Team Macpac Adventure Racing: Marysville 2 Melbourne Multisport Race

Last Sunday Fleur and I took on the inaugural M2M Multisport Race, dragging along Dave and Damon as our 'super-crews'. Fleur had a rough night Saturday night having eaten something slightly suspect .... not the ideal preparation. We began at 6.15am at first light with a 19km trail run from Marysville to Dom Dom Saddle. The race organisers would make excellent real estate agents as my GPS was reading over 20.5kms by the time I finished..... Fleur and I ran along together for the first few kilometres before going our separate ways. We all found the trails very slippery with the overnight torrential rain seeing our fair share of sliding crashes. Fleur and I came together again at the end of the run entering the TA within 4 seconds of each other. Once in TA it was a matter of searching for our cycling gear which Dave and Damon had randomly placed while we were running.

Once on the bike I had a great descent down the Black Spur, and then again down into Healsville. We were then in for a pleasant 8km climb then some undulations to Kinglake which marked the 50km point. I picked up an extra bottle here and proceeded to have a fun ~10km descent towards Eltham. With my new compact cranks fitted I spun out a few times, but appreciated them on a final few pinches which saw some guys around me off and walking - good times.... Fleur had a good ride, despite nearly throwing herself off her bike on the first corner having just had her brakes serviced. She too had a smile brought to her face riding passed fellow competitors walking up the same pinches :-)

Having not really prepared for running off the bike I knew the next 15km run on the Yarra Trail was going to be interesting. That is was, as the legs felt like jelly, and feet like ice blocks with the cool temperatures on the bike. I ran this leg like I was pushing the upper age limits of the Vintage category, even stopping at a public toilet on the way. Fleur on the other hand, after a few early wobbles said she would have been happy running all the way to Docklands! Right-o, maybe you can do that next weekend!

Into the next TA to the paddle leg I saw a couple of paddlers waiting to get on the water which I was keen to beat on and get a wash from them if I was up to it. I rushed through chasing Dave who was carrying my boat to the put in point about 100m upstream. I was quickly on a wash however was working quite hard in the turbulent and narrow waters. I stayed there for about 3kms before another friend pulled up beside me encouraging me to jump on. I did, but just long enough for us to compliment each other on our flash looking boats, before getting into my own rhythm for the remainder of the 31km paddle. I'd settled into a great rhythm until about 4kms before the portage around Dights Falls where I decided I'd better add a swim leg to the race, as it was clearly lacking one.... I lightly hit a fully submerged log and before I knew it I was swimming as my boat continued with the flow downstream. I completed my swim leg by sidestroking my boat to shore and perching up on a small tree root to re-mount my craft. Not too much time lost and I was again on my way with a couple of inches of water now (fortunately I had a pump). I was again chasing Dave and my boat down the Yarra Trail on the portage, struggling to catch up. Once in I was back in the high flow water heading for town. About 10kms from the finish the tide was coming in strongly but we had to stick to the middle to avoid the debris getting stuck on the nose and rudder. I passed quite a few more boats in the final few kms to finish the race just outside the 10 hour mark in 10:00.31 in 8th place.

Fleur too had a fun paddle despite also assisting with the dredging of the river with her rudder! She even made friends with a fellow competitor enough for him to stop and help clear her rudder. Fleur finished just as the sun was setting at 6.01pm in 15th place.