Sportzhub - Orion Reclaim Whakatane Title

July 31 2010

Orion Reclaim Whakatane Title

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

World champions Orion Health showed their class when totally dominating the Whakatane Great Outdoors Adventure Race over the weekend. Fresh from a win at the Keen Adventure

..race in Victoria Australia, Orion minus Wayne Oxenham reclaimed the Whakatane title after narrowly losing it in 2008.

Teams were pretty close during the opening kayak stage to Hot Water Beach on Lake Tarawera. Teams were given a checkpoint on the edge of Lake Rotomohana, site of the Pink and White Terraces. Back to the Tarawera Outlet it was Dirty Dingo and the Hairy Gringo alias Jeremy Kuggeleijn and Garth Spencer who got to the beach first. Competitors were given a surprise 30 minute Rogaine around the edges of the lake before heading out on a trek to the precipitous Makatiti Dome plateau before descending through a rocky canyon to the clear waters of the Tarawera River.

A 60 kilometre mountain bike stage through the Tarawera Forest included a rifle shoot where Orion managed to score 100%, not so accurate were Adventure Racing Coromandel (Andy Reid and bushman Keith Stephenson) who scored only 20%.

Once onto the overnight trek Orion were unstoppable finishing the trek in 8 hours and 43 minutes some 2 hours ahead of two person team Phil White and Anne Mortimer. Third to finish were Vamos en Bici which included last year's winners Shane Armstrong and Sophie Hart who had teamed up with Nic Ross and Angus Jennings from Christchurch.

Race Directors Neil Jones and Mike van der Boom were stoked with the event which included a 6 hour option with 58 teams participating. The winning time of 19 hours recorded by Team Orion was 7 hours longer than last years event and included 12 hours of trekking. The pair were also happy with the optional checkpoint format which allowed the field to stay reasonably compressed.

Adventure racing legend and former Coast to Coast winner Neil Jones had set an ideal course for the 24 hour "It was a demanding course, with Orion showing their class taking 17 hours. We also provided the option for quicker teams to collect optional check points and slower teams to finish the event. Commented Jones. whak09shoot

"All the teams were in by 26 hours, with 19 out of 24 finishing. It was a bonus that the weather held off and for the first time in two weeks the lake was flat."

The introduction of the 6 hour saw a large increase in those taking up adventure race "It blew us away how many people entered and most took around 6 hours . We had some great feedback and everyone was buzzing." Said Jones. "The highlight of the weekend was seeing 58 teams enjoying the outdoors, with 90% first timers to adventure racing."

ARC 24 hour race organizers Andy Reid & Keith Stephenson were pulled from the course as they missed a cut off time. There were rumors the pair slowed as they scouted a course for their next race, while others commented they got lost & delirious thinking they were tail end Charlie.