Mountain Designs Wild Women - The first ever all-women's team to win an ARWS Expedition Adventure Race

This is an insight into the Mountain Designs Wild Women and how as a team they became the first ever all women’s team in the world to win an ARWS expedition length adventure race - ARWS Legend XPD 2024! Yes, this group of 4 strong and capable, yet ordinary women have achieved what many in the sport once thought was unachievable! In our previous blog, we provided 10 simple explanations as to how this was achieved.....this is the expanded version with a few race highlights!

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Kim, Cass, Alina Del.

 Each member of the team has been racing for many years and have many years of experience in the sport, in fact we worked out more than 78 years.

So, we put this experience to the test in the race when Alina and Kim both got sick in the early stages of the race. Alina was seasick on the paddle (she forgot that she gets seasick) and Kim suddenly became ill on the 2^nd bike leg (Leg 5) less than 12 hours into the race. Because of our experience, we did not panic, so on the paddle we slowed, worked as a team and Kim kept paddling while Alina was ‘feeding the fish’ then on the following Trek, Del looked after Alina while Kim and Cass concentrated on finding the CP’s. 2.

Start of Legend XPD - Apollo Bay 10.30am Sunday 25 February 2024

Picture perfect day on the water for the start - the big swell has eased!

Mountain Designs Wild Women get off to a great start in perfect conditions!

Our youngest member of the team is over 40 and has at least 10 years of AR experience and our oldest is 56 – age is no barrier!

This event ended up being much shorter than we had anticipated, thus the potential for the need to be super-fast and efficient, was probably not in our favour. So, when up against strong, young fit teams, we have to call upon all that experience and not even think about age or gender, we just go out and get the job done.

Leg 2 - Trek along the coastline from Kennet River to Jamiesons Creek

Kim loves running on the rocks....brings back memories from the Lorne Anaconda & Keen Races.

Mountain Designs Wild Women lead the race heading into TA 2

Each member of the team has completed in, and finished, expedition length adventure races before in both mixed teams and women teams.

While our transitions have been identified as an area where the team can improve, the transitions from paddle to trek and then trek to bike and then bike to trek and then trek to bike were pretty quick, so this is partially why the Mountain Designs Wild Women did manage to get that early lead in the race, with expert navigation on the 1^st trek (Leg 2) and super quick transitions – because we have competed in plenty of AR events before where you have to pack and unpack your bikes, we were able to make smart wise choices and get out of the transition areas before the other teams saw us.

Go Pro Footage - All smiles at CP 3 - Leg 5 MTB - Start of the Great Ocean Road 

All the team members can navigate, and we share the role throughout the race.

When Kim’s physical state spiralled into a state of uncontrollable shaking on the Mountain bike, the rest of the team did the right thing, stopped, and rested (had a 45-minute sleep) and made sure Kim was comfortable. Then after Kim had a big loud spew (according to Del it was pretty loud) she was up and ready to go. But once again due to the experience of the team, they were not phased, and Alina then took on the 2nd navigator role in the team and Del ensured that Kim did not have to do too much work by carrying her gear for the rest of that leg and the next leg. Upon arrival in Forrest where the team chose to MTB again instead of TREK (there was a choice of order) again it was the experience that helped the team make this choice. The teams that had passed by during the night while the Wild Women were sleeping had all decided to take on the on the MTB first, so for the Forrest MTB trail Rogaine – Alina went to the front and had a ball! We did not leave Forrest after the MTB / TREK in front, but there was no panic, we looked after ourselves by enjoying a pie and coffee at the local café…. much better than a dehydrated meal.

Three of the four team members are mums with children ranging from 14 down to 3 years of age so they have excellent juggling skills, and the other is not a mum but a teacher, so we all just understand each other!

Kim was feeling better so was back on the maps with the navigation for the next bike leg, but instead of fanging it out of there the team just moved along efficiently, single file trying to make sure that no one person was doing too much work. When we passed team 8 looking for CP 13 (in the wrong place) we all had a quiet smile and a chat amongst ourselves and thought, wow – wonder if we are back in front now??? The transition onto the paddle was probably not our quickest, so we did give away a bit of time to the boys who were chasing us for the entire paddle down the Gellibrand River. This was a stunning paddle, and we were pretty excited to see a Fairy Penguin –yes really….it swam beside the kayak and danced in front of our eyes.

There are no egos out there, we just dig deep and get the job done when faced with challenging situations.

The kayak legs were the most challenging, at the end of the Gellibrand paddle we had a compulsory portage over a bridge, this is where you must carry your kayaks and all the gear. This was hard but we just worked as a team, and got the job done. Then on the next paddle, yes that now famous mud drag paddle – at Aire River we executed this again.

Nearing the end of the Gellibrand River - no one believed us that we saw Fairy Penguins

Kim and Alina portage the kayak...Cass and Del are way in front.... oh to be 10 years younger!

Del is on fire, so she runs back to get the bags......yep she's 10 years younger!

Our team captain is a quiet achiever who leads the team with diplomacy and the utmost integrity, so we have this super safe and supportive bubble to lift and carry us from the start to the finish.

So, when it comes to rules, Kim is a stickler for making sure everyone does the right thing, not that anyone would deliberately do differently, sometimes if you don’t think or are not aware you can make a mistake and receive a penalty. As so as it became apparent on the kayak in Leg 11 that there was little or no water to paddle in, Kim reminded the team that we would have to always drag the kayaks with us and them within 25m of us and despite this seeming to be an impossible feat, we proved that anything is possible if you just put your mind to it.

Live tracking showed MDWW (1) got all of the CP's on the paddle and MMI (8) did not!

We have women in the team with different personalities, so without even thinking, we have managed to implement the 6 thinking hats process and we can jump from one to the other seamlessly!  White – facts; Yellow – positives; Black – risks & difficulties: red – feelings & intuition; green – possibilities & alternatives; blue – keeps the group under control.

The Mountain Designs Wild women know each other well and each team member brings to each event a different set of skills and abilities, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and we are well aware of those, but it is what we can do out on the course to maximise our strengths and weaknesses is what helps the team to keep moving forward and minimising any mistakes. For instance, Kim suggested that Alina navigate Leg 10 the 12 Apostles MTB / Trek, because she is a good lateral thinker, Del was obviously the strongest on the bike, so every time we were on the bitumen, she would just jump in front, and we would all try to hang on. Cass the quiet achiever is always there thinking too, and she can put forward some great ideas and solutions whenever the need arises. 

The 12 Apostles on Sunset - we missed the sunset but this what it looked like, we just had to imagine!

So, when faced with a mud drag that was seemingly impossible, we just go on with it and worked out solutions to make the job faster easier and more efficient. This proved to be the crux of the race, as the chasing team did not think they could ‘drag their kayaks through the mud’ so missed 2 CP’s. The Wild Women were totally shocked to see Team 8 MMI pull up beside them when they pulled into the final TA of the event at the end of that paddle, but soon became clear that the Wild Women had so far cleared the course and Team 8 MMI had not.

The fun factor is a huge part of what we take out on the course with us – we know we are going to have to suffer at times, so being able to do sing a little song, or do a little dance and name a new day….’Wild Wednesday’ keeps those spirits running high.

We have heaps of fun out there always and enjoy playing little fun games when we are trying to keep the sleep monsters at bay. We also enjoy seeing other teams out on course and are spurred on by the thought of competition. As an all-women’s team we were never eligible for the major prize as in Adventure racing the ‘Premier Category is Mixed’ so the biggest battle in this race was between two teams who were both just racing for the honour of just doing the best they could do. So, there was definitely a bit of healthy banter out there between the Mountain Designs Wild Women and MMI. They would have been able to hear us from a mile away when we passed them while they were sleeping – we were singing and laughing just to try and stay awake and get our tired and exhausted legs all the way to the finish line. Wild Wednesday was the wildest day ever!

Go Pro Footage - 48k Trek - High up on the hills in the Otways - over 2000m of elevation on this leg.

Go Pro Footage - Alina forgot to pack a cap, so fashioned one out of a buff and a foil wrapper

Go Pro Footage - all smiles after punching the last CP on the final trek.....just go to get to the finish!

We love and respect nature and the environment - so we are out there searching for cool stuff that without being in this sport, we would never get to see.

The Legend XPD course produced by Chris Dixon and the Wild&Co team, was so amazing and there were so many spectacular parts of the race that we now have etched in our memories. The ocean paddle was just stunning and the views along the great ocean road at various times through the race, was just so captivating. The fact that you can just immerse yourself in nature and hang out with some of your best buddies is what makes the sport of AR so special but different to any other.  This is why the Mountain Designs Wild Women are still out there racing!

Go Pro Footage - we saw these amazing tree ferns on the final trek along the Great Ocean Walk

Go Pro Footage - It's Wild Wednesday and 'here comes the sun'

The long hard slog to the finish line, hoping the finish line adrenaline to kick in soon!

The finish is just a few steps away and the reality starts to sink in!

‘Anything is possible in this world’ – Icehouse – Code Blue Album 1990

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Historical win at Legend XPD 2024

Mountain Designs Wild Women - in recovery on the couch!

Post Event Presentations - with Chris Dixon - Race Director 

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Kim, Del and Alina with CEO of the ARWS Heidi Muller

Mountain Designs Wild Women 

Kim Beckinsale – Queensland - 56

Alina Mc Master – Canberra - 55

Del Lloyd – Victoria - 44

Cass Kimlin – Queensland - 42

 "Adventure Racing is certainly not for everyone, but if you love the outdoors, love nature, love maps and challenging yourself climbing mountains, then there is nothing stopping anyone from achieving something remarkable in their lives. Age is no barrier - anything is possible!”

Kim Beckinsale Mountain Designs Wild Women – Born of the Mountains

Photo Credit - Wild&Co Facebook - Margarete Oti - margareteoti.com

If you have enjoyed reading this blog, well here are a few extra links that may be of interest if you are thinking of taking on and expedition adventure race and or in fact just signing up to something really small to get you started...... after the race we were interviewed by Brian Gatens from the Darkzone Podcast and by Stephanie and Abbie from the Women of AR. If you want to listen, click on the links below!

DarkZone: An Adventure Racing Podcast - Mountain Designs Wild Women - Winners of Legend XPD

Women of AR Legend XPD Debrief with Mountain Designs Wild Women

Kim has also put together a short video of our race and shared via the triadventure1 You Tube Channel 1, so here is the link if you have a spare 20 minutes or so.....spoiler alert.....it does show some footage of the kayak mud drag.

Mountain Designs Wild Women - Legend XPD 2024 - You Tube

So what do the Mountain Designs Wild Women do after a race??? Why not just go and jump in that great big ocean and go back and spend some time exploring some of the course highlights!

Thanks to Morgan from MMI for taking all of these pics on my phone! 

We tried to run to the water!

It was more like a hobble!

Ready for the cold therapy!

 Mountain Designs Wild Women - trying to wash off the mud from our jerseys!

Photo Credit - Margarete Otti- Chris, Heidi, Di, Kim, Jan (RD;CEO;Logistics;MDWW;Referee) 

Photo credit Margarette Otti - Kim, Jan, Heidi, Chris, Di

Photo Credit Margarette Otti - The Legend XPD 2024 - Nothing but iconic!