Adventure Racing Training Weekend....Done and Dusted

Crash Course
Adventure Racing Learnt Quickly

The inaugural Crash Course Adventure Racing Training Weekend last weekend saw a great turnout of close to 60 racers of all ages, skills and experience level in the adventure paradise of Rotorua.

A concept created by MADeventz and Team Orion Health, this was an opportunity for all adventure racers to practice their skills, learn new ones and pick the brains of some of New Zealand's best Adventure racers. There was an array of experienced coaches and despite the absence of Wayne Oxenham, involved in a reality TV Show in China, there were still five racers who have been on the podium at the World Championsip level, as well as some very talented and enthusiastic domestic racers.

The weekend started with a mountain bike navigation event in Highlands Forest. This was in a rogaine format and competitors had two hours to find as many checkpoints as possible. While the conditions seemed tame there were a couple of big crashes on loose gravel. Kane Alward came back with a damaged hand, while Stu Lynch of all people managed to cover most of his back with gravel rash. However everyone came back happy, none more so than the big group from Thames High School whose enthusiasm and comptitiveness became a feature of all activities throughout the weekend.

Leaving the forest we headed to the event HQ which was announced as the Rotorua Watersports Centre. A very fine venue on the waterfront with plenty of space for an array of AR doubles. The kayak navigation exercise saw people paddling through and past the volcanic attractions of the Rotorua waterfront. Boiling mudpools and hissing geysers were carefully avoided, by paddlers, but the murky waters of Sulphur point had to be crossed. Two tight streams also tested skills and manouverability of vessels, especially when it came time to turn around! Due to the generosity of many boat owners we managed to introduce a few newbies to the joy of kayaking and this certainly added to the community feel of the event.

Back to dry land and the next exercise was an urban trek in downtown Rotovegas. Teams navigated off a high resolution aerial photo obtained from Google Earth and explored alleyways and marginal bush land attempting to find the hidden checkpoints. Real good feedback about this exercise suggested that this style of navigation should be used more in AR in New Zealand. It was a pretty relaxed affair getting through these last two activities and the exercise was supplemented by food and drink as the BBQ got cranking and the AR chatter intensified. A couple of highlights were the keen young fellas convinced to take a spin in the advantage, which provided much entertainment especially due to the shallowness of the water, allowing a few self righting efforts :-)

Sooner than expected 7.30 rolled around and we headed inside to listen to the much anticipated presentation of New Zealand's top Adventure Racing Team, Team Orion Health. The presentation started with a 30minute video of the recent Eco-Motion Expedition Race in which they had finished 3rd. The video also focussed on Neil Jones, who was present for the weekend with his boys Daniel and Brad, the next generation of Adventure Racers! Following the video Stu Lynch, Brent Edwards and Anna Berthelson all spoke on their sporting background and their experiences competing in adventure racing with Team Orion Health. It was a very interesting presetation with something for everyone to learn. The careful thought and effort that these guys put into AR is only subsumed by their eagerness to share their knowledge and help people along their way.

While it was getting late (a bit of sleep deprivation going on) the show had to continue, first with great spot prizes from the awesome sponsors: Go-Lite, Mion, Thule and POLAR and then with a detailed (but quick:-) briefing for the "scenario" exercise for Sunday. This exercise, the first of its type in the world (well as far as we know) attempted to simulate the problems encountered in an expedition race in the space of the morning, and despite some initial scepticism had people raving at the end. While there was a relatively simple and short course to navigate around on foot and by bike the real feature of the exercise was the role playing that all competitors had to do, some highlights were...

1) A competitor who had to separate from his group and get a mechanical...ensuring much laughter when the team mates had to bike back up the hill
2) Competitors who had various problems such as "hitting the wall" and blisters which had to be identified and treated by team mates
3) A competitor who got "Get Home Itis" deliberately making a navigational mistake near the end of a leg when the navigators had switched off.

With 15 teams on the course it felt like a real race and there were plenty of other teams to observe. The feedback from experienced expedition racers suggested that the scenarios were accurate and simulated problems that are really encountered on the course. So all in all it was a success and the hope is to repeat the weekend in some format sometime in the future. The focus of MADeventz and the AR community now switches to the Adventure Taupo race on the 15/16th of December, which is lining up to be a great social race with interesting and appropriate challenges for all levels of competitor.