The annual migration to the mid-north NSW coast on the June long weekend has arrived. Now in its 12th year, Geoquest 48hr Adventure Race has for a long time been THE race to win on the Australian AR calendar. Team Macpac's Damon Goerke has been on the start line for every race- winning 4 times including the last 3, and the inaugural 2002 race. It is interesting when you look down the Wall of honour that there have been no back-to-back wins with exactly the same team line up. It is a testimate to the difficulty of maintaining a consistent team roster with different life schedules and priorities. We have retained 3 members of our 2012 winning team, Rob, Kathryn and Damon, and are joined by Peak Adventure's Jarad Kohlar after Richard Mountstephens wasn't able to race. You might be surprised to hear how hard it was to fill our 4th position, so we are fortunate to have Australia's king of Multisport in the team.
We have had a couple of good weeks of training and racing. Last weekend Rob and Kathryn won the Mountain Designs ARA race in Creswick Victoria. The 4 hr race was a great chance to practice some faster pace nav and transitions. And two weeks ago we won a local 6hr rogaine ahead of 2nd placed Damon and Jarad. So fingered crossed for a split-leg this year!
The race location is in Harrington, on the north side of the Manning River mouth not far from Taree. Having competing in many Geoquest's on the mid-north NSW coast we know pretty well what to expect. Great beaches and headlands normally feature on the trek legs, with some biggest hills and dense forests as you move into the hinterland. There will also be plenty of big waterways and the Manning River is sure to feature. I grew up near Newcastle and spent many summer holidays a bit further north in North Haven and its an area with great memories. I'm expecting a climb over Middle or North Brother and a ride through the Comboyne Valley should feature in the course.But there are sure to be some great unexpected locations, something race organisers Geocentric are always good at finding.
The race starts at 8am Saturday morning and the winners are expected to take between 30-36hrs. A link to the live update site will be posted at www.geoquest.com.au tonight. There will be live GPS tracking which is always entertaining if you can't get any sleep tomorrow night than log on and watch the dots.
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