The best adventure races in Australia

Luke Haines, not a stranger to the multisport scene, phenomenal athlete, dad and business owner. He's sharing his amazing adventure journey with us. 

1. Your racing career highlights. 

I have been fortunate to really get going since 2007 with good results. My first multisport win at the Mars Challenge in 2007 is one I will certainly remember. Having come from learning all disciplines to training hard to improve fitness and learning the skills required was great. Back to back UMC wins in 2009 and 2010 (then three 2nds in a row) along with Australian multisport champs win in 2009 was amazing as only 1 week apart.

The story of this race starts well before the actual date it took place. 

Twenty years ago, when I had just started adventure racing and it was still all very new to me, months before an upcoming event, I was carefully assessing every piece of equipment to the best of my ability, making sure it was all correct and exactly as required. 

The number of races had increased to a frequency of almost 1 per week at some stages and it was handy to have all equipment maintained and ready to go at all times.

Following the success of the inaugural edition of Alpine Quest Falls Creek, brought about by the Adventure Junkie team over the Australia Day long weekend, all efforts are now being thrown into bringing the 8th edition of X-Marathon Adventure Race to the next level, and delivering a high standard expedition adventure racing event.

X-Marathon is the toughest Adventure Junkie race,  which since 2011 has been delivering spectacular and challenging courses. This race usually attracts the majority of top Australian teams.

Kathmandu Coast to Coast is one of the toughest multisport events in the world with 243 km of cycling, running and paddling. It attracts a 1000 participants field and requires a lot of endurance, skills and simply luck to finish. Here is cross-interview with Aussie AR and multisport stars - Tim Boote (VIC), Guy Andrews(QLD), Bern Dornom (VIC), James Pretto (VIC) and Alex Hunt (TAS). We've asked these questions - scroll down for some inside, pain and good advise.

1. 1-2 sentences to describe how was your C2C 2019.
2. Your highest and the lowest moments and how you pushed yourself through.
3. Main lesson you have learnt.
4. One training advice for 2020 first - time comers.
5. Will you be back?  

“The trekking leg was like a mini Godzone ”  said Leo Theoharis from team Thunderbolt at the finish line, while Kim Beckinsdale’s first phrase was: “This is the hardest course I have ever done”.

The inaugural edition of Alpine Quest finished yesterday and participants faced the extreme weather conditions only possible in the Australian Alps: 35 degrees temperature on the first day with teams trying to keep cool and hydrated turned into +5 and pouring rain on the second day with teams struggling to keep warm.

The epic 140 km course took teams on a journey from the Omeo Valley over the Bogong high plains into the Falls Creek resort with 5200m of elevation gain.

After a 2 hour bus drive descent to the start at the historical Hinnomunjie bridge teams took off 30 seconds apart to negotiate rapids of the famous Mitta Mitta river.

The probability theory did not fail us this year and brought stunning weather to the East Gippsland. The Event had clearly seen increased numbers and local support. Inclusion in Adventure Cup series brought a few star athletes in; James Pretto from Melbourne managed to secure neck to neck win over his long-time rival, local adventure star Tim Boote; whilst Bern Dornom proved to be fastest lady over her rivals Maria Plyashechko and Marlena Ahrens. First team home was local "VT and The Meat Eaters" with Rod Smith, Joel Claxton and Patrick Howlett showing great performance in bike, run and kayak legs respectively.