Tuesday 1 November 2022

Mountain Designs Vintage Wild Women - ARWS Oceania 24Hrs

The forecast for the weekend was not looking awesome, so we knew we were in for a very wet race. Jan and I were secretly very glad that we had not decided to take on the 36hr championship course which would have had us starting at midnight, in the pouring rain.  Instead we were bunkered down in a nice, cosy Gold Coast apartment, having a look at the Wild & Co social media feeds and posts from teams who were preparing to race. In fact, we had a bit of a sneak preview of what the course may look like for us after seeing what the 36hr course had in front of them.  We had anticipated we were paddling the Nerang River and riding trails in Nerang…..we were correct.

1800 Friday

As we had already received our logistics planner, we spent the night organising our event boxes.  We made sure we packed extra gear. Thanks to Mountain Designs support over the years we had plenty of thermals, waterproof Gore-Tex jackets and rain pants as well, we even threw in a couple of lightweight fleeces!  The course looked like this – Paddle (long), MTB (short), Trek (short), MTB (short), Trek (long), MTB (long), Paddle (long) and Trek (short).  Looking at the course timings we anticipated a finish in the morning sometime after sunrise….. so, in addition to our warm, waterproof gear we packed more than enough batteries for our Ay-Up lights!

0600 Saturday

We woke to the sound of rain, no surprises there….. 36hr teams had now been out all night, we were still dry and warm and wondering what we were in for…..

0900 Saturday

HQ was at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Southport. We were there on time ready to collect our maps. Looking at the logistics and the maps, the course looked very long, with a bike all the way out to Numinbah where we would have a trek!  Interestingly the course had quite a few options, meaning on the paddle legs we could collect CPs on the way out and back and the same for the first and last MTB legs!  This made us think!  The paddle looked fairly straight forward, but we saw that if we collected all of the MTB CPs in Nerang on the way out, we could bypass the single-track on the return.

1100 Saturday

Final Briefing – well the only briefing, just 1hr to start and we were lucky to be listening to what some of the 36hr teams had so far encountered, rain, wind, wet slippery trails….. just what we were expecting!  It was not raining at this point, so we were pretty happy and almost ready to race!  A couple of key points -we MUST leave TA4 at Numinbah if we planned to get through the final bike leg and we MUST start the final paddle before 7am Sunday morning in order to finish by midday!

1200 Saturday

The weather gods were smiling on us at the start as it was calm and not raining as we set off.  Jan and I were decked out in our Mountain Designs Wild Women kit but had waterproof jackets over the top. We were ready for rain!  As we set off to the first CP was I absolutely cooking….so had to take off my jacket.  I lost my glasses as I jumped back in the kayak…..as they fell off my head and sunk to the bottom of the river!  We did not waste too much time and continued on our way.  We had numerous weir crossings where we carried the kayaks and a portage as well!  For us vintage Wild Women this was a struggle, but we just did it!  As we got into the TA at Nerang we had to assemble bikes and right on cue it started bucketing down with rain!  We planned to not change clothes here, but I did put my jacket on and a vest, and Jan put on a thermal top.  Very wise! I did the bikes while Jan went and marked up the maps.  Not sure how you really do this when the maps are wet and the pens don’t work!!!




1500 Saturday

So we headed off on our bikes to Nerang MTB park.  We had two sets of maps here, one being the topographical and the other a Trailforks MTB map.  If you have ever ridden in Nerang, you would know that the trails are usually technical and challenging as well as NOT flat!  By the time we arrived at the park, the trails resembled waterfalls and on our way up to our very first CP in there, a guy was walking the other way saying he had just closed the valley trails….mmm was that where we were headed next???  Yes, Barney’s trail which we had intended to take was closed, so we went the long way around on a fire trail to Goanna trail for the next CP.  We managed to find all the CPs on the single tracks and then just had a big out and back ridgeline climb to CP J before exiting the park via CPK.  Well by the time we were on our way back from J, it was seriously bucketing down and it was dark, we could not see more than about a metre in front as we were sliding down the trails.  Phew - we got out of there unscathed but our timings were now way out as it was now well after 6pm and we were not even at TA2.  On our way we did see Team Alpine Avengers flying by the other way…we could not believe they were on their way back!

1900 Saturday

There was no box for us at TA2 and we had planned to be in and out of this TA before dark, so I had carried Ay-Ups but Jan only had the small emergency light!  So, our contingency was to just wear our helmet lights - always good to have a back up plan! We had also opted for a quick transition here as we had just worn the same shoes from the start, but before we could set out we had to mark CPs on the map. There were only 3 (L, M ad O) but it was so hard to see the details on the maps, as contour lines looked like trails and trails were so hard to decipher!  Jan handed me the maps for the first bit as it was so hard to see and we eventually worked out how to get to CPL.  The rain eased and Jan continued with the nav again and took us straight to M.  We had a bit of trouble getting to the CP 0 at the dam as near CP10 which we had to come back to later in the event there were a maze of tracks …some unmarked.  Here we ran into Team Thunderbolt (36hr course) and heard Shelley had just been taken out by a kangaroo on the road.  Lucky she is tough and yes, she was okay….just! We got to the dam and the CP description was creek bed, but in fact it was a fast-flowing river!  After finding the CP we made our way back to the TA and saw our Tri Adventure friends  the Crazed Curlews Kooki Kiwi heading out on bikes.

2100 Saturday

Our race times were well and truly blown out now….we thought we might be lucky to get to TA4 by midnight, but doubted we would even be able to trek.  Most of the ride was on tar, but we still had 3 CPs to find.  We could have just skipped these CPs but that’s not how we race! CP Q and S were paddle CPs for 36hr course and they were really challenging in the wet conditions....and took time. In fact, Q was a rock scramble 500m down a creek line to the dam and S was not much easier due to the steepness of the banks.  Just one CP to go before the TA - CP 5 and it was tricky!  The marked track ended and we found ourselves on an airstrip and right next to a fast-flowing creek of which we thought we needed to be on the other side of.  There were other teams there and then suddenly they disappeared …..it was the bewitching hour indeed!  We backtracked and found another way in which was much easier, as the marked route simply did not exist.

0100 Sunday

Not sure exactly when we arrived at TA4 but we well and truly missed the trek as we had missed midnight cut-off to get the MTB CPs around the dam.  Fiona Crossley was looking after this TA and she told us that we just had to go back the way we came and pick up CP10. So before heading off we did a full change of clothes in a nice cosy, warm horse shed.   We were not freezing but as we had been in the same wet clothes for over 12 hours we thought it might be nicer just to be warm and dry for just a little while.  I think this was a really smart move as we also put on dry jackets and dry rain pants as we ‘breathed in’ some corn chips before heading back out into the pouring rain.

We were the last team to leave the TA.  The ride back was not easy as it was still pouring rain and it was quite undulating!  We used the tow rope to keep together as it was safe to do so.  We knew the way to CP 10 but found it a bit tricky….100m NNE of multitrack junction….mmm there were several junctions in the circle….so which one was it!  We found it after 3 goes from 3 different spots!  Then we had a fast route planned TA 1 without having to go back through the MTB park….this saved us a few hours!

0700 Sunday

We arrived at TA1 just as it was getting light but it was now absolutely pouring with rain.  Greg & Michele Krome had been at this TA since before the race started and were doing an amazing job helping teams find their gear and a bit of shelter.  We packed the bike gear up and got out of there pretty quickly, we did not change, but just stayed in our full wet weather gear.  The paddle back was a tough, hard slog....wind, rain and tide against us....Jan was doing a great job navigating….but we were not really getting very far…..there was no other option but to kept on paddling!

Finally when we arrived at TA 5, it had stopped raining...but we kept on all of our wet weather gear as it was windy!  We headed to the coast – wow - the ocean was a crazy washing machine and there was no one on the beach.... usually Sunday morning at Surfers it would be packed with bikini clad tourists....but this was a stark contrast! We still had to find a few CPs so maps out along the way!  I must say the last leg was definitely the easiest and we did actually run more than half of it!




0920 Sunday

The Mountain Designs Vintage Wild Women crossed the finish line shattered but still smiling and satisfied that we had persevered in such testing conditions.  Nothing about this race was easy and the attrition rate was probably over 50% so for two women one 55 and the other 62, this was no walk in the park but an opportunity for us to still continue to challenge ourselves against mother nature and the crazy race that was the ARWS Oceania 24!!! Thanks Wild & Co – Race Director – Chris Dixon for having the confidence to let the race go ahead!  Sometimes in life we need challenges like this just to show us truly what we are capable of achieving and that’s why we continue to do this sport!




 


 

 

It's been a Wild Ride.....the rollercoaster of life!

Well it’s been a while since I have posted on this site….and a few races have been and gone. I would have usually created a post after Hells Bells and maybe I should have!  The Mountain Designs Wild Women were in fact winners of the women’s category but I was not part of the team Cass Kimlin joined Amie Munson, Gina Dunsdon and Nicola Jelinek.

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Female Winners Hells Bells Kenilworth 2022

I did, however, have a great time as a volunteer, not only managing TA1 for the full course and half course teams but also taking some short videos of teams at the start, finish and out on course.  This was a great way to keep me occupied when I would have rather been racing!

Kim - Hells Bells Volunteer Official - Media

2022 in fact has not been the best year, as just before I headed off to Geoquest 2022, I was told that I had a melanoma on my leg and that I would have to have this removed.  This would involve some major surgery (skin flap) and a long rehab.  So that was my year gone…..racing wise….well so I thought! Instead of ‘racing’ with the Wild Women girls my Tri Adventure partner Jan Leverton and I teamed up for a 5hr Rogaine and backed up with an MTBO event the next day.  I loved getting back out on my feet in the 5hr rogaine, Jan and I managed to score well and took out the female category. The next day my year went from bad to worse, when I flew over the bars on the MTB and crashed hitting my head hard and, well, almost breaking my fingers.  So, when I was I was told 12 weeks for my fingers to heal, I was so upset…. Jan, however, was convinced that I could still do the Mojo with her, as we were only entered in the 6hr event!

Mojo Raid 6hr was a great event, unfortunately the ‘MD Wild Women’ were not there, as not only was I in ‘gradual return to racing mode’, Cass was totally out of action!  She was unfortunately taken out by a shower door after Hells Bells in the Kenilworth showgrounds, so instead of attending the HB presentation ceremony, she had to go to hospital and get stitches in her heel.  Anyway somehow I managed to get through 6 hrs racing with my fingers strapped and wearing a hand brace on the trek legs…..just to prevent further damage.

Trekking in the Mojo was no easy task!

Anyway, getting through the Mojo meant that I possibly could sign up for the Oceania ARWS, but just do the 24hr version – as opposed to the 36hr Championship event.  So, I convinced Jan to help me fly the Mountain Designs flag and race as Mountain Designs Vintage Wild Women.  Other great news was that the Cass would be back in action too with Amie, Gina and Nicola and take on the 36hr Championship event. All of them would be backing up the week after the Wild Women AR where Cass and Amie were outright winners with Nicola and Gina’s teams rounding out the other two overall podium spots. Mountain Designs came onboard as an event sponsor for the Wild Women AR event as well which was so exciting for women's sport! Thanks Mountain Designs!

Start Wild Women AR 2022 - Gina (front left) and Nicola (front far right)

Cass and Amie - Outright Winners Wild Women AR 2022

So next up the Oceania Championships!

 

 

Monday 20 June 2022

Age and gender no barrier for these Wild Women

 Mountain Designs Wild Women Geoquest 2022

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Geoquest 2022

Adventure racing is a sport that is tough, challenging and certainly takes you way outside of your comfort zone, but for these strong fit women, it would appear that age and gender are no barrier to success!

Yes, adventure racing like many other sports is a male dominated sport and that’s fine, but what sometimes happens is that women automatically think that adventure racing must be too hard for them, because they are not always as big and strong and seemingly fit as their male counterparts. In the sport the ‘premier category’ is a mixed team, so this means that most teams toe the line with three males and one female. This is certainly a great way to race and for women who want to race at the ‘elite’ level in fact it is the only way to really achieve the highest level of success in the sport.

For many years I did exactly that, racing in mixed teams and racing for Team Mountain Designs. In every team, we achieved great success, winning many of the big-name adventure races in Australia against some of the best adventure racing teams in the country……Geoquest 2007, XPD 2013, Hells Bells, ARA Darkside …….but then I wanted more from the sport, I wanted to be able to lead a team, navigate the entire way in some of the big events…..so at the start of the 2017 season, I put my case forward to our major sponsor Mountain Designs to support an all-women’s team and so the Mountain Designs Wild Women were born. Here is a link to our welcome blog…..

http://mountaindesignswildwomen.blogspot.com/2017/03/welcome-to-first-edition-of-mountain.html

So, since then the Mountain Designs Wild Women have had some success indeed, winning the women’s category of some of the major AR events on the calendar….. Rogue Raid 2017, 2018, 2019, Geoquest 2017, 2018, and 2019; Hells Bells 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 Wildside Expedition Race Canberra 2017, XPD Tasmania 2018, Raid 100 2019 and XPD Rivers of Gold Cairns 2021 and we are proud to have had the ongoing support from Mountain Designs along the way.

Fast forward to Geoquest 2022…..and the Mountain Designs Wild Women are still on fire…..despite icy conditions at Shoal Bay NSW and the reality that we are not getting any younger!!!! In fact Wild Women originals Kim Beckinsale and Gina Dunsdon are both over 50; joining the team for the first time was Nicola Jelinek, who is just shy of 50 and Amie Munson is our baby, aged just 42. So, as you will see age is no barrier for the team as we believe that women are tough and strong and can achieve anything as long as we, stay positive, stay focussed, and keep doing what we love best. So really that is what adventure racing is all about and why we love coming back to Geoquest!!!

Part of the thrill of AR is not knowing where you are going until maps are released and then it is all systems go, map planning, gear planning and lucky for us - support crew planning. Geoquest originally was a supported event and so we opted to stick with tradition as the crew become part of the ‘team’ and thus live the adventure as well! Dot watching and tracking from home is okay….but there is nothing quite like being right there in the thick of it and being allowed to offer support. Retired Cowgirl and Geoquest tragic Jan Leverton was joined by Cowboy Mark Denham and super cyclist Nick Baker ……. wow what a crew!

This event because of the polar freeze and winds predicted was going to be one of the coldest events we have experienced for some time, so we spent a lot of time making sure we had packed gear that we could rely on:- Mountain Designs thermals, Mountain Designs socks, Mountain Designs waterproof and windproof  jackets for paddling and yes more Mountain Designs socks…..and we were prepared to carry it 😊

Geoquest 2022 - Full Course Overview

So, to cut to the chase here is how it all panned out……

The start / finish line for Geoquest 2022 was on the beautiful beach at Shoal Bay. Race morning the sun was shining and the wind was howling and yes, we were going to be paddling right smack bang into it. The first section of the event was a paddle, trek paddle and we planned for this to take us about 8hrs but we made sure we had lights and extra gear in case we did not see our crew till dark.

Geoquest 2022 - Mountain Designs Wild Women ready to race!

There were new Surge kayaks for the event and they have no steering, so this was going to sort a few teams out,  as you had to be able to paddle using your kayak blade as a rudder and in these conditions, this would prove to be challenging. The team all have plenty of paddling experience using all types of craft, as this is definitely one thing that women do need - skills over strength and speed.  So, we always make sure we prepare for the event as best we can, prioritising the skills required for each discipline. Winner winner chicken dinner!  - well that was our carrot to get to the finish - the dream of a hot chicken and guess what, we had an awesome start, finding ourselves in 2nd place as we arrived at TA1 and on our way on foot to CP1…… and by the end of Leg 2 somehow we nailed CP3 and were somehow leading the whole race. I promised Amie that I would not try to win Geoquest outright, but I must say it’s pretty fun to be right up at the pointy end as a team of girls - turning heads!!!

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Leg 2 on our way to CP3 (in the lead)

Navigation is key in any event and this race would be no different, the paddle up the Myall River for almost 30k was tough and made tougher by having to navigate up a tiny creek and trek 1k  out and back to CP 4 (some teams dragged their kayaks up the beach instead of paddling, this was never an option for us) and then face gale force wind and waves whilst crossing Bombah Broadwater – 5k on a bearing of 300 degrees to CP 7. By this stage there were at least 4 teams in front of us one all male team and three premier mixed teams, we were still right up there and the light was fading fast and we were starting to freeze. TA 2 was less than 4k away, so instead of stopping and adding layers, we just paddled our guts out to Nerong where we were greeted by our crew, with a fire and hot soup!!!!

Kim set a bearing of 300 degrees to cross the broadwater.....note the 12degree offset!

The next three legs would be in the dark, so not only do you need to carry warm gear, but also have good lights for trekking, mountain biking and paddling. So, on go the Ay Ups over our buffs and jacket hoods as we ran out of the TA to try to get warm, as we could not stay by the fire all night!  We had nice dry shoes and socks for all of 5 minutes before we crossed a swamp, bummer……but lucky CP 8 was a high point.  After CP 9 we had a bit of trouble finding Jacks Creek Trail, sorry dot watchers…. In fear we missed it and were heading for OOB we backtracked almost right back to the CP before finding this vague foot track - well spotted Amie! It is always great to have someone in the team who looks around and notices things that the navigator might not!  We nailed CP 10 and 11 and were soon at TA3 near Devils Hills enjoying some hearty sausages prepared for us by the crew. It was pretty freezing, so best to just keep moving, so that’s what we did on the bike.  Nicola was on fire and set a blistering pace out of the TA, then some hills would slow us down a bit! Lucky were all had pretty good descending skills on the bike as there were some doozy down hills. Just before we reached the TA we were approached by a random car - I got a bit scared thinking someone was trying to chat up the girls, but it was only Sloshy (Dave Schloss AR legend) who was working at the event on search and rescue -- phew! We started the final paddle down the Karuah River at a TA4 near Booral, it was so freezing there so we put on almost everything we owned and started paddling….. there was one rapid too….so lucky we did not fall in!  We were still in about the same position in the race as we were at the end of the last paddle, but we knew there was another all male team hot on our heals and that we would be on the water in the dark for more than 5hrs.  It was so cold when we got out at CP18 and somehow a boys team got in front of us there.  We paddled toward CP 19 as the day dawned and picked off the features along the way to the next TA…..inlet on left, oyster leases, big left bend, oyster leases bridge and then TA5 was in our sights….yay!

Did someone say cheese toasties????  Yes, these were on our menu too!!!! We inhaled these as we tried to find shelter from the howling wind.  At the little town of Karuah we had a split trek, so it pays to have more than one navigator in the team.  Amie and I teamed up to get CP A and B, while Gina and Nicola sprinted around to get B & D. Part of my goal as a team captain has always been to encourage team mates to navigate, so in this race Gina had the second set of maps on the trek legs, Amie on the paddle and Nicola on the bike - working to our strengths. This proved a to be a great strategy for Geoquest 2022, as we left that TA ahead of the two male teams that had been in front of us!  We were in 4th overall!!!!

Split Trek - A B C D

According to the crew and our course overview it was only short MTB ride to the next TA, it was mostly all on just one map and it looked relatively straight forward.  As it was daylight it made the navigation much easier but the riding wasn’t!  Why???? Well we were actually riding through mud, mud and more mud, or should I say mostly carrying our bikes around mud holes that looked like we could almost swim in. 

Gina Dunsdon
Amie Munson
Nicola Jelinek
Kim Beckinsale

The TA for Leg 9 Rogaine was just some spot on the side of the motorway near Twelve Mile Creek. We had made pretty good time but our crew were enthusiastically trying to ensure we had a very quick transition and get out on the 10k rogaine without any time wasting!  Why????  Well the lead teams Thunderbolt, Alpine Quest and Three Points of Contact had not yet returned, so this meant that the navigation was probably tricky.  So, while the rest of the team were getting sorted, I was carefully marking up the maps, yes sometimes in the more challenging legs in an event, you have to draw on your own circles on your map. There were 8 CPs all up and we had to find 5!  I could not see a clear route at first glance, so before we headed out, I got Gina to check that I  had marked up all of the CPs correctly and we as a team all had a look! The route we discussed would have us collecting J I K H and E - in that order - but I was not entirely convinced as there was no real backup in case we could not find one.  

The team chats - just before we set off on the rogaine.

We ran walked our way to CP J and nailed the watercourse bend CP. CP I was a high point so other than a few tracks looking a bit weird, we got it fairly quickly.  All this time I was not happy with our planned course, so I showed the girls an alternate route, which was a bit longer, but maybe safer! So, we headed for L and F and were using all of our orienteering skills to make 100% sure we were going the right way! Pacing using steps and time, checking off track junctions and other features…. although the contours and creeks were barely visible on the map….we tried. To find CP L we aimed off a bit early so we knew we just had to walk left (NE) once we hit the creek…..I noticed a second creek in there, so we spread out and bush bashed! Nicola soon spotted the CP – Bingo! The track to F was there and the high point was obvious, so now just a long hike to H which was ‘head of watercourse’ on the side of a hill. I probably did not pace this one too well  and we went in a bit too early, but once again we spread out and walked NE and eventually located a very obvious watercourse and our final CP! We hurried back to the TA where were we greeted by the crew and event officials who were very impressed with our speed and with the line our tracker drew….a dog!

Can you see the dog we started to draw!???? 

There was no time to mess around in this TA for Light was going to fade fast , we knew we had just two legs to go, but they were quite significant and we would be spending another night out in the cold. With fruitcake, snacks and water loaded in our packs we set off on the bikes for a 54km ride to Anna Bay!  Amie and Gina were checking distance and Nicola and I had the maps. CP23 on Gold Mine Road came up pretty quickly, but we know that we would be hitting CP24 in the MTB park in the dark as light was fading fast and it was almost 10k away. We were on an awesome trail and suddenly this turned into a swamp!  Yes, is was pitch black by now and we were trudging through waist deep water…we were getting pretty cold, but we could see that others had been there….so on on!  Finally we came out onto something that looked more rideable, but I could not see that anyone else had been there…no tyre tracks…no foot prints. So, as I was not 100% confident that we were ‘going the right way’ I convinced the girls to go back and take the alternate route that we had discussed when marking up the maps! I was just upset, that I did not think of this earlier! We came across some crazy young people bogged in a car and their rescuers as we headed back up Taylors Road and they confirmed the other route might be better. We were not sure who was the most crazy at that point…..them or us!  The alternate route was a superhighway and we finally arrived at the Medowie MTB park to look for CP 24. Just as we arrived, we were swamped with teams and there was a frantic search happening….no one could find anything.  We just had to take a deep breath, start again and ride the course slowly and not be distracted by others, so with Nicola following along on the map right behind me we picked off every bend until bang….CP 24 glowing right in front of us! Phew!! Out of the bush now and all roads to Anna Bay! We came across other teams looking for CP25 it seemed so easy, but the CP was not where it was shown on the map, so everyone was running around the streets looking at every sign saying Pacific Dunes….I got locked inside the golf course at one point too! After we finally got the CP and waded through another waist deep swamp, we rode our little socks off all the way to Anna Bay trying to keep ahead of the guys!

This is what happened for those who may have been watching the tracker!

I have no idea what time it was, but it was PARTY TIME at Anna Bay for the Mountain Designs Wild Women! We were still in 4th place overall and we were ‘just ahead of the guys’ we were all feeling pretty good and we just had one final trek! The crew were amazing feeding us pizza and playing tunes ‘Wild Women Do’ as we left the TA running!!!!! We got out of sight and found the location for CP 28 but we just could not find it…..so a quick reset and we were back in exactly the same spot….a few teams were all around together looking….as well! This was a low point for me as I just could not work it out….we had not had any sleep it was the bewitching hour and everything was just getting funky! But lucky for us another team spotted the flag, hiding low in the bushes….we had been in the right spot…..but had just not spotted the CP. Canberra AR passed us at this point, they were motoring! We were still ahead of the guys though, Amie told me they said they wanted to beat us….but we thought that they had not found all of the CPs. So just 2 CPs to go and the race was on…..MD Wild Women Vs the boys from the Gold Coast – Kooks on Debut! They took off when we hit the road near Boat Harbour and were soon out of our sights…. we kept our cool…. however we were actually freezing….so very chilled indeed! CP 29 and 30 had us walking along sand dunes and stretches of beach…..the waves were thumping and the tide was incoming and at one point we almost got swept off our feet into the water…..so had to hobble along the dunes to get to higher ground. The full moon was setting, so this meant that the sun was almost going to rise, we better get to the finish then! So, with a spring in our step knowing that we were going to finish Geoquest 2022 in our best position ever well under top 10 we powered down Government Road to the finish line just before 5am!

Mountain Designs Wild Women at the finish....wild as ever!

Our support crew were there and so was the Race Director! Congratulations Wild Women…… 5th overall!!!! What about the boys we said???? “NO you smashed them, they did not find all of the CP’s on the rogaine’ the crew said! So there you have it a TOP 5 finish for the Mountain Designs Wild Women, just behind Canberra AR who finished 4th . Our closest ever finish behind the podium premier mixed teams Three Points of Contact 3rd, Alpine Quest 2nd and Thought Sports 1st .

So all of you women out there remember ‘Wild women do, And they don’t regret it’, why….. because they can and don’t you forget it! Why not, get out there and plan your next adventure! 

Thanks to Wild & Co for bringing us Geoquest 2022, it continues to be ‘Australia’s original and premier adventure race. Thanks to our fabulous support crew for feeding us and keeping us going through the night, sacrificing sleep as well! Finally, thanks to our major sponsor Mountain Designs for continuing to support the sport and this group of ‘Wild Women’.




Saturday 14 May 2022

Raid 100 Risk vs Reward

Team Tri Adventure Mountain Designs

Team Tri Adventure Mountain Designs

Did you watch the Live Tracking at the Raid 100? Did you imagine what teams were thinking out there? I was thinking, ‘what was I thinking’, by even imagining that I could step up and race Raid 100 in the premier mixed category in the 100hr
Raid 100.

This is the Mountain Designs Wild Women Blog, but as we had two ‘Wild Women’ in the team and the support of Mountain Designs, I think it more than appropriate to share this experience.

Team Triadventure Mountain Designs were ranked number 2, so I must admit I was asking myself lots of questions in my head like, am I good enough? Will I be able to keep up? How much am I going to have to suffer?

Anyway, so rather than just write up a race report about each leg of the course we thought about giving you an insight into some of the decisions that take place out there amongst a team racing at this level, as the dots and the live coverage feeds only tell some of the story…… here we go!

Do you think a quick game of Volleyball will help settle the nerves??

Risk vs Reward – Navigation – by Dave Schloss

Wow, having toed the line of many rogaines over the years, I have never been daunted like I was in the lead up to the Raid 100.  Justified, with some of our usual teammates and competitors opting to sit this one out, due to the huge demands placed on the mental side of which controls to get or to drop.  My normal approach to a rogaine is just go HARD and try to clear the course.  Then you do not have to think too much.  So, will this approach lend itself to the Raid 100???  

Dave Schloss

Maps in hand and going through course notes, there were a number of cut-offs that needed to be made.  Then you add in sleep strategy, OMG, give me another beer, this is going to take some thinking.  We worked our way through the course notes and at certain stages worked out where we needed to be when and then worked backwards. 

Our first glimpse at the maps

I have never been one to calculate how many points/controls need to be punched per hour.  As a team we looked at which legs carried the most points and looked at the most economical ways of seeking these points.  When we put the maps down for the night prior to the race, with our gear packed, we thought we had a pretty good route laid out ahead of us.  (Editor’s note:  after about 50 or so scenarios….) We included sleep but had options of possibly pushing through nights if we needed to the get to the next cut-off whilst gaining the maximum points.  Although, there were 2 legs that we hadn’t finalised based on timing and well, wonder what the other teams were planning???

Sloshy looks at the maps and explores options

Half way through map mark up - we are all part of the decisions 

Leg 1 Trek - Paddle.  This was one such leg.  There were so many options.  When to trek?  When to paddle north?  When to paddle south? Best time of day to travel north and best time of day to travel south? This is all in the name of finding those orange and white flags.  We went through a number of options; (Editor’s note: yes, the editor went to bed with a sore head after the 50th…) in fact, this was the leg that we spent the most amount of course planning on.  Tides, water flow, amount of water in the estuaries all contributing factors.  We only decided our final route choice after we got off the bus when setting up the kayaks.  Was it successful?  Well, we cleared the course, had a good trek in the middle of two long paddles and we finished with enough time to clear the mountain bike, leg 2.  So yes, success! 

Beach start! Run 3k to Kayaks - Team Tri Adventure Mountain Designs Number 2

Leg 2 had some bail out options to make it to the cut-off but with great travel, the only thing that nearly brought us undone was a terribly timed flat.  Finally sorted, we were on track, back to the bus, fed and trying to sleep.  So, we had cleared the course so far!  Things for me at this point were great and somewhat normal. 

Leg 3 was a trek around Washpool NP.  There were a series of ‘out and backs’ and going with the majority on this we moved well and were on track.  Towards the end of this leg, there were a couple of CPs that were an hour out and back.  We finally started to think strategically.  We had a lot of course to go, a long mountain bike to do next and another cut-off at the end of this.  Shall we push through the night and get them all, or consolidate our position, drop some of these long out and backs on the whim that our competitors would also drop these?  Chipesti (also cleared the course) decided not to, but they were moving a fair bit quicker than us at this point.  So - good on them!  We decided to stick with our plan.   We thought we made a great decision until we hit a CP that did not have the best description of which we lost an hour searching for it and was joined by many other teams including Chipesti.  Damn…..not happy Jan! (No pun intended 😊).  Throughout the next few legs, due to cut-offs we started to drop CPs.  Not large values but due to some strict cut-offs we needed to be not so greedy.

These were the most spectacular CP's on this leg! A reminder of Girraween Raid 100 - 1 - Leg 1

Sloshy and Liz - Searching for the CP 

Got it - we all must punch our wrist bands

Leg 4,5 Bike Trek, Packraft. All were no-brainers as far as what CPs to get and what to drop given our timing.  The trek in the middle of the packraft - well, we hadn’t even marked the map on this one.  We would wait and see how fast travel was and how long we had on this leg, knowing the end of the next packraft had a time cut off.  Looking at the trek when walking up the rather large hill, we decided to go in an anti-clockwise direction trying to hit the easy navigation in the dark, as it was only 7pm with a long night ahead.  All things were going well, including a sleep and an off track down a long ridge to CP68.  We decided to miss one planned CP (CP75) in a watercourse due to the course notes description and the fact that it was down in a creek with a lot of vertical loss and was not a good travel option to the next CP. As it would mean a long climb back out, only to return to the same creek.  In fact, we attacked this next CP (CP74), got turned around by the twisting creek, thought we found the CP, only to not and then decided to bail out due to timing.  Looking back at the tracker, we walked straight over it!!  This was our only blemish of the entire race.  If this was any event other than a rogaine, we would have spent more time trying to find it!

Our route on the trek - anticlockwise -  we opted not to try for 75, then could not find 74!

Leg 6 & 7 After t

he packraft, we had a mountain bike, trek and paddle to go.  We were always getting all the CPs on the last paddle as it was more of a linear nature.  So, this leaves the Mtb and trek.  It was pouring rain, and we needed a sleep.  Again, we had not decided our course on these 2 legs until we there.  The trek had more points than the mountain bike, once committed had no bail out option.  If the mountain bike leg was muddy it would be very slow.  So, we made the decision to consolidate our position and do the trek with a short road ride to the paddle.

Our Course - 84, 82 back to Bike Drop - Sleep - 83, 86, 87, 88, 85

Looking back, did we make the correct decisions in each leg?  Well, we finished second, so yes!  Regarding the last mountain bike and trek legs.  Maybe we should have taken a chance on riding as it was quicker than everyone thought.  Buy hey, that’s racing and as a navigator, there are always areas to improve.  Hence why we keep coming back for more!

Risk vs reward – SLEEP (by Elizabeth Dornom)

Throughout any adventure race, one is making decisions constantly, so a race as long as Raid 100 means these decisions are multiplied. Should I eat this lovely fruit cup now, early in the leg as it is heavy so I don’t have to keep carrying it, or do I save it for later in the leg when I am more fatigued and will savour it more. Do I eat this vegemite croissant now because it is exactly what my taste buds are craving for, or do I throw it away because I saw a bit of mould on it (P.S. I totally ate it). 

Elizabeth Dornom

But I want to concentrate on the sleep decisions that took place during the race, so I will leave the nutrition part up to Glenn and you can read about that a bit later!

Liz - making the most of the opportunity to rest before the restart 

The first night, this decision was almost made for us.  Given there was effectively a race restart at 7am on day 2 after the bus, we decided to approach the first 2 stages as a separate race with a cut-off of 3am and go for every checkpoint.  When we were dealing with a few flats on Sloshy’s bike at about 2am at the furthest point in the state forest I was reassessing this.  But yes, I believe this risk paid off as we made the cut-off with 30 mins to spare (in the end this would be our most luxurious cut-off that we did make!!!)  We certainly got less sleep and were less organized on the bus than some other teams but we figured you don’t normally sleep on the first night anyway, so see how it played out.


Kim and Liz - rest relax and refuel before the restart

Night 2 slept on the side of the road after the bicentennial track on stage 4.  Decisions over when, where and how much sleep were talked about for a while prior to this leg.  In the end it was a good decision, although perhaps 2 hours was too long as we were all pretty cold when the alarm went off.  We would take that on board for the next sleep. 

Night 3 we decided to sleep early – probably lying down around midnight for a 90 min kip.  The risk was we were bedding down well before the usual witching hours of 2am till 4am however the reward was we were actually quite refreshed for the early hours of the morning and our navigation was on point.

A team sleeps under a tarp - we did not have this luxury but those little orange bivvies are awesome!

Night 4 - the last night. Do we sleep, do we push through?  I would count this as our most effective sleep strategy, we had all seemed to get the sleepy staggers around the same time and so being close-ish to the TA we ended up in a dry horse shed lying on a questionably stained piece of carpet at about 11pm.  90mins later we were up and moving a darn lot faster than we were before the sleep.  It also meant we were able to push through and stay awake for the long paddle to the finish without falling asleep on the ever enticing long & wide river paddle.

Risk vs reward – GEAR (by Kim Beckinsale)

In every adventure race we have a mandatory gear list, however this, in reality, is the bare minimum gear list that you require if things go pear-shaped.  When I race I am always happy to carry a bit extra so that I am prepared in any situation, however when racing at the pointy end of the field many of these gear decisions are made by the team and based on discipline, leg / stage length, time of day and anticipated weather conditions. So much time before a race is spent gear selecting, sorting and shuffling, then when you get the maps and logistics, you sort and shuffle again and then as a team you check that you have everything where it needs to be! Then while you are out there it is about using the gear when you need it…..no point in carrying something if you are not going to use it!  Yes, it may mean you have to slow / stop but is the risk or slowing worth it???

Gear sorting - where it all begins - the calm before the storm

Day 1 – Stage 1 Paddle / Trek / Paddle – Glenn and Sloshy carried our mandatory gear for the 11k trek on this stage, I only carried a whistle and a water bottle and shoved food in my pockets. The strategy was for Liz and I to go light – risk was worth the reward as we nailed the trek 😊

Leg 1 - Run to Kayaks - Kim ,Liz and the team go light....because we were allowed!

We had decided to clear the paddle course and after the trek we still had more than 40k of paddling to go, I was cool earlier whilst paddling but warm from running.. I discussed putting on my jacket for the rest of the paddle – risk was that I would be too hot and have to take it off again or paddle slower to avoid overheating.  I took the chance and the reward was I was not freezing for the rest of the paddle, did not overheat and did not loose too much energy trying to stay warm. I was stuffed at the end of that stage, but who wouldn’t be after over 50k of paddling. So, we had cleared the first stage.

Leg 1 - Coasteer - Kim, Liz, Sloshy, Glenn

Day 1 Stage 2 MTB – When getting our gear sorted, we divided up the bike spares so that we were not all carrying tools, tubes etc. So, basically Liz and I gave our stuff to Glen and Sloshy to carry. We were at the furthest point out on the bike course when Sloshy’s tyre went flat, Sloshy tried some gas, but the air was still escaping through the valve. Time was ticking away as we had a 3am cut off, so, as a team we worked together helping make the change as quickly as possible. The first tube did not work, so we had to use a second and last tube?? What??? We only had 2 tubes with us…. we knew that team 3 points of contact were just up the road, should we ask if they can lend us a spare….just in case??? Definitely worth the risk! We were thankful that the tube held air for the remainder of the leg, we did not need to use the borrowed tube and we made the 3am cut off with just 20 mins to spare and had cleared the course at this point! Thanks to Nicole from 3points of Contact for the spare tube😊

Day 2 Stage 3 Trek – To tow or not tow that is the question!!! Right from the get go I was suffering! I was trying really hard, my head was spinning - should I say something???? So, I politely mentioned….’someone might need to tow me’. The response from the team at the time was not yeah sure – so the strategy applied by the team was to ‘carry my gear’ so I just had my pack and water. The team did not want to take the risk of towing too early, I could not keep up and felt like I was dragging the chain for the entire trek, out the back door like a poor little lost sheep ready to be pounced on by a fox or a dingo!  Liz, towed me for the last few hours…. I don’t think anyone knows how close I was to rock bottom at this stage, but I know the risk was worth it.

Trekking poles - worth their weight in gold - a must for expedition length AR

Day 2 &3 Stage 4 MTB – Guess what??? We carried extra tubes and spare batteries for lights - you don’t want to get caught out in the dark.  ðŸ˜Š

Day 3 & 4 Stage 5 Packraft / Trek / Packraft - There was a lot of strategy in this leg and it was difficult to calculate exactly where we would get to given dark zones in place and time available. However, this leg was the make or break for may teams and gear selection and equipment definitely made a difference. Should we carry a battery-operated pump / rely on the air bag – well I know now that this bit of kit is worth its weight in gold….it took less than 2 mins to fully inflate the raft. Throw bags were used to rescue gear and equipment, yes mandatory gear and always carried, but now the importance of having a throw bag accessible at all times was very, very clear!  Reminder to always pack and repack your throw bag before use, so it is ready for rescue – as you don’t need it until you do!  Liz and Glenn had to use the rope to try to release their raft from a strainer in the first 10 mins of the first packraft….if we didn’t have the gear and the knowledge of just how to use it, this could have been the end of our race and lives at risk.

Kim's Blue Alpacka Raft - So much gear! Dry Bags, Map Cases, Throw Bags, Jackets, Thermals.....

Dry Bags -  You can never have too many dry bags…. even better if you can clip them onto the raft – it might be heavy but you may just need your gear when / if things go pear-shaped. We finished the first section of the rafting right on the 6pm cut off, stars were shining so we laid our gear on the raft to dry, bummer for us when we finished the trek it was bucketing down with rain - our paddle gear soaked! No reward there - but we survived and just had to paddle hard to stay warm!

Map Case - yep definitely worth the extra time it takes to put the maps inside for paddle legs, better than losing the map altogether.

Day 4 & 5 Stage 6 MTB Trek MTB – As you can imagine in a race like this, you get a bit of chafing, sore feet, sore butt and sore everything. The risk of carrying some extra items and having that extra weight can help keep you and the team moving forward, so well worth their weight in gold – I carried a tube of Bepanthen, sunscreen and hand sanitiser, Liz carried Zinc, and Glenn carried a huge tub of Sudo Cream - GOLD!

Teams had access to bike boxes at every TA and either Box A, Box B or Paddle bag 

Day 5 Stage 7 Paddle to the finish – I took the risk of starting the paddle warm, so wore thermal top, long neoprene pants and gloves…. easier to take off layers than risk loss of energy trying to keep warm, also better sun protection and less risk of sunburn. Being toasty warm can make you want to fall asleep, but nothing that a bit of singing out loud can’t fix!

Risk vs reward – Nutrition (by Glenn Wilkinson)

Nutrition is always something to work on and look at ways to improve on, personally I was looking forward to seeing what others packed and how much people ate in an event such as this.


For Raid 100 we decided to pack 10hr food bags to distribute through the TA boxes for the race. This equated to approximately 2000 calories per bag. Day 1 and 2 worked out pretty well, we had regular team reminders to eat and drink which makes staying on top of energy loss a lot easier for everyone. As time progressed and disciplines changed, eating at regular intervals wasn't as easy, especially during paddle legs or whilst running!  A big take away for me during this race was food variety. By Day 3, the treats and sugar snacks started to harvest ulcers on the tongue and the thought of another Clif bar wasn’t so appealing. Thankfully Liz was like a walking vending machine and kept producing an array of gems like beef jerky, dried mango, licorice, and Byron Bay shortbread cookies. Another treat of special mention was Neil's sausages he was cooking up at the packraft/trek transition at CP60, what a man! We devoured a whole bunch of them while climbing a mountain and morale had never been so high! 


Given the lengths of some legs we all made a conscious effort to keep weight in our packs as low as possible, this meant relying on fresh water on the course and calculating the correct food quantities before we set off on each leg. This could have gone horribly wrong if our planning was not accurate, however, between the team we managed both food and water very well and yes, we did carry coke on every leg.  We topped up water from streams on numerous occasions and treated the water just to be sure it was clean enough to drink.  So, you should always pack and carry water purification tablets.

You can put hours and hours into planning food for events, but at the end of the day you need to pack what you think you want to eat, pack enough calories to get you through each leg and then when you are sick of your own food or can’t eat the entire lot, share it amongst your team as sometimes your most favourite food from a previous event can taste terrible the next time. 

So there you have it a bit of an insight of what happened out on course in terms of thinking….risk vs reward for team number 2 Tri Adventure Mountain Designs 2nd Place Raid 100 2022

The finish line of Raid 100 - Tri Adventure Mountain Designs - 2nd Overall

Next up….. Geoquest AR for the Mountain Designs Wild Women….hope to see you there!

Need some gear for you’re your next race…..well check out all of the gear at Mountain Designs online. 

Mountain Designs supporting Adventure Racing in Australia for over 20 years!

Thanks to Liam St Pierre for another Raid 100 

Liam - Raid 100 Race Director 

Thanks to all of the volunteers for your time and enthusiasm...where we would we all be with out you at the TAs , especially Jan for also editing our story, Greg, Michele and Mitchell Krome, Fiona and Richard Crossley and Heather Fearby for just being out there to make us smile!

Jan relaxes with Keith before map hand out!

Michele & Fiona at final TA - sending Andrew and Wendy off on the final kayak!

Finally congratulations to all of the Tri Adventure members in who were out there for finishing Raid 100, no easy feat, even for the adventurous!


Tri Adventure Girls 1 & 2 ( aka MD Wild Women)
The Brork Life
Sunshine Unicycles
Idodopes Redemption

Tri Adventure Girls - Amie, Cass, Eibhlin and Ali - aka Mountain Designs Wild Women

Team The Brork Life - Nathan, Kelsey, Stu, Mitch

Sunshine Unicycles - Andrew & Wendy

Isodopes Redemption - Ian and AP