Adventurethon 2010 ….. Another first for Townsville                                                         H-J Preuss

Dark skies, gusting winds up to 20 knots buffeted a small group putting up a transition zone on the Pallarenda beach.
This was the scene that greeted me as I pulled into the carpark with my trailer full of kayaks
at 5am on Sunday morning.
The date was 4th of July and the event was a first for Townsville – a Multisport race.
To put you in the picture there were three separate sections of this event run simultaneously.

1. the long course – kayak to Magnetic Island – 20km return, 14.5km run on island , 29 km mountain bike ride and 6km beach run;
2. the short course – 7km kayak paddle, 29 km mountain bike ride and 6km beach run;
3. duathlon course – 6km run, 29 km mountain bike ride and 6km beach run;

Luckily, the winds were offshore and dropping in speed. This together with the outgoing tide resulted in a small choppy sea. Quite manageable seas for the many varieties of paddle craft assembled on the shoreline.

After a short briefing the mass of competitors raced along the beach collected their craft and paddled away furiously.
About 70 kayaks/skis thrashed away from the shore leaving a huge wake of foamy water as they headed for the first marker. All too quickly the short course paddlers were returning to shore to leave their craft and run back to the transition point.

Once on their mountain bikes they headed off along Pallarenda Beach for tough bike ride. The Beach ride was 3km along the tide line. The   smallest of gears was the best choice and a constant leg speed was the only thing that stopped  people  from falling sideways onto the sand. Fifteen minutes later and they emerged from the beach heart rate racing and ready to attack the rest of the bike track . How hard can it be after that? It was followed by a long stretch of corrugated road until the Bald Rock carpark was reached. From here the real  off-road stuff began. Once near the middle of the track all competitors had to dismount for a quick photo then onto the sandy stretch – damn tough by any standards. Clear of the sand the track reverted to good fun off-road stuff until the carpark was again reached. Back down the road until the next turnoff was reached and back to ….. bloody sand mixed with hard surface sections. Very tiring on the legs.

At last back to transition and off along the beach for a refreshing 6km beach run over a small hill via dirt track and a rocky patch and back.Finally the end is reached and a free massage with fresh fruit and recovery drinks awaited the weary competitor.

With no casualties other than extreme tiredness all finished the courses. The last person had taken over 10 hours to complete the long course BUT had NEVER quit …. A great example of self belief and gutsy determination.

From all accounts everyone who competed felt a strong sense of achievement and definitely would be competing again next year.

 For those interested in the Adventurethon please check out the website – http://www.adventurethon.com.au
(Please type in the full address as there were some difficulties with Google.) 
Relevant photos can be found by clicking on the “pictures” tab

[As I did only the short course I did not emphasise the other two courses. Positive comments from those who did I made me plan to do the long course next year.]