All in Ulladulla

Rob Howard / 08.11.2016

Like a juggernaut moving through low gears the 2016 AR World Championships is gaining momentum.

With 94 teams racing this is a huge expedition race, possibly the biggest ever, and certainly the most competitive and the most international. Teams have travelled from all over the world and their arrival here follows many months, and  years, of training and preparation, fund raising and sponsor seeking. They have spent long hours away from their families before even making this trip, made financial sacrifices, and strong commitments to their team mates.

They have invested a lot to be here, and now it’s all about to really happen. 

Last night’s prologue helped break some of the pre-race tension and nerves.  It was just for fun and 3 teams were put together so they could get to know each other as they strolled around a short course during the evening carrying their national flags.  It was a pleasant stroll along the beach with a series of 4 fun ‘aussie challenges’ to complete – kicking a football, eating a vegemite sandwich, racing along the beach carrying an Eskey (coolbox) in flip flops, and a life-saving inspired beach sprint.  I heard a few teams say how enjoyable it was and that it was the best prologue they’d done.  (Not everyone likes having a prologue anyway.)

This all finished up on Mollymook beach where there were inflatable ‘couches’ to lounge on while waiting for the opening ceremony and a beach B-B-Q meal of course.  In keeping with the night the ceremony was not too formal, it was really just a chance to welcome the teams to the Shoalhaven region and the town of Ulladulla.

Today has been all about administration and testing.  Yes, even in the free spirited world of adventure racing there are forms to fill out, formalities to satisfy and some due diligence to be done.

Registration required team’s proof of nationality as for the first time, as three must be from the same country, which the teams will represent.  The nationality rules have been gradually introduced to get to this point, but they are not universally popular with many teams, who prefer the freedom to choose team mates for reasons other than nationality.  (It throws up a few anomalies too – like former World ranked #1 team Columbia Vidaraid changing from Spanish/Brazilian to a US team – as they all have US residency.)

Having so many nationalities and languages is a challenge for everyone and the race has done as much as they can to address this.  All visiting international teams have been given a ‘race buddy’ to help with anything they might need, anything from food shopping and where to buy a battery, to helping retrieve bikes delayed in transit, all of which one buddy I spoke to had dealt with.

At registration today there was also a rules and regulation table where staff and one of the race referees went through the rules with teams, and as best they could tried ensure everyone understood them.

There were team photos to take, some testing to be done on basic skills in the bay opposite HQ, a medical briefing and equipment check to be made. There was also a table for going over use of the YB satellite trackers all the teams will carry.  These will report positions every 15 minutes so race followers around the world can follow teams all around the course, and the units can also send and receive messages so teams are instructed to check each morning for any updates from the race (course changes for example). The YB units can also of course send an emergency rescue signal if required.

Apart from the formalities teams have to prepare their kit. (One bike box each, 4 kit trunks and 1 paddle bag per team.)  This is done in a secure compound near HQ and is being done before they see the course, which won’t happen until tomorrow.  (They have the outline details which are publically released ahead of the race, but not the detailed route book and maps.) 

All of this amounts to A LOT of equipment and the race logistics team will be moving around over 1000 equipment items, which do of course all have to be in the right place at the right time.  It is an immense task, and a critical one, so the box and bike luggers are essential and like all the race staff they are steadily working away in the background to make sure everything runs smoothly.

There is shopping to do as well – and the race welcome pack show the location of the town’s 3 supermarkets who were warned in advance of a run on super noodles the like of which they’ll never witness again! 

Warren Bates of the Godzone Adventure Team said, “This works for me as an HQ town. Big cities are too impersonal and confusing, and smaller towns don’t have the facilities – Ulladulla is just right.” He is a World Series Race Director so was looking at the set up from both a racers and race organisers point of view.

It is a lovely town to be in, with a small bay and harbour opposite the Civic Centre, which is the base for HQ and has plenty of lawn space around it, ample meeting rooms and wifi from the local library – a great coffee shop too. (And it’s very busy!)  All of the shops are a short walk away and the icing on the cake is that it’s common to see migrating whales and dolphins offshore.

Registration will go on through the day today, taking about 2 hours per team, and tonight teams are free to relax – as best they can anyway.  Then tomorrow morning at 07.30 the teams will go into ‘Lock Down’ – this is when the maps and route are issued, phones they carry with them as an emergency back-up are sealed, and no electronic communication is allowed .  (So they can’t go onto Google maps and check out the course or ask anyone else about the places they are going to!)

Then at 10.00 its time to board the bus and drive to the start, which takes place at 12.30 ... somewhere nearby!  (I can’t tell you any more about the course until lock down has happened.)

[You can see the course outline and find out all about the race about http://arworldseries.com/, where there is a link to the live tracking webpage.]

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