Spring Challenge South Island
Team XXX Claim The Title At The 13th Spring Challenge
Press Release / 28.09.2019
Over 1,400 inspiring women took part in the world’s biggest adventure race today with Team XXX crossing the finish line in first place taking out the 9-hour category at Spring Challenge Cromwell today.
Racing together for 1st time with their team being put together just days before today’s race, Emily Wilson (Wanaka) Anna Dean (Maketu) and Laura Pattie (Christchurch) were delighted with their win.
“It was super fun to race with these girls out there today. Our team came together on Wednesday so it was a very last minute thing. There was some good tricky navigation at times which kept us on our toes and we loved the hills, some more than others,” said team navigator Emily Wilson.
The team crossed the Bendigo Station finish line around 4pm today having raced relatively non-stop for 10hours:7minutes:50seconds covering a total distance 80km.
Team Unicorn Dust made up of Belinda McCone, Sara O’Neil and Elise Johns took out second place in the 9-hour race. The team led the race for a short while in the early stages of the biking section but couldn’t hold onto the lead finishing in a time of 10hours:26 minutes:14seconds. Third place went to the Mountain Sloths who finished in 11hours:8 minutes:15seconds.
Spring Challenge founder and Race Director Nathan Faavae said many of the teams were challenged by the terrain.
“It’s been a busy day for our team with many of the 6 and 9 hour teams being challenged not only by the terrain but also the navigation. The map and compass work was very technical for this year’s event and it’s meant many teams have covered more ground than expected. The strong navigators took their opportunity to move to the front of the field.”
“The teams were extremely positive and remained in good spirits throughout the race despite being tired from a day of climbing and descending hills,” he says.
“The strong winds would have taken their toll but it’s been a warm and sunny day and the scenery around Bendigo Station was absolutely spectacular. We knew this was a challenging course and we forewarned teams that this year’s event was more about the adventure than the race and Bendigo Station certainly delivered a great race.”
Today’s race was sold out with 460 teams taking on rafting, biking and hiking stages across 3,6 and 9-hour courses around Bendigo station.
Spring Challenge Whanganui takes place on October 18th.
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