Mark Webber Challenge - Day 1 - Team Rexona No Quit

After a few weeks of really hard training and a few hours of sleep (read my post Day 0), the first day of the Mark Webber Challenge is finally there for team Rexona No Quit. Day 1 will be a big navigation day in Launceston, Tasmania

Very fun orienteering session on the green of the Country club to start with. Lots of fun activities like put-put golf, apnea, kayak, tennis, push-ups before running down to Cataract Gorge (~10kms). First big mistake: not having read all the instructions the day before. This led to losing my contacts in the swimming pool 15 minutes after the start. Awesome. Morale of the first leg: RTFM.

Eric crossing the bridge over Cataract Gorge.

Whitewater rafting (~2kms) was just unbelievably fun. So fast and furious. Sadly, at the first rapid, Mark from Team Caltex went overboard and hurt his knee. At least we did not flip the boat like the team behind us!  Then it was on to Glenn and Eric to do the mountain bike leg (25kms) in the Kate Reed Nature Recreation Area before transitioning to kayak for Glenn and me (11kms).

Glenn and I paddling

The weather was just glorious, it was such a pleasure to race in these conditions. After a strong paddle where we overtook a few teams, Eric and I did an orienteering leg (6kms) in the forest, where Eric’s navigation was spotless.  

Then Glenn and Eric did the mountain bike rogaine (12kms). In the meantime I was getting some physio and straps by Thuy from Physiowise as my quads were killing from the downhill to Cataract Gorge. No idea why, I never got quad pain/cramps like these before. Then final running leg in the gorge with Glenn, where I climbed to the lookout chasing Olympic rowers Karsten Forsterling and Chris Morgan before crossing the finish line at the Boags Beer Lover Centre! And sadly, no, we did not have an icy cold beer to celebrate.

Don't tell Glenn and Eric, but their bib is back to front!

Overall a great first day at a fast pace clocking 8 hours and 40 minutes of racing. Not many mistakes which was great to start with and set the benchmark for us. Cherry on the cake, we finished third in our category in front of the Rexona Elite team and overall in 10th position. This definitely gave us confidence that we could be amongst the best teams and do a podium.


Video highlights of the first day of the Mark Webber Challenge:

Rexona No Quit Top Tips:

• Clearly mark on the box which one is box A and box B with a big marker.
• Take the racebook (instructions) with you and contact it (we used five rolls of contact during the race).
• Best to have each map contacted separately and not have maps on both sides, so the third team mate can review the maps while waiting for the team.
• Use different color for each leg (pink and blue work well. Green, orange and yellow not so much).
• Highlight mandatory checkpoints and time credit for optional checkpoints (more on map preparation and strategy in a future post).
• Best to have one or two people maximum planning while the third team mate prepare the gear.  
• Need to give a topline brief to each teammate on their leg, so everyone is clear. 
• Put a spare pair of dry socks in the gear box (your feet need to stay dry/in good conditions otherwise they will blister).
• Third person at TA to prep bananas and gear for team.
• For kayak leg, take PFD and boaties with you so that the team mate kayaking can put the PFD while running to the kayak instead of wasting time putting it on at the kayak.

Team Rexona No Quit debrief at the end of day 1: