ARC 24/12 Hour Adventure Race
The Call of Coromandel
Michael D. Jacques / 07.04.2003
More than 100 entrants took on the demanding Coromandel course, which also doubled as the opening round of the Sportzhub.com New Zealand Adventure Racing Series. In a race billed as “The Search for El Dorado,� competitors started from Whitianga at 7am on Saturday for a non-stop 24-hour tour of the remotest and most gruelling areas of the Coromandel Peninsula.
Using the classic adventure racing format where the course is kept secret until 12 hours before start time, competitors navigated their way via a mixture of running, mountain biking and various adventure skills sections such as caving, rope skills and shooting. The race up front was dominated by the Sportzhub.com duo of Neil Gellatly and Steve Knowles, who took the race by the horns to lead from start to finish. But their race was almost over before it began after some spectacular surfing at the end of the opening stage.
Surfs Up
The 142km event opened with a 16km kayak from the Whitianga start line to Hot Water Beach. Some spectacular surf saw the race favourites stand their two-man kayak on its nose, pirouetting 180 degrees to be deposited unceremoniously on the beach. Most teams fared similarly, however, with the scene at times looking more akin to a sea swim, and after a short but rugged 60min trek around the coastal cliffs Gellatly and Knowles had established themselves as the team to beat.
Moving into a 35km mountain bike stage, the Sportzhub duo had a 5min lead over the Auckland-based Team Green Decoys. But it was the Team Icebug duo of Taupo’s Craig Stevens and former German professional cyclist Marcel Hagener who would prove the bigger adversary.
Stevens and Hagener trailed 10min behind after these opening two legs, but were expected to make a move on the lead during this mountain bike ride. However, in a tactical play that could have resulted in a repeat of last year, when Sportzhub were first across the line but lost due to penalty time, Gellatly and Knowles extended their lead by bypassing a rifle shooting option.
By missing the ARC rifle shoot Sportzhub incurred a 20min time penalty. However the time saved in navigation, travel and shooting time saw them take a 15min lead into the key stage of the event, a five-hour, 33km trek across the rugged and remote Coromandel Pinnacles.
Eel Attack!
The trek involved sections through old underground gold mines and often followed nothing but boulder-strewn riverbeds. Second placed Team Icebug learnt first hand how remote the area was when attacked by a mountain river eel measuring as long as them. Meanwhile, Sportzhub used their lead to make fast time during daylight, eventually emerging from this remote range with a 45min lead.
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