mans garage, granny knots and a special wrap around the derailleur, to stop it slipping into the wheel, powered them up the hill as a team. The last section of the bike ride proved challenging, lots of single track and extra tracks to keep teams on their toes. Somewhere in their Napier Boys lost their way and were passed by the Huns who were navigating well. Their superior speed saw them catch up again as the finish loomed closer, but with time running out it came down to one final decision, whether to cycle around the roads or attempt to cut cross country to the finish. The Huns took the gamble and reached the finish first with two minutes to spare much to the disappointment of Napier Boys who powered into the finish 5 minutes later. A great victory for an inexperienced mixed team who succeeded by working together as a team and thinking their way through all the challenges on the day. Earlier in the 18hr race, the unofficial pair of Stu Lynch and Marcel Hagener, both world class adventure racers, had powered to the finish, collecting all the checkpoints in just under 17 hours, well ahead of another unofficial pair, Rhys Burns and Rachel Smith, who collected two less checkpoints and were an hour down, but still within the 18 hour time limit. The 18 hour race had started at midnight on Saturday with a very difficult night navigation trek downhill through open forest. Highlights of which were the sound of moreporks, the challenging navigaton and some teams even saw flocks of bats amongst the forest giants. Emerging back at the campsite first were Stu and Marcel who had powered through the leg in under 5 hours, Stu showing some great navigation skills. From here the course followed the same outline as the 12 hr course with a few extra optional checkpoints to keep the leaders busy. Robs Mob and the Girls on top were next in on the crack of dawn, having skipped an optional control. The experience of orienteering legends Rob Garden and Marquita Gelderman keeping them going constructively through the night. Other teams didn't fare so well. The VASQUE U23's collected all the checkpoints, but were well down on time while another favourite teams the Opotiki Wounderers missed two checkpoints after being decieved by the map, but at least they were still on the pace. The Opotiki team made a key move on the second trek navigating to one more optional checkpoint than Girls on Top (catching up their lost point from the first trek) and not losing much in time. They set off on the tube 11 minutes down on the Girls with the points all square. The tubing was taking about 80 minutes, with the deep slow pools of the canyon slowing teams down and cooling them down. Opotiki caught up 5 minutes during the tube and then even more in transition, heading out on the final bike ride with just a two minute buffer. Transitions are real important in adventure racing and some teams were doing themselves no favours, Robs Mob and Powered by Bullshit were particularly notably for long ungainly transitions! Out onto the final bike ride and the Wounderers were flying and navigating safely, even having time for a feed of blackberrys before emerging at the finish 25 minutes clear after 17 hours of racing. Two Taranaki teams the Rogues (the Hillary Challenge champions New Plymouth boys in disguise) and the Roses and Thorns struggled to make the cut off loosing several points for finishing late and slipping down the leaderboard. In the beginners 6 hour race it was Morriseys Girl Guides, guided by the hardly beginner Chris Morrisey who took out the race from a couple of local teams from Rotorua and Taupo. The 6 hour course again followed a similar pattern to the 12hour with a much abbreviated mountain bike. Like most of the other teams they were back well in time for the hangi put on by the kind people of Minginui. Overall the event was a great success and may lead the way in reducing the commercialisation of the outdoor event industry. Running a free event enabled the organisers to use amazing public land without having to go through a costly concessions process. It also enabled younger people to have a taste of a really tough race which is an opportunity otherwise unavailable to them and many others who are reluctant to spend $500 plus on a weekend event. The wider event also included navigaton and ropes training, as well as combining with a planned kiwi release to ensure teams had a weekend to remember in one of New Zealand's special places. Through the generosity of the teams $1000 was raised for outdoor education in the local community. |
Owesome Opunake |
|
|
|
 |
|
| © MADeventz | www.madeventz.co.nz |