Race Home
Keen III sees some new innovations to make your life easier. For the first time, support crew will NOT be required. We certainly encourage you to bring your friends & family down as the stage racing format means you get to spend the evenings recanting your tales of woe from the day’s racing; plus it’s always nice to have someone cook you up a big bowl of spag bol when you’re cactus’ed ... however if finding a crew has been a problem for you in the past, then this time the excuses have disappeared. Simply get yourself and your gear to the start line and we’ll do the rest. Get out the door, train hard and mark September 1st, 2008 in your diaries, - this is when entries will be opening. “I really can't say enough about my Keen AR experience. I think you guys have several things going for you: supreme organization, great course, a winning format and all run in a great spirit that transcended all racers, supporters and organizers.” Gordon Walker (NZL) 2007 individual multisport World Champion and winner, 2007 Keen Adventure Race (Great Ocean Road) For footage from the first Keen Adventure Race (Great Ocean Road, March 2007), click here to go to the event video on youtube.com (You will be impressed!)
| ||||
| ||||
 | |
|
| |
 |
Scenes from transitions - Big River Bridge and Anglers Rest Stage 3
(Apr 17 2008 11:31AM) Those of us from Rapid Ascent who were lucky enough to be stationed at Big River Bridge and Anglers Rest on Stage 3 enjoyed both pretty surroundings and good company while we waited for racers to come through. We managed to take some happy snaps of the competitors as they prepared for the next leg and their supoort crew fussing over them and some images of the waiting process ....
Safari (Simon Pollard, Malcolm Roberts) prepare for their next MTB leg with their diligent support crew.
Hybrid Lifers ((Zena Falkner, Jeremy Smith) pose before they head off on their bikes.
The GIANT Aunties Tri Adventure (Kim Beckinsale, Jan Leverton) keep on smiling at Anglers Rest despite being 34 hours into Stage 3. They're about to sit down to a hearty meal that was ready and waiting for them when they arrived into transition.
Team Rapido (Mike Peckavance, Mark Smith) manage a weary smile for me as I catch them getting changed ... oops.
Entropic (Luke Goodfellow, Peter Hind) were reunited with their worried support crew after taking a little longer than expected on the trek.
Shaun Lauder, half of Auusie Sea Kayaking hung out at Anglers Rest with his support crew to cheer on his mates, Tamell, after his team mate Hamish Wilson spent the night in hospital in Omeo. Recognising that he required medical assistance, Hamish flagged down a car enroute to Omeo and requested to be dropped off at the hospital. Shaun continued to the next chekpoint with the Blackheart/Salomon boys (Craig Arnold, Ricky Thakeray) knowing that his partner was safe. Good timing for Blackheart/Salomon to discover the Aussie Sea Kayaking duo when they did as they were experiencing serious bike issues. Dumping the bung bike in the bushes somewhere on the course they continued on with Hamish's. Everyone ended up being safe and sound exept for the SES who were told to retrieve the bike with no more than an area description. Foraging in the scrub for quite some time they finally located it and headed back to Anglers Rest where they kindly produced wine and cheese for those of us still hanging out in transition - SES to the rescue again!
KEEN (Luke Haines, Del Lloyd) team chow down before riding off for the final leg of Stage 3. Del was upbeat as usual - how does she always manage to be so cheery?
Results are posted !
(Apr 12 2008 7:03PM) Results are posted.All teams are finished and it's time to party!
(Apr 12 2008 5:48PM) The last competitor just crossed the finish line - congratulations to the GIANT Aunties (Kim Beckinsale, Jane Leverton)! Now everyone is getting ready for the presentation dinner where the $30,000 in prize money will be awarded to all the winners of each category.Victory for adveturesportnz.com
(Apr 12 2008 2:37PM) Minutes ago adventuresportnz.com (Chris Forne, Gordon Walker) crossed the finish line to win the KEEN Adventure Race - Alps to Ocean. In fourth place in today's Stage 4, they had enough of an overall lead that the half an hour they lost today was inconsequential. Looking remarkably fresh and crossing the line shaking hands as they've done with each Stage finish both Chris and Gordon agreed that they had a great race that went perfectly to plan. Chris claimed, "I'm not sure I've ever really enjoyed an Adventure Race but this one was really fun" which seemed to be the general concensus of all the finishers so far all agreeing that it was a good course with great scenery. Chris who normally races with team Nike hooked up with Gordon, winner of the KEEN Adventure Race 2007 - Great Ocean Road, when Gordon's partner of 2007 decided to race with his wife instead. Happy to be racing for a New Zealand team, Chris was responsible for the navigation and the majority of the bush bashing while Gordon was the superior paddler. A well matched team with similar bike and trekking speeds, adventurespotnz.com made their biggest move of the race in the 24 hour overnight Stage 3 where they got over 3 hours in front of the next competitor, orionhealth.com Mixed (Anna Berthelsen, Stuart Lynch). Today they were content with going through the motions to get to the finish line. Next on the racing agenda for them both is the Primal Quest where they'll be racing against each other and our own Race Director, John Jacoby.In second place overall and taking out the mixed category was orionhealth.com Mixed who also came second in Stage 4 today only four minutes behind the first team through. They had successfully picked up all the checkpoints along the course so even though they crossed the line second the first team will be severely penalised meaning that officially they also get the Stage win. Full credit to Anna who has done an incredible race matching it with the top men the entire 5 days. After an asthma scare during the 24 hour Stage 3 she managed to press on without it worsening to complete the race with a big smile and a very bright adventure racing future. A medical team were called to a trek to bike transition at 3.30am on Friday morning when Anna's asthma was deteriorating. Adament to continue the race she was all ready to go by the time they'd made it to the remote transition post but was pleased that they gave her some advice and the green light to keep going. Finishing the Stage 3 hours later, she and team mate Stuart had nearly 24 hours to rest for the final Stage today. Anna claimed, "it was hard to back up with a fast race today after such a long Stage 3" and claimed that her legs were pretty tired but you wouldn't have known it the way she powered to the finish line.
Third across the finish line were the SILVA Stingers (Richard Mountstephens, Rob Preston) whose orienteering prowess gave them a handy lead at the start of the day. They finished with a solid paddle leg to cap off a very consistent five days of racing.
The remaining teams are expected to finish over the next couple of hours to a building crowd of admiring supporters who are in awe of what these superior athletes have achieved.
All the teams and their support crews will celebrate tonight at the presentation function in Lakes Entrance where the $30,000 in prize money will be awarded to all the category winners.
The final bolt for the finish line - 4 teams battle it out
(Apr 12 2008 11:59AM) With only a 6km paddle remainiing for the leaders of this 5-day epic journey from Falls Creek to Lakes Entrance in Gippsland there are 4 teams battling it out to cross the KEEN finish line tape first for the cameras. First over the sand dunes and out into the ocean were the combined orionhealth.com Boys and blasters.com (Wayne Oxenham, Simon Manson) team who made up a massive amount of time in their single skis in the 14km river paddle to overtake several other teams and the lead. The orionhealth.com Mixed (Anna Berthelsen, Stuart Lynch) only 3 minutes behind are definitely still in contention as are the SILVA Stingers. Half an hour back is the adventuresportnz.com team.The overall results will still need to be calculated but every second counts. Who will take out the $30,000 in prize money?
orionhealth.com Mixed take off as the finish line approaches
(Apr 12 2008 11:50AM) The orionhealth.com Mixed (Anna Berthelesen, Staurt Lynch) have overtaken the SILVA Stingers at the mountain bike to kayak transition and are about 3 minutes ahead. Even though they're likely to take out overall line honours adventuresportnz.com (Chris Forne, Gordon Walker) are pacing themselves well and are currently in 3rd place only 8 minutes behind our leaders with a 20km river and ocean paddle. A portage is required by the teams and they need to drag their boats across a sand dune to iconic 90 mile beach where they paddle the final stretch into the finish at Lakes Entrance.SILVA Stingers lead the first half of Stage 4 through the orienteering and caves
(Apr 12 2008 11:41AM) The SILVA Stingers (Richard Mountstephens, Rob Preston) smoked the orienteering course this morning in the first part of Stage 4, the final leg of the KEEN Adventure Race. Starting in Buchan, 50km inland from the Gippsland shores they flew through the orienteering course in just one hour. The newly formed team of the joint blasters.com and orionhealth.com Boys (Simon Manson, Wayne Oxenham). Bringing up the rear in 2 hours 24 minutes were the GIANT Aunties Tria Adventure team (Kim Beckinsale, Jan Leverton) still managing to have smiles on their faces. The GIANT Aunties were one of the last teams to complete Stage 3 and are a bit weary after only finishing around 8pm last night making it 36 hours of racing for just one stage. They then had a 2 hour drive to the Stage 4 start in Buchan that began at 6am this morning.... it's tiring just thinking about it!The SILVA Stingers then continued to dominate the stage through the mountain bike leg leading through the caving section as well. Racers had to leave their bikes put head torches on and head and locate several controls inside the caves before completing the rest of the mountain bike leg. Although the SILVA Stingers were still leading the stage, Blackheart/Salomon (Craig Arnold, Ricky Thakray) really showed their dominance by taking just 8 minutes inside the caves. To put this in perspective the slowest time in the caves was 46 minutes!
Keen Adventure Race nears the ocean
(Apr 12 2008 11:13AM)The 2008 Keen Adventure Race Alps to Ocean is nearly won with a few teams on the final paddle leg. They are travelling fast and we expect them to finish around midday.
Only 7 teams left on the trek
(Apr 11 2008 5:02PM)Nearly everyone is heading to Omeo now, has finished or pulled out. We lose internet again no ... apologies ....
3:00pm short-course cutoff imposed at Angler's Rest
(Apr 11 2008 4:58PM)With teams taking longer than expected to do the trek, a cut-off has been imposed at Angler's Rest of 3:00pm.
Three teams have come in after that time limit and are taking the direct road (although it's still a two hour ride) back to Omeo. They are:
- Jen & John
- 4TC / Elsidee.com
- Forever Young
all still in the race, albeit on a shortened course. They should all arrive in Omeo in the next hour or so.
(Click here for all the updates)