THE MARK WEBBER CHALLENGE

Rob Preston

The Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge is the brainchild of Australia’s F1 driving motorsport champion Mark Webber. He set up the Mark Webber Foundation to help community charities. This event is held to raise money for two important charities, The Leukaemia Foundation, and the Save the Tassie Devil Fund. The Mark Webber Challenge is an Adventure Race that involves running or trekking, mountain biking, kayaking and special stages like abseiling or rafting. Race Director Tim Saul described the event like a PRO-AM golf day, where Professional Golfers are teamed up with Amateur (sometimes celebrity) sportsmen. There were two categories, the Van Diemen’s Cup, for corporate teams of 4, and the 2-person 2theExtreme category. I was invited to compete in the 2007 event in November in Tasmania. A friend, Jarad Kohler, was teaming up with 2000 Olympics Silver medallist pole-vaulter, Tatiana Grigorieva, in the 2theExtreme category. However Tatiana was unable to complete the entire 7-day event, and would just race the first two days. I would join Jarad in Team TASSAL (a Tasmanian Salmon exporter) for the remaining five days.

Friday November 16 - Welcome

I was picked up at Launceston airport and shared a bus to Cradle Mountain village with members of the Virgin Blue and Toll teams. Competitors registered receiving race uniforms, backpacks and were fitted to new Giant Trance 2 mountain bikes to be used for the week. A formal dinner at the Cradle Mountain Chateau saw plenty of local fine food and wine on offer.

Saturday November 17 - Prologue

Since I wasn’t racing the Prologue I went for a morning run around some fantastic trails at Cradle Mountain Village. In the afternoon I took my bike for a test ride and finished at the Lake Barrington camp to watch the teams finish. The course consisted of 15km MTB ride, 4km run and 6km paddle on Lake Barrington. Team Schweppes consisting of professional Adventure Racing couple Richard and Elina Ussher, from New Zealand, showed their class to take the win.

Sunday November 18 - Day 1, Cradle Mountain Stage

Again I wasn’t racing, but since the weather was fantastic (the first time I’ve seen the top of the mountain) I set off to summit Cradle Mountain and watch the action. Teams started with a 5km kayak in the picturesque Dove Lake followed by a 19km trek to the summit of Cradle Mountain and back. The final 58km MTB leg from Dove Lake to Lake Barrington via Cradle Mountain Chateau was a killer and claimed plenty of scalps. Jarad and Tatiana had a great start in the kayak, and were early leaders on the trek. Tatiana was still in good spirits at the end of the trek, but knew her limited cycling experience was going to hurt her on the final leg. But she and Jarad showed great teamwork and determination to finish the stage, and Tatiana was very pleased with her accomplishment. For an athlete whose preferred event lasts for 10 seconds, completing the 14hour stage was very impressive.

Monday Nov 19 - Day 2, Mt Roland Stage

Finally my chance came to burn off some energy. With Tatiana cheering us at the start line, we started Day 2 with a 900m ascent of Mt Roland in Sheffield region. Then a spectacular 19km trail run along the tops of the range with views in all directions. The pace was hot and so was the temperature. After nearly 3hrs, Team TASSAL jumped on the bikes for a short but fun MTB ride down to Cethana Bridge. The 10km kayak down the gorge to Lake Barrington camp was a great chance to cool down and enjoy the views. We finished this day in first place with Team Schweppes about 15mins behind.

Tuesday Nov 20 - Day 3, Launceston Gorge Stage

Again, another very hot day with even hotter competition. The 55km bunch ride started at a frantic pace as several teams saw this as their opportunity to knock off Team Schweppes. But Richard and Elina Ussher’s quality shone through and it was again Schweppes vs Tassal duelling it out on the bikes. A bit of tricky navigation through the streets of Launceston gave us the lead going into the fun activities at Launceston Gorge. A Tyrolean rope line, cliff jump and flying fox had us weaving our way from side to side. Finally, a brief rest for the teams to regroup before our white water rafting trip. This was great fun, but still saw a few competitors in the drink, including Webber himself. The challenge then moved camps to Coles Bay in Freycinet National Park on Tasmania’s east coast.

Above left: Kayaking on Dove Lake with Cradle Mountain behind.

Rob Preston takes the watery route

Wednesday Nov 21 - Day 4, Freycinet in a Day

The first 10km paddle started from Coles Bay, and Jarad and I quickly had a gap on the field. But it was short lived and Team Schweppes slowly caught back up. A very fast 12km run along the soft sandy beaches then a climb back over the saddle to the bike transition. A poor transition saw us again chasing Team Schweppes on the bike as we hit the hilly and sandy 28km leg. TASSAL finally broke away near the end of the stage to win by 3mins. The only downside to the day was a very slippery corner of bitumen road that claimed Jarad, swimmer Michael Klim and another five competitors. Fortunately everyone was able to continue the next day.

Thursday Nov 22 - Day 5, Freycinet the other way

Again starting with a 17km kayak from Coles Bay, we took the easy option and sat on Team Schweppes’ wash for most of the paddle - much to Elina’s displeasure who sledged us in English and her native Finnish tongue! A quick transition onto the bike (we had paddled in our bike shoes) helped us gain a lead that we held on to for the rest of the stage. Another fun 44km MTB leg was split by a spectacular and massive 200m abseil down a granite slab. The leg was un-timed and allowed us to enjoy the view, and also complete the task safely! Day 5 finished with a fun coasteering section, past Freycinet Lodge back to Coles Bay.

Friday Nov 22 - Day 6 and finish, Hobart Urban Challenge

Starting on Mt Wellington we ran a furious descent down to Cascade brewery, then onto the bikes for a quick ride through Hobart to Taroona. We had a small lead and paddled hard for 50mins with several teams close behind. To Wrest Point Casino roof via the stairs, then abseiled off. We still had about 2min lead and ran flat out through Battery Point to the finish at Salamanca Place. This was another fun stage and there was plenty of atmosphere and support at the finish line. Congratulations and a great afternoon drinking beers at the Quarry, before another fantastic dinner and presentation at Wrest Point. After winning the last 5 stages Team TASSAL was able to move into 3rd place in our category, with the ever impressive Team Schweppes the overall winners.

The 2007 Pure Tasmania Mark Webber Challenge

was a fantastic event to be involved in. The week was like a highlights package of Tasmania and the scenery was stunning. The organisers and volunteers were fantastic. I felt like it was an Adventure Race with all the fun bits but none of the work, like organising your food and fixing your bike. The hugely diverse competitors all gained great personal satisfaction from their achievements and I was impressed by the level of competition amongst first time racers. Thank you to Jarad and Tatiana for a great experience. And, of course, thank you to TASSAL for sponsoring my team, and feeding everyone with incredible salmon for dinner every night! For further information on the event, or to donate to the foundation, please visit www.

markwebberchallenge.com

Abseiling off the cliff on the Freycinet Peninsula – it’s 200m down.

Mark Webber with Team Tassal – Jarad Kohler, Rob Preston and Tatiana Grigorieva