2010 Vanuatu Adventure Race Director’s Report

The Race is the single most satisfying thing I have ever accomplished.  The vibe in the room during the presentation was so positive and as Race Director, my number one aim, which was to please the competitors who trusted us and came to our Inaugral event, seemed to be met.

The Race is a culmination of 15 months of work, that started with Vanuatu’s first Adventure Race team entering, training for and competing in Hells Bells in Australia in October 2009.  This was the first stepping stone to compete in and learn what an Adventure Race was all about. The next stage was to start promoting the Vanuatu Adventure Race, with Air Vanuatu and The Moorings kindly giving away packages to the winners of Hells Bell Australia 2009. They all attended our race. The final stage was to make contact with people to help advice and shape the race here.

Late Entry

On the day before he was to fly here, a Competitor was hit by a car while training, leaving his team mate without a partner.  On the Friday before the race, we went to see Tom from the Beach Bar because we had heard that he had a very fit boy.  I’m not sure that Daniel knew what he was getting himself into, but he agreed to join Craig.  Daniel excelled through the entire race, and on Day Three, (before dawn), it was Daniel who was leading the way while the elite competitors with their expensive headlamps followed. They were amazed that Daniel could follow the track without a light himself.  Daniel’s team would eventually finish 9^th overall after the three days of competition.

The Police escorted Bike ride

Teams met in town and had a Police escort out of town to Evergreen Park, which everyone seemed to enjoy.

The Prologue

Right on the scheduled time of 16:00 hours, the briefing started and the maps and directions were handed out early.  One of the key achievements of the race was everything ran exactly to time, except for 15 minutes on the Day Three Trek.

Teams seemed well prepared and eager to start the Prologue after having extra time to plan.  They said goodbye to their bikes until the following morning and then gathered around the 4WD for the event to begin properly at 17:00 hours.

As I counted them down, Debbie Toman was ready to take the photos.  On the word ‘Go’, to everyone’s surprise, the teams left in three distinct directions.  So was the nature of a Rogaine.

Two groups followed different paths and went off in search of BCP1 and BCP2, while the rest went down Devils Point Road to CP1.

The first, very surprised team to arrive at the finish, were the Vanuatu Virgins at 18:16 hours.  For a long while they were the only team there. Six more teams would finish between 18:16 and 18:50 hours. That’s when the rush started.  Once again, being the nature of a Rogaine there were time penalties for coming in after 19:00 hours.  Twenty one teams finished in the next ten minutes.

The clear winners for the Prologue were Team Mountain Design, getting all the BCP’s and finishing under 2 hours, giving them a negative time.  An amazing and unmatched effort.

During the Pasta Buffet at the Saloon Bar, I was pleased to see everyone had enjoyed the Prologue.  The feedback from then right through until the Presentation Breakfast was terrific.  Teams loved coming into the smoky Mele village after dark, and being escorted around the village by excited children who quickly cottoned onto where teams needed to be.  Two of the CP’s were not marked on the map, meaning teams needed local help to find them.

Both the Competitors and the Villagers will always have fond memories of the time spent there.

The Welcome Pasta Buffet

The Saloon Bar was a great setting for the Welcome Buffet, and everyone happily tucked into their food.

Some teams took the opportunity with the Microphone, to introduce themselves.

There were some quirky stories and none more so than P2 Seattle. They are fans of the Amazing Race television show and entered the race to have that kind of experience, and to test their relationship.  They planned to be the number one team from the US.

Maps and instructions were then handed out for Day 2 so that teams could go back to their Resorts to plan.

Day Two

On a brilliant warm sunny day, teams competed under the bright tropical sun.  This would test them, as most teams had come from winter training.

The 400m Ocean Swim

One team member from each team was required to swim 400 metres down the beach in Mele Bay, while their team mates moved down the beach to meet them.  It was a glorious sight when they all headed off.

Beach Run

After meeting on the beach, the teams then had to complete a kilometre beach run on the coarse black sands of Mele Bay shores.

MTB

They found their bikes where they had been left the day before, and headed out on the MTB section.

Two thirds of them headed straight for the hard slog up Klem’s Hill and on towards the first single track action at Mangaliliu.

One third of the teams ventured up into the gardens behind the Mele Village in search of BCP15 and BCP16.

Only one team continued with their marvellous effort from the Prologue. Team Mountain Design, headed down Devils Point Road to pick up BCP13 and BCP14 near the Wind Farm.

Teams 2, 3, 34 & 35 would pick up BCP17 down a muddy 4WD track where Tim and I had become terribly bogged the night before, when we couldn’t find the button to put the vehicle in 4WD.

Only three teams would take the excursion down another 4WD track to pick up the 15 minutes from BCP18. They were Teams 1, 15 & 34.

After going many more kilometres than other teams, Team Mountain Design brought up the rear, in the first single track of the course which went downhill to the village of Mangaliliu.

Once there, they had to find the Aid Station and have their gear inspected by Greg Toman.

After that, Teams then had the choice of heading South-East to the site of the American Camp during Survivor, or North-West to the site of Tribal Council for Koh Lanta which was the French version of Survivor.

Back at the Aid Station, they had to sign out of the area and then begin a hard slog back up to the main road.

Next was CP19, which was where the American Tribal Council had been constructed at the river mouth.

BCP19 was a give-me and one that I hoped was achievable for all teams. However, eleven teams ignored it and whizzed by on the way to the next single track which was above the village of Tanoliu.

Next there was another uphill ride. This time it was on a single track that took them to CP20, which was an oven built during WW2 to bake bread for the troops stationed in Havanah Harbour.

Sixteen teams opted to take the hour penalty for not achieving CP20 & CP21, rather than the time penalties for being late into the Bike Drop after 11:30 hours.

The BMX Bandits and Roger Wilco were the only teams who ventured further up the hill to take in BCP20 and BCP21.

Teams were pleased to pack up their bikes on the shore of Havanah Harbour.

Only five teams avoided time penalties coming into the Bike Drop. By this time, the hot day was taking its toll on their energy reserves.  They were Teams 3, 9, 17, 20 & 31.

They then had a run along the water to find CP24 before crossing over the TA on Moso Island.

Moso Island

After signing in at the Moso TA, teams were faced with two Rogaines one on foot and one on Outrigger Canoes.

Moso – On-Foot Rogaine

The CPs were set out in a V-shape from the TA, and it was logical to obtain the BCP’s across the island in order to save doubling back. However, the thick scrub in the interior laid waste to those plans, and teams did not have much success in finding them.

Only Biz Options ventured across the passage to pick up the relatively easy BC27 in front of a cave.

Moso – Outrigger

Two things became immediately apparent. All outriggers were not created equal and most teams were not familiar with how to position themselves and paddle them.

Throw in a change in weather conditions, and then the only fair thing was to make a ruling that did not penalise teams and at the same time reward teams that did do well.

Of note, the Boys from New Caledonia, Team ANZ and Tom and Alina from AROC Sports excelled in this section.

Coasteering

As the tide rose, teams made their way across the passage and followed the coast around to the finish line near the village of Siviri. Once there, they clocked off for Day Two.

Siviri

Teams knew they had a snorkelling activity. The three mystery activities that would challenge them, were revealed in their Instructions the night before.

One Team member would do the Snorkel and Archery Activities.

The Snorkel.

Teams were given Control Cards with three times represented on them. A buoy, that represented the centre of the clock, was pointed out to them. Magnetic North was 12 on the clock face and each time that was represented involved the big hand of a clock and the small hand of a clock. The big hand was 20 metres long and the small hand was 15 metres long. Checkpoints lay at the end of these hands.

It’s fair to say, that lithe 20 teams that understood this concept and excelled.  For some teams it proved hard, or they chose not to enter the water after such a hard day.

The Archery

For safety reasons, the archery was in a confined space where errant arrows couldn’t endanger anyone. Archery was fairly easy.

The Harris brothers from Teams 32 & 33, scored the only perfect scores, taking off a half hour from their course time.

The other Team member would have a strenuous rope climb after a hard day and with cramping muscles. If they were successful they would have 30 metre abseil.

The Rope Climb

At the mouth cave, a rope ladder was hung down and fixed every three metres to long roots which descended down from the top.

The competitors were ‘Top-Roped’ as they attempted to climb the ladder in under 5 minutes.  When they reached the top, they were put on a safety line as the scrambled away from the cliff edge and followed a track to the top of the abseil.

Of note, out of all but one person who attempted the rope climb got to the top and Colin Chang from ICOL 2.0 was the fastest climber in 1 minute and 5 seconds. He beat the record of one of my staff when we set it up a couple of weeks before.

The Abseil

The reward for climbing the rope ladder was an excellent 30 metre free hang abseil that dropped the competitors down to the back of the Siviri village.

The Overnight Camp

For me, as the Race Director, this is one of my fondest moments.  After handing out the maps and instructions for Day Three, I turned off my head light and had a ‘fly on the wall’ experience as I stood in the dark and watched the teams prepare their tents and dinners or get bedded down in the Community Hall.  Chief Peter was extraordinary, as he kept a large pot of water boiling for them all.

Another great moment was when the boys from New Caledonia presented Chief Peter with a box of shoes for his village.  This was a wonderful gesture.

An unexpected bonus for teams , was a massage table set up in a tent and 15 minute leg rubs being on offer.

When I returned at 3:30 hours the next morning, there was Chief Peter again boiling up the huge pot to make sure that everyone had hot water for food and drinks before the final day Trek.

Day Three

The best story from Day Three was about an unexpected contestant.  A young dog, not much more than a puppy, followed the back teams all the way across the Island.  He has now been adopted by one of the EDGE staff and named ‘Race’.  ‘Race’ has captured the hearts of many.

Siviri Start line

The only time the event was behind schedule the whole time, was just the 15 minutes I allowed all the teams to be ready for the start of the Trek.

At 4:15 hours, teams set off on what would be a minimum of a 40km hike that would take them close to the peak of Mt MacDonald, Efate’s highest Peak.

The Trek

After some difficulty in finding the trail that led off the 4WD track, teams headed across to the base of a ridge that they would use to gain the mountain top.

CP37 was hanging from an overhang beside a beautiful rock pool.  I am sure had it not been a race they would’ve been tempted to take a early morning dip.

They then had another flowing River crossing for CP38 and dry river crossing for CP39, before they headed up.

The hardest part of the Trek followed as teams trudged up the Ridge.

From there, it was a relatively easy trek across the island.

No team had the energy to take in BCP34.  From there they could’ve seen the Finish Line.

Before CP41, teams encountered the landslide that I witnessed when putting out the markers on the day of our major earthquake.

Only two teams Sister Act and Don’t Forget your Snickers,  took advantage of the time gained by achieving BCP35.

From Safety Checkpoint Two to Safety Checkpoint Three, teams followed a track that took me three goes to establish, which joined up already existing track systems.

CP44 was on another beautiful river, before achieving Safety Checkpoint Three.

Then back on an old established track towards a cattle property.

Three teams , (Sister Act, It’s all Good and Don’t Forget Your Snickers), navigated through the bush down to the final BCP of event, while gaining more time.

The track ended at a cattle property, down its driveway had them back on the main road which headed towards the finish.

At Tamate Bridge, they started following the creek downstream, picking up CP46 at the dam wall built by the American’s during WW2.

Waterfall Abseil

The first team that came to where I was waiting for them, was Team ANZ from New Caledonia.

I fitted a harness on him and sent him down to the EDGE Staff, who safely belayed them down the Mele Cascades waterfall in two 25 metre pitches.

I was amazed as most teams seemed like they had just been for a stroll and not on the arduous Adventure Race.  I sent the other team mate down the track to meet up with the one abseiling.

CP47 waited for them further down the creek before they left the Cascades area and down the road towards the beach of Mele Bay.

The Finish

This was the home straight.  The last CP of the race was at the rivers mouth and then up the beach to the Beach Bar, where they had started the morning before.

Here they were treated to a Pig on the Spit and Island Kai Kai to reward them for their efforts.

They ate, drank and clapped the teams that came in after them.

I was fortunate to  be there when the last three teams crossed the line. They were Where’s Wally & Wilson, the Wyld Wons and the Wyld Two’s.

The team from the US P2 Seattle were in the care of Greg Toman and were met by Jim at the cattle property and driven to the finish.  This was a sterling effort in their first adventure race.

Team Bean had their own adventure on Day Three I hope they will write about it and post it on the website. Just like James Kirk, they went where no man had gone before!

The Presentation Breakfast

Coconut Palms turned on a huge breakfast spread on the morning of the presentation and teams boxes and bikes were waiting there for them.  There was a wash bay set up for the bikes to avoid trouble returning home.

Teams thought I was down that morning during the speeches and presentation. In fact I had never been so satisfied and I was just lacking sleep having stayed up most of the night to produce the results.

My wife Melanie is always by my side and worked tirelessly through the event and was up with me all night to have the whiteboard ready.

The event couldn’t have happened with-out Tim who I competed in Hells Bells with.  We had too many adventures of our own to report, except to say that we now know where the 4WD button is on the vehicle we hired.

I was so proud of my staff, who met every challenge thrown at them ,and did everything with a smile.

Katie a Peace Corp Volunteer who lives in the Mele village, gave up three days to be where I needed her.

Mace, who helped Tim get the markers out in the early morning hours of Day Two.

Zeak, who had to learn the mapping program to produce all the maps.

We had some Paramedics organised from Australia who pulled out with 10 days notice, and Jim Coates who was here on long service leave from the Victorian Ambulance Service, stepped in with a weeks notice.  Thankfully his paramedic skills were underutilised.  However, Jim was always ready to help out where needed.

The event also couldn’t have happened without some Technical Advisors, and Greg and Debbie Toman from Area51.They aptly provided technical advice and their time free of charge.  Area51 is an online Adventure Racing equipment store, www.area51.net.au.

A special thank you also, to the Police who provided a Police Escort out of town on the first day of the competition and Melanesian Tours who moved the competitors around hassle free.

Sponsors

The event couldn’t have happened without generous sponsors including;

Air Vanuatu and Coconut Palms who provided Flights and Accommodation packages for the winning teams.

AVL, Downtown Duty Free, Evergreen, Moorings, Pacific Suppliers & Wilco who sponsored Outrigger Canoes for the event.

Wilco also provided a truck to move the competitors bikes.

Vanuatu Helicopters gave a lift to the officials to get them up the mountain before the Competitors

Big Blue provided the Snorkelling equipment for the snorkelling challenge.

Conclusion

My heartfelt thanks goes  out to you all who trusted us here in Vanuatu to put on a good race for you. And once again for everyone that helped along the way (especially if I forgot to mention you here).

We’ll be back in August 2011, bigger and better than ever and we will show you the another side of Efate.

Troy Spann

Race Director.