Wildside Adventure Race

Setting the Baseline

Richard Old / 07.10.2014

Being the very first Wildside Adventure Race it was important early to set a baseline for what teams could expect over the next 500ks as they journey to the finish line. Fully Rad Adventure did this creatively by withholding the start location, first leg and start time until teams arrived by bus to the start location.

At 4pm bus from Forster took teams 40minutes out of town to Great Lakes Paddocks at the back of Wallis Lake. This winery and beef farm was the perfect setting – a calm pocket before the race storm that to come. Teams arrived obviously ready to race and were quickly told details on leg 1 and then the start time – 1 a.m. Quickly they had to readjust their plans. After Angus burgers for dinner teams went to their tents to plan Leg 1 and get some sleep.

By midnight it was a hive of activity again with teams getting their trackers, sorting gear and moving to the start line.

At 1am under a near full moon they were off – trekking 37km to the small lakeside township of Coomba.  Instantly teams were darting off in different directions – all looking for the best route up the hills towards CP1.

Midway in the leg there was a swim across the Wallingat River put in for good measure. On the other side teams were greeted with multiple route options – all with their pro’s and con’s.  After the swim teams trekked to the first high point – Whoota Lookout – from there it was a ridgeline traverse then down to the lake.

At sunrise teams started to arrive at TA1 ready to tackle the 35km paddle to Nabiac. This still water paddle took teams across the back of Wallis Lake and into the Wallamba River. A few CPs along the way broke up the distance.

Team Mountain Designs broke to the front early and steadily grew their lead. The next 3 teams all jockeyed for position – Tiger Adventure, Stromlonauts and IB Bandits.

A similar race was on with the Pairs with all 4 teams very close to each other for most of the day.

Leg 3 was a mountain bike through the Kiwarrak State Forest stopping at a local single track park for a challenging rogaine. With a rabbit warren of tracks the rogaine challenged a number of teams. The end result was times ranging from an hour to 3 hours.  Obviously some fared better than others with the tricky nav.

As the sun set on Day 1 teams were hitting the water and paddling down the Manning River towards Coopernook.

You can follow the live race tracking and see more photos at http://www.wildsideadventurerace.com.au/info/live-race-tracking

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