Big Bang 6hr Adventure Race
A Big Bang in the Sunshine
Press Release / 06.11.2013
The sun shone down on Saturday morning as 200 competitors, dressed in life jackets and wetsuits, waited patiently on the banks of the River Ohau just east of Levin, for the map that would determine their fate for the rest of the day.
The first part of the top secret course led the 58 enthusiastic teams on a tube down the Ohau River to collect 5 check points, with one submerged! A box containing numbered stones hung from the bridge and many teams fought to find their team number. This stone had to be carried for the remainder of the day and would form part of the prize giving for spot prizes.
A bush basing excursion along possum trails in DOC land East of Levin saw a few teams spending a good 3 hours navigating through the tendrils of supple jack!
Two teams from Taradale College were leading the field off of the next leg, a MTB along Gladstone Road, but two missed control points earlier in the navigation saw them drop back in the field with an automatic 2 hr time penalty.
The next navigation hike, heading north, dropped teams onto Heights Road just out of Shannon. It was this section of the race that saw the safety team, Horowhenua LandSAR, put their skills into practice with a few teams going off track.
A detour in this navigation leg incorporated a compulsory gear check, a new strict safety feature of the event with a check, clean dry station. Teams had to show marshals they were carrying all the gear required while standing in a tub of water and detergent to clean their shoes.
“Implementing the Check, Clean, Dry protocols was no hassle and it was great to know from an organiser’s perspective that competitors from around the country could come and enjoy themselves without the risk of spreading pests like didymo,” Says Carrie Yaxley, event director.
Pre warning of this kit check ensured no teams were disqualified at this stage.
The second detour at the end of this navigation involved the rolling of a die to determine the challenge. Wheel barrow races, 3 legged races or eating a lemon were among the challenges faced here.
The final piece of the race was another MTB through a forestry block, with a well earned descent into Mangore with the finish line at the Mangore Village Hall.
“We had an awesome day, teams came smiling in at the finish line and Mother Nature was on our side.” Says Ms. Yaxley
Swazi were a major sponsor of the event and Davey Hughes attended the prize giving, presenting the winning teams with Swazi merchandise.
The college team division was sponsored by Kapiti Skills Centre, the winning team ‘Opunake Boys’ collected their prizes with smiling faces.
3rd Place was the college team, “Opunake Boys” from Opunake College in a time of 6hrs30min18sec.
2nd Place were the “Opunake Old Boys” in 6hrs27min27sec
The overall winners team “Hide and Seek” from Wellington in a time of 6hrs24min23sec.
The date has already been set for the 2014 event on Saturday 1st November, mark the calendars
SleepMonsters
