Last years inaugural
Adventure Junkie X-Marathon was one of the best races of 2011. The hot weather made it the going tough, but we(Kathryn and Rob) were pretty satisfied with our 2
nd place behind Peak Adventure (all male) and claiming the scalps of then World Champions Jackie and Mimi of Team Thule. The tough course and highest quality competition made the X-Marathon a race to look forward to in 2012. The 2 person team format makes the race a bit different and changes the dynamics a bit compared to 4 person teams. And the chance to use your own kayaks is another attraction of theX-marathon. The race location was Lake Eildon, but on the far side from Melbourne. Judging by the number of campsites there it’s a very popular holiday destination in summer.
Just after arriving at race HQ, the heavens opened and everyone scurried for cover making the race planning a bit difficult. But after a short delay the 3 X-marathon courses- PRO (24hrs), Adventure (12hrs) and Lite Course(6hrs) got underway. The first surprise leg was a short 4km run, but involved plotting of the CP’s from bearing and distance. We got off to a quick start just running on the compass bearing before deciding we should probably be a bit more careful and plot the locations. After a bit of a dispute about whether the bearings were all taken from the start, or from the next CP we managed to find the 3 controls and get back to TA in the lead. And it was quite a handy lead of 10mins on Peak Adventure and 45mins on rivals and ex-team mates Damon Goerke and Josh Street (The Mexicans).
Leg 2- 14km Kayak.
While it didn’t rain on this leg, it was predominately into a howling wind. My Red 7 double surf ski is a brilliant boat for most conditions. However we lack the grunt to really get it up to top speed into the wind. We found the first few CP’s quite well, but soon enough Peak Adventure pulled into the lead. It was a relief to get to the far CP and turn back towards TA1 with the wind at our backs. We arrived in TA a few mins after Peak Adventure and headed out on Trek 1.
Leg 3- 10km trek
It didn’t take long to realise that the hills around Lake Eildon were steep. Very steep. After a couple of easy CP’s on the lake shore we had a couple of climbs and caught Peak Adventure as they had taken a different route. The humidity was overbearing until the storm broke and both teams ran into transition together getting a good soaking.
Leg 4- Kayak 8km
There was a quick discussion with Peak Adventure about the electrical storm before we headed back to the start/finish by kayak. The wind had actually dropped off but there was plenty of lightning and thunder about. We managed to keep the gap to PA quite small and they were just rolling out on the MTB leg as we transitioned and still no sign of anyone behind.
Leg 5- 60km MTB
Despite the heavy rain the tracks for the mountain bike leg stayed in pretty good condition. The course started south along the lake edge before almos tan hour of climbing up to the 2nd CP near the top of the ridge. By the time we descended to the lake side on the west the conditions of the day were unrecognisable compared to a few hours ago. Blue skies, a pleasant drop in humidity and some great views over to Eildon township made the rest of the ridevery enjoyable.
Leg 6- 15km Trek
We finished the MTB just before dark, and this was a little ahead of expectations. The 2
nd trek stage could be done in anyorder, though the two main options were clockwise or anticlockwise. We had planned our route going anti-clockwise, starting with the big climb to 51,57. Kathryn had a sneaky Coke in transition and took off up the hill, while I started to drag the chain a bit. As soon at the sun was setting, I felt like a couple of busy weeks all caught up on me. As we descended into CP56 it was fully dark and we expected this was probably the hardest control of the course. While we tried to take a safe route, down the creek to the second creek junction before climbing 2 contours back onto the small spur. However the boundary of the native forest to pine plantation threw us a bit and we must have just climbed a bit to far and over the spur. When we realised we were lost we headed downhill to relocate on the track beneath the control. Unfortunately it was impossible to relocate there either so we jogged another km down to a major junction then carefully counted the gullies coming back. After losing about 60mins we found the control and headed back up the spur hoping everyone else had trouble with it. While descending the steep hill to CP55 we came across Damon and Josh coming up. After a quick chat, and warning to them about the difficult upcoming control, we continued knowing we would be pretty close in time. However Damon and Josh nailed CP56 while we lost another hour looking for CP56. It was in a vague shallow creek junction in pine plantation and while we were in the circle we just couldn't find the flag. On our 7th approach from different directions we finally spied the flag, though I was already having thoughts that we would just have to take the penalty. The remainder of the trek to CP54, 53 and 52 was uneventful but we were starting to get tired as the clock moved past midnight.
Leg 7- 30km MTB
Back in transition it was disappointing to hear we were now 90mins behind Peak Adventure and 70mins behind The Mexicans with two legs left. The 2nd bike leg included a roadbook descriptions which have caused some trouble in other races we'd done. However we got through this leg without drama but it was tough physically with lots of steep climbs and descents.
Leg 8- 4km Kayak
As we transitioned for the last time we saw the lead teams enjoying a post race feed. Not long now...Onto the Red 7 for the last time to collect 3 More controls. Navigating a lake at night is much harder than day time and we were pretty relieved to find CP37. Unfortunately we didn't find CP38 so easily, having to backtrack the whole leg to make sure we were in the correct place before eventually spying the flag on a tree 50m from shore. We were very relieved to find CP39 without drama and get back to the finish, just as it was getting light. The race had certainly thrown plenty of challenges at us but to finish 3rd behind Peak Adventure and the Mexicans was a good result, and 1st in the Mixed Category too. The race time of 18hrs 13 mins was a bit longer than we anticipated, and certainly made getting back to work for nightshift at 7pm the toughest part of the weekend!
Full results
Thanks again to the organisers Serge and Maria (and volunteers) for the huge amount of time and effort they put into organising a race of the highest standard.
And again a massive thank you to our naming sponsor-
Macpac.
And associate sponsors-
Shotz Nutrition,
SILVA,
Ayup Lights,
Moxie Gear gaiters and
Aussie Butt Cream,
The Latrobe Valley Express had a
nice article on the race.
It didn’t take long to realise that the hills around Lake Eildon were steep. Very steep. After a couple of easy CP’s on the lake shore we had a couple of climbs and caught Peak Adventure as they had taken a different route. The humidity was overbearing until the storm broke and both teams ran into transition together getting a good soaking.
