Team Adventure Junkie's Total Recon race report
My birthday present for this year is a RaidLight 24L Legend backpack (all my ten old backpacks got seriously old) and a race entry to the Total Recon Adventure Race in Murray’s Bridge, SA. I’ve asked around to old mates I used to race with, and we’ve got a super team - me, Tim Boote, Jarad Kohlar, and Sorcha Flett from NSW Gosford, VIC Wodonga, VIC Torquey, and TAS Launceston.
Well, you need to search for those weirdos who, instead of the warmth and comfort of their homes, beer, and TV, prefer getting drenched overnight without sleep at 2 degrees in milk-thick mist, paddling down the Murray River in the middle of nowhere. Lucky for me, I know them all, and I am one of those types.
Getting ready
This time, I made a conscious effort and put some training in. My goal for three weeks before the event was 120k bike, 60k run, 60k kayak, and four short strength training sessions. I failed in all disciplines, achieving 107/120, 52/60, 8/60, and 1/4. Life is too busy with work, parenting, and event management on the weekends. Anyway, I’ve done something; remember, I’m always ready.
The backpack arrived Friday on the flight day. I started packing at 12:30 and finished in about an hour, then went back to work in a car as I was being shuttled to the airport. Thank you to my beautiful family, Maria, Alex, and Ilya, for supporting me in this challenge. I finished work just before boarding the gate, quarrelling with the unsupportive Jetstar crew along the way.
Tim met me at the airport (what a coincidence, the second time this year already!), and we drove straight to Murray’s Bridge, where we camped in a caravan park.
The morning was hectic. I bought some food, packed it in glad bags, and... Not yet. I’d like to stop here and say I’m pleasantly surprised to see Jarad being prepared and organized, making all the arrangements for his kids' care while he is away racing. Good job, JK. Parenting made you an even better human than you were before!
Oh yes, now the start! The field was solid, and hats off to the organisers, Murrayland Inc., for making the event fantastic!
Start
We had a short up-and-down paddle in the Murray River to get to the first CPs and quickly discovered there was only one male double team moving at a similar speed to us, Team Tiger SA. We ended up in TA (same start place) together, and the boys took off first. We were reasonable in the transition but could have been faster. We passed them midway into the ride as they made some minor nav mistakes, but only to defer the leading position back to them when we rode past a CP and had to go back to pick it up. In about an hour, we were in TA, and the next leg was a short rogaine. It was short but probably the most challenging leg in the whole race, navigation-wise.
Even though I love navigating and used to lead teams to wins and podium finishes in the past, I voluntarily passed the chief navigator responsibilities to Tim. I’m not nearly fit enough to be a navigator in a fast-paced team these days. Tim nailed most of the nav; we had about a 5-minute hiccup on the most difficult CP and spent probably another 5 minutes searching for the cave entrance where another CP was.
We were back at the TA at the same time as the Tiger SA team, even though they ran the rogaine leg anticlockwise and we clockwise. Again, they took off very fast, and we did not see them for a while this time. It was a long 3-hour bike leg with a few technical single tracks, even cross-country riding, but mostly on fast-sealed or well-graded roads.
Something we did not plan
I struggled on the ride, as this is my traditionally weak discipline; unlike running or paddling, I need to train on a bike quite a lot to be up to standard. Luckily, our team is fun, and the guys helped me along the way. Tim and Sorcha deserve the tow horse titles, but Sorcha should receive it with the golden distinction.
Things never go to plan, and a good adventure racing team does not give up, searches, and finds a way through unexpected difficulties. This time, we left the final bike map in the next TA box, and after taking all CPs for the leg, we were left in the middle of nowhere with about 10k to go to the TA. Luckily, we had clues, and the TA was in the local fire brigade building. Typically, it is easy to find a fire brigade in the country; we asked for the way and got the answers from a random, grumpy-looking grandpa. Good job; we made it to the TA!
Into the rough country
The next leg involved three hours of trekking. We took our time in the TA and moved to the track. At this stage, we were 30 minutes behind the Tiger SA team. We ran to pick up two CPs, and it took us about two hours, an hour faster than the organiser's fast time estimate. This was nice!
Nevertheless, we were now 40 minutes behind the Tigers. We jumped on the bikes, loaded shoes in the backpacks for the next trek, and rolled out of the comfort of the local fire brigade building. Again, hats off to the organisers for this excellent TA. The chasing teams were not seen, so we had at least a 2.5-hour lead on them.
The next ride was easy for 1 hour. The only moment worth mentioning was the "CP hunt" in the church backyard. It took us a good few minutes to find a CP hanging at the entry of a small backyard building.
We took noodles from the fire brigade TA and decided it was time to have those. Luckily, there was hot water in almost every TA. This TA was special! The ladies there looked after us as you would for your loved kid. We felt privileged! And, of course, hot noodles are always a winner on a cold racing day, about 10 hours in. We took our time but then went jumping on those rocks. We met the Tigers jumping those rocks down. We discovered our team is a four mountain goat team. We moved fast, picked all three CPs in no time, and won back about 10 minutes plus that noodle time at TA on the Tigers.
Now, the final ride back to the long and cold kayak starts. It was about 22:30 when we arrived at the TA, but wow, that little ride had some challenges. We picked a plodding sandy track and stuck to it for about 5k. We learned later that the Tigers accidentally missed the turn to the sandy track and kept rolling on the main bitumen road.
The final paddle on mighty Murray
The transition was reasonably quick; we all were not looking forward to the abseil in 2-degree weather into cold water after a long kayak, but here is the quest - you do it or get a 2-hour penalty. The paddle was going well until we realised we left the tracker at the TA. What? Yes. We had to paddle back and find it at the bottom of the tightly packed paddle bag. You should see that paddle bag; it is a massive, deep, narrow sleeve that would fit 50 paddles. We were back on the water 27 minutes after our original start.
Adventure racing, like life, is full of surprises and unexpected obstacles. Your quest is to navigate those challenges but not lose drive, vision, and motivation. We did it alright, and we were back on the water, happily paddling down the misty and chilly Murray River. We were moving fast, though we stopped a few times for food, a laugh, and even just to yell. That helps prevent falling asleep. Paddling during the night is an exceptionally sleepy exercise.
We spotted an orienteer we planned to use to navigate to the final CP and paddled straight into the inlet where the CP was. The clue said “grass thicket island,” so we paddled along the shore around the inlet. Considering the thick mist and persisting darkness, the CP was not particularly easy to spot. The trick is that one person switches on the light, the other one doesn’t, and looks around using the light on the first person. After a full inlet round, we found it and headed off to the transition area, which was only 2km downriver.
We arrived at the TA and learned that the abseil from the Murray’s Bridge into the chilly Murray River water was cancelled. We all sighed in relief. We would have done it if needed, but believe me, you would not want to jump in the Murray River when it is 2 degrees outside, in all your clothes, helmet, and PFD, then run 500m to the finish completely wet, and then think about where all your spare clothes are and what you have. (I, for example, flew in and did not have enough clothes; I would have to search for spares in TA bags that were not with me.)
Into the finish
We used SUPs to paddle across the Murray River. It was cold, dark, misty, and gloomy, and I was thinking about how all SUP promoters miss out not having a picture of four dirty, shaking wrapped in semi-wet multilayer clothes individuals, with PFDs and helmets, paddling across the cold waters of the mighty Murray in the mist. That would indeed be a better image than the usual bikini pics :) We landed at the finish area 15 hours after the start. We had great fun and a great race, and as a bonus, we won overall, as our main and only contenders missed the final CP in the misty lagoon.
I want to thank the organisers and volunteers for their dedication and the numerous hours put into their passion. The maps were fantastic, and the atmosphere was welcoming. I want to thank my team who agreed to race and came from interstate - Sorcha from TAS, Jarad and Tim from VIC (in from NSW to complete this state picture). I want to thank my family for letting me out for 2.5 days. As a final chord, I invite you to our X-Marathon event in Lake Macquire, 24-25 August. It will have 24, 12 and 4 hour courses, good maps, and decades of my and Maria’s racing and organising experience packed in just 24 hours.
