Keen Adventure Race Report

The Keen Adventure Race, Great Ocean Road produced an amazing contest between world champion New Zealand team adventuresportnz.com (Richard Ussher & Gordon Walker) and Australia's greatest Ironman Guy Andrews along with his teammate Darren Clarke in team Anaconda.

Over five days, these teams, along with 26 others, experienced one of the world's greatest expedition-style races over what is perhaps the world's most stunning adventure race course.

Click here to read the full race report and see how this epic battle unfolded. You'll also read about some amazing tales of determination and perseverance from many other teams.

Anaconda Gold Coast, Team Profile: JAMM Factory

The first team to enter the Anaconda Adventure Race Gold Coast was JAMM Factory. The team was named in the tradition of Maybe Diva; taking the initials of each team member, Joel, Al, Mandy and Mia. Joel Crawford, who lives in Hong Kong, has organised the team of family and friends. "The appeal of the Anaconda race was the location, the team aspect of the race - working together and inspiring each other - and the incentive it provides us to train and get fit," Joel says.

The Anaconda race will be each team member's first adventure race "I'm looking forward to coming down the beach as a team towards the finish line," says Joel, who aims to complete the whole race individually next year. Click here for the full story.

Course Familiarisation Days - Gold Coast and Forster

The course familiarisation dates for the Anaconda Adventure Races at the Gold Coast and Forster have been finalised.

Gold Coast: June 17 and July 8.

Forster: July 21 & 22 and September 1 & 2.

Each familiarisation day allows competitors (or potential competitors) to train over much of the course planned for race day. Participants can try any or all of the disciplines throughout the day, with training times staggered to allow for recovery between each discipline. Each leg will have a fast, medium and slow group, with group leaders ensuring the day caters for athletes of all abilities.

If you're interested in coming along to a familiarisation day, email Sam Maffett, and keep an eye on the race website for more details on meeting times and locations as the each day draws near.

Keen Adventure Race photos

During the five days of the Keen Adventure Race, three photographers were on hand to capture the many spectacular moments as teams raced along the world-famous coastline. The week included paddling out of the Bay of Islands at dawn, running and paddling past the Twelve Apostles, abseiling on the Otway Fly high above the forest floor and cycling through the Otway ranges.

To see Rich Rossiter's photos, click here, for Jon Barter's photos click here and for Andrew Connolly's click here. For other great snaps, click here.

Anaconda Gold Coast, Athlete Profile: Nathan McNamara

In 2006, Nathan McNamara competed in Anaconda Adventure Race Gold Coast as part of a team. He did the swim and kayak legs. Nathan must have had fun, as he was one of the first keen beans to enter the Gold Coast event this year, and he has entered as an individual.

"It was great fun last year, so I want to complete the whole race on my own this year," says Nathan, who claims his main sport is the slightly less adventurous game of golf. Click here for the full story.

Forster's Big Swim - test the Anaconda swim leg!

Want to get an early sample of the swim conditions for the Anaconda Forster? The second annual 3.8km Club to Club Ocean Swim will be held at Forster on Sunday April 22, starting at One Mile Beach Club House and finishing at Main Beach Club House. The race follows the same line as the Anaconda Adventure Race Day 1 swim (but goes a bit further) so is a great chance for some early reconnaissance. While this will be the second official swim, the race itself has been run within the surf club fraternity for the past seven years. It represents one of the toughest but most scenic open water swims on the North Coast. Click here for the full story

Mars Challenge - April 23rd

The field for Mars Challenge on April 23 is hotting up, with news that Jarad Kohlar (Australian sprint champion) will be lining up to defend his title, and Christie Sym (winner of two Anaconda events last year) will be making her debut. In the teams category, 5-time winner John Jacoby will be doing the paddle leg in a team that includes an old bloke from Ballarat (with the initials SM) doing the run leg. So for any hotshot teams out there looking to race the best in the business, here's your chance!

This race is now in its 7th year and takes competitors from the Goldfields of Ballarat to the ocean at Barwon Heads. The legs are 20km run, 79km road cycle and 32km paddle. Phil Waters (Race Director) puts on a truly great event, so if you're not doing anything on April 23, this is a race not to be missed.

This year the race becomes triathlete-friendly with news that the road cycle will be fully draft legal! This will introduce an interesting new dynamic to the race. In Jarad's words "This makes the race more open to a triathlete who could potentially put in a very fast run split, draft a super-quick team cyclist and have a big buffer starting the kayak leg. I've been putting in some extra miles on the road bike and am hoping that Mitch Anderson is racing so that I can tuck in behind him!"

Click here for online entry but you'd better get in soon !

Otway Odyssey Survey Winner

Over 300 riders who participated in the Otway Odyssey Mountain Bike Marathon took the time to respond to our post-race survey. Thanks to everyone for doing so, your feedback is invaluable to us and ensures the race will be bigger and better on February 23, 2008.

As thanks for helping with post-race feedback, we drew one name randomly for an Otway Odyssey prize pack. The pack features gear from SRAM, 2XU, and Enervit. Scott Van Wykvliet from Vermont (Vic) was the lucky winner, congratulations Scott.

Merchandise sale

We're clearing last year's range of 2XU Anaconda Adventure Race gear at cost price. High performance 2XU cycling jerseys and knicks are now only $49, while the warm winter fleeces are $59 (yeah it's hot now, but just think how snug they'll be come June). That's less than half the price of the equivalent 2XU gear in the shops. We also have high performance 2XU Tees available for $25 each - perfect as lightweight training tops. Stock is limited so get in quick.

E-mail t-shirt orders only to info@rapidascent.com.au. For all other orders go to the merchandise page.