Spring Challenge All Girl Race

Spring Challenge / 29.09.2015

The highly anticipated and largest of its kind 2015 Torpedo7 Spring Challenge was an absolute ripper of an event this year.

The event sold out in 12 days when opened for sign up in April, leading to over 420 teams taking part in the challenge and breaking the record for the Spring Challenge history. This year was the 9th edition of the popular event and being held in and around the stunning landscape of Wanaka, people were eager to get out there and explore the surrounds. The Torpedo7 Spring Challenge is an adventure race created to inspire more women to get into adventure sport. The course is designed for varying levels of expertise, including beginners and involves mountain biking, navigating, river rafting and hiking. Categories include 9 hour, 6 hour and 3 hour options with the 9 hour open section seeing world class athletes such as Sophie Hart and Susie Wood, who made up the Torpedo7 sponsored team along with Fleur Pawsey and were the defending winners of the 9 hour open team with an impressive time of 9:27:25.

Fleur commented on a “comedy of errors” that was made when the team took a couple of wrong turns they had hoped were going to save them time, but that only meant that the team “worked harder to get back in front,” with the highlight being on top of the Pisa Range.

For the less experienced chicks who were just curious as to what an adventure race is all about there was the 3 hour section which had just enough of a challenge to keep the heart-rate pumping without being too off putting – the focus was definitely on fun and participation! At the starting line along the beautiful beach of Lake Hawea a team dressed as superheroes and appropriately called The ‘Incredibles’ led the pumped up 3 hour participants in a relaxed warm up as the sun beamed down.

There was an overall feel of nervousness and excitement as well as relief that the event was the opposite to last year’s challenge set in Hokitika – where there had been mud, chilly temps and rain we enjoyed sunshine, mild spring temps and stunning views. The Dixie Chicks from Hokitika were especially stoked and were looking forward to a sense of achievement and hopefully getting to the finish line in one piece! The 3 hour section also focused on school age girls participating. One team, ‘The Ageing Disgracefullys’ had two members pull out due to sickness and injury, only to be replaced by their daughters – 15 and 13 years old who were nervous about falling out of the raft and had only a weeks’ notice to prepare, these girls were definitely ageing gracefully!        

Nathan Fa’avae, event organiser, highlighted a message of safety and to stay within your limits – overall the event was successful in being safe as well as challenging, with raft guides attached to each group and over 100 staff keeping things running smoothly. The rafting was especially fun and spectators were able to get a great viewing point along the Hawea river as one by one rafts came tumbling down the rapids, in good time only half an hour after kicking off with a 2km run. One team missed the rapid and were told they had to battle it out with the river to get back up onto the lip of the rapid, almost colliding with rafts which were coming down thick and fast. Finally they made it and were able to paddle onwards.

The mountain biking point where teams abandoned rafts and picked up their bikes was packed full of support teams mostly made up of the girls other halfs. The vibe was relaxed and ‘manly’ with a few bevvies in the sun being enjoyed. Some were there experiencing adventure racing from the other side of the coin, ‘Peak to Peak’ and ‘Coast to Coast’ regular Rob Rush and his mates were there in full support of their wives who were taking part for the first time in an adventure race. One had never been in a raft before – the guys had thought of everything and had all the equipment necessary for the next phase of the race at the ready. Rob commented that the Spring Challenge was the “greatest way to grow the grass roots of adventure racing with not too much to put em off, just the right amount (of challenges).” Support teams noted that the event organisers had done a fantastic job of including maps and a race that was easy to follow so that support teams could really be involved. 

At the finish line at Eely point the winners of 6 hour Veteran section ‘Bushwhacked’ were “stoked and stunned” to have made it across with a cracker time of 6:29:42 – locals of Wanaka who had made a pact not to run but had that rule promptly broken by Rachael Cassidy who was described as “obsessed and possessed” and set the pace for her other team mates. They had a stellar support crew who were integral to their win, in fact the support crews involved in the race were a stand out factor of the overall event meaning that everyone had to pull together to get through the day which encouraged a fantastic family friendly vibe. The Wanaka contingent continued to impress with local team The Trio winning the 3 hour open section with a time of 3:22:10. This year’s event was their first and they commented that the event was “Awesome!” with a fantastic course and curly checkpoints in the navigation section – They summed up their experience with “What a way to see Wanaka at its finest!” 

6 hour open section winners ‘The Minions’ represented young fit things at their finest, hailing from Rangiora and being naturally sporty chicks who love to run and bike they found the navigation section the hardest and the mountain biking the best bit with a well laid out track. Two teams – The Chopper Chix and Chicks - were also racing for an excellent cause; the Nelson/Marlborough Rescue Helicopters, led by Paula Muddle general manager of the rescue helicopters and supported by fellow participants who aimed to raise $21,000 – the cost of one rescue is $3,500 and they are also in desperate need of a new winch. The Givealittle page is still open to donations and after today’s fundraising effort the girls are well on their way to achieving their goal. Team member Debbie Edwards noted how friendly the race was with other teams helping them out when they were lost during the navigation section – the scenery also kept them going with stunning views!                                                                  

Overall race participants commented mostly on the beauty of the race course, the well-formed mountain bike track and the difficulty of the navigation section with rafting being the most fun. 9 hour teams also found the steep incline up that was included in the 64km mountain biking/hike the most difficult but the view on the descent was again noted as a worthy reward. The 2015 Torpedo7 Spring Challenge has certainly set a precedent for the upcoming years as the best yet and with the event having been set in such a fantastic location organisers now have their own challenge in bringing the 2016 Spring Challenge adventure factor up another notch! Appreciations go out to the QLDC for funding which helped to showcase this unique area of our country as well as the many sponsors involved which help to make this event the best all girl adventure race in the world.

In 2016 the Torpedo7 Spring Challenge will double in what it offers. To celebrate the 10th year, there will also be an event in the North Island.

Event Director Jodie Fa’avae says “for years North Island women have been asking us to take the event to the North Island, it’s taken us a while but we’re really excited to be hosting an event in Rotorua.

Spring Challenge SOUTH : GOLDEN BAY September 23rd-25th 2016

Spring Challenge NORTH : ROTORUA October 7th-9th 2016

For full results and all the details of the Spring Challenge events see http://www.springchallenge.co.nz/

­

See All Stories On This Race