The best adventure races in Australia

Sprint Series Adventure Race was on 15th of October in Westerfolds. The course was smashed by team PeakAdventure.com.au Jarad Kohlar and Kathryn Morland. We are lucky to get Kathyn's report from the race. Full results are here>>

Kathryn: It is hard to say where my motivation for adventure racing comes from, but I seem to have a never ending supply of drive and inspiration.

This came in useful at the Adventure Junkie Westerfolds Sprint Series race on Sunday 15 October 2017, where I raced alongside (and, yes … behind!) my coach and mentor, who happens to be one of Australia’s best multi-sport athletes, and founder of Peak Adventure, Jarad Kohlar. (yes…. I was a little nervous!)

After finishing the Wildside Adventure Race in Canberra (a 4 day expedition length race) only 1 week before the Westerfolds Sprint Series race, I was not sure how my body would perform in a sprint race. But my mind was ready; I was going to push as hard as I could. I knew it would be fast. With my heart rate through the roof the whole race... I knew I was working hard! I hardly spoke the whole race, a very rare occurrence!

The hardest part of the race was remembering the order of the legs! At the front of the pack coming off the paddle there was no one to follow. Next time I think I will write this in permanent marker on my hand.

The race experience was amazing and I want to do it again. Running to the finish line in first place was a first for me. I had never won a race before, nor had I ever raced that fast before! I do not have an athletic background, I was not a triathlete or ultra-runner before discovering adventure racing. I was a social runner trying to create a healthy lifestyle for myself. My first adventure race was Adventure Junkie’s X-Marathon 48 hour expedition length race in early 2016. I bought my first mountain bike a few months before this race, and my paddle training consisted of a few months paddling in rivers and lakes (I was yet to discover Peak Adventure). At the finish line of x-marathon 2016, after 45 hours of racing, no sleep and being short coursed, I wanted to do it again. I felt alive and authentic. Two days later I bought a yearly membership at Peak Adventure, signed up to a coaching program, and committed to race in Geoquest (a 48 hour race) and XPD (an 8 day expedition length race, and also the world championships) in 2016.

I have been training with Peak Adventure for 18 months. I am healthier, stronger and fitter than I have ever been in my life. I have made many amazing friends through adventure racing, and I have had many life changing experiences. The choices we make every day create our world, and a million small choices, made over and over again, can change your life and take you to amazing places.

In the past 18 months, adventure racing has taken me to Malaysia (in 2016), China (twice in 2017) and around Australia. I love creating adventure racing experiences for others, and I am lucky enough to be working with Peak Adventure organising races such as the Peak Adventure Winter Series, the Villawood Properties Great Ocean Paddle, the Sandridge Bay Series, and the 2017/18 Peak Adventure Introduction to Paddling course.

In 2018 I am looking forward to racing in the Adventure 1 series, including Race 1, which is Adventure Junkie’s X-Marathon 48 hr adventure race on the Australia Day weekend. Next month I am going to Perth for my first downwind ocean paddle race, The Doctor, with Peak Adventure.

To all the aspiring adventure racers out there, you can do whatever you choose to do. Sign up for the next race, set a training plan, set goals, train with an encouraging group of like minded people and the rest will all fall into place! You will be amazed where you will end up!