Adventure Racing World Championship 2016
Trekking in Murramarang
Rob Howard / 11.11.2016
While the leaders continued their rapid progress around the course, many the teams in the middle and back half of the race were still on stage 5 in the Murramarang National Park this afternoon, and what a stage it was.
Those who trekked along the coast during the daytime got to see some magnificent coastal scenery and their slower pace meant they could enjoy the cliffs, beaches, lagoons, rivers and forests for longer. These are the teams who are on more of an ‘expedition’ than a ‘race’, and they got their money’s worth today!
Much of the time they were on the beach, which is a great place to be, though the soft sand is hard going and tiring after a while. They started with Merry Beach, then Pretty Beach, Island Beach, Pebbly Beach , and many, many more. There were also sections in the forest so teams could climb around headlands when the beach and foreshore were impassable at high tide. (The forest in the park is one of the biggest stands of Spotted Gums in NSW.)
There were countless bays and quite a few rocky headlands to scramble around, plus some sections of minor road and one big river crossing, which was at the mouth of Durras Lake. This was formerly a lagoon protected by a sand bar (and the map still showed this), but the sand bar is now breached and teams came to a 200m wide and fast flowing channel which they had to wade across.
I watched a few teams pick a route across, some ending up in very deep water for a while and others walking down the middle of the river to try and find a way across the fast flowing channel on the far side. Those I saw hitched their bags onto their heads and waded across as they were, but there were some outbreaks of mass nude bathing I’m told!
I met the Colombian team Raidaran Trangoworld just after they had crossed and Jorge Llano (the Race Director of this year’s Huairasinchi event) told me, “The scenery was so amazing on this trek, I think some of the best I’ve ever seen in a race. Fantastic.”
He added, “We are not such strong paddlers so it is a slower start to the race for us, but we are all OK and we will get to the finish line. That is what matters.”
Sometime later Jugernauts came along and took a unique approach to getting the diminutive Ali Watts across the water – Isak Myer who is probably the tallest man in the race, simply put her over his shoulder and carried her! It was team work at its best. Kurt Lynn told me, “Ali gets really cold so we are trying to look after her.” For her part Ali said, “I thought of carrying Sakkie instead, but decided against it!” Now that would have been a picture.
There was one more interesting water crossing before the end of the stage across a broad creek close to the finish at Batemans Bay but this time teams got a ride across on a kayak. The reason given was that sharks were breeding in the area! However, the marshal felt that the oysters on the river bed were more of a hazard as they would cut racers feet if they tried to wade.
On the second night of the race there are still many teams on this stage, probably half of the race field. It’s just a pity they won’t get to see the scenery of the Murramarang as the trek.
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