Saddest day for Australian Adventure Racing

Rosi / 22.09.2004

Those watching the SPQ site keenly as AROC was leading the race in formiddable style would have suspected something was up when updates to the site stopped completely.

Unfortunately for everyone there was more pressing things to worry about with the accident occuring, and as news filtered through to Australia those aware of it have struggled to come to terms with such a tragedy.

Details of exactly what happened are sketchy so far, however it is understood that there was a freak landslide which hit the two leading teams AROC and Montrail who were racing together at the time.

AROC (Tom Landon-Smith, Alina McMaster, Matt Dalziel, Nigel Aylott) and Montrail (John Jacoby, Rebecca Rusch, Guy Andrews, Novak Thompson) had been racing together for that section of the race, and are all good friends, having raced together in various teams over the years.

Nigel was reportedly up the front and head injuries sustained caused his death. There were reportedly injuries to John Jacoby, however this is not confirmed. No-one else was badly injured in the accident.

The race has been stopped, and no word yet on whether it will continue or not.

Nigel Aylott is one of the true legends of adventure racing in Australia, who is always there in every race he can be, and usually winning. He is widely known for his running prowess, and his list of podium finishes is exremely impressive. More than this he was a real character - passionate, dedicated, energetic - constantly on the go.

He was always good humoured and friendly, and has been an integral part of the AROC team phenomenon. Racing alongside team AROC was always a blast. Fun, friendly, funny - no hilarious, competitive, talented, but most of all fun, and Nigel was a big part of that.

The constant ribbing about finding him a wife, which started as a small joke and turned into a mantra will be remembered by this generation of adventure racers for a long time. No doubt there\'s a beautiful bride awaiting him wherever he is now!

I guess there\'s always the risk of an accident in a sport like adventure racing, but a freak accident like this one is hard to take. There is some solace in that when the accident occurred he truly was doing what he loved most - racing with a team of awesome mates and winning!

Its difficult to imagine an Australian adventure race without Nigel there.

All our thoughts are with Nigel\'s family and friends, and the rest of his team - AROC.