As summer slowly drifts into the rear view mirror, it can only mean one thing, and that’s adventure racing season is almost upon us here in Australia. Adventure 1 returns in its eigth year with three fantastic events on offer.
Explore Gippsland Adventure Race
| 15-17 March 2024 30 Hour Race Blue Rock Lake, Willow Grove, West Gippsland, VICTORIA |
The Start of the Adventure1 Series for 2024 kicks off very soon with the Explore Gippland Adventure Race in Victoria. Now in its fourth year, this race promises all the elements that you have grown to love from this event – good navigation challenges and no easy legs.
The competition at the front of the field is looking good with Team Thought Sports lead by Tim Boote returning. So far, they have been the first team across the line for every addition, unfortunately they had to start as a team of 3 last year with a sick team member, so were ineligible to claim the win. They are looking to stamp their mark on this race once and for all.
Another hot favourite is a hybrid team with Elizabeth Dornom and Glenn Wilkinson from Alpine Avengers teaming up with Shelley Brambrook and Hugh Stodart for Thunderbolt. We have some intel that Shelley is firing after just completing the one-day coast to coast, Liz and Glenn are training hard for the One Water Race and Hugh has been doing a lot of sailing: although that might not really help for adventure racing we are confident he will get it done and navigate to his usual high standard.
Narelle Crozier is bringing her team Medically Engineering back again after claiming a few wins at various races over 2023 including Explore Gippsland official A1 category winner. They are sure to be pushing the pace looking for another win.
And the Tiger Adventure are bringing 3 strong teams – Mawson, Eastern and Mountain Tigers, mostly from interstate dens so it is great to have their support and means fighting for a top 5 position will be very competitive.
Checkout the Explore Gippsland website for more information, and if you aren’t racing this year be sure to keep it in mind for 2025.
The Rogue Raid
| 4-5 May 2024 24 Hour Race Donnybrook, Moreton Bay, QUEENSLAND |
The Adventure 1 Series then hits the road to the shoreline of Moreton Bay for the fifteenth edition of the Rogue Raid. With it’s traditional rogaine format of 24 hours of mountain biking, kayaking and trekking through the waterways and coastline of Pumicestone Passage and the trails at the foothills of the Glasshouse mountains, the Rogue is set to be one of the most competitive races this year with Australia’s top adventure racing teams lurking in the wings ready to battle it out for top spot on the podium.
The 2024 Rogue course is shaping up to be a massive one with 87 check points spread over 8 stages. The combination of tough navigation with even more challenging route choice, along with the need to push for every last second of the 24 hour time cut off makes the Rogue Raid just as much about strategy and planning as it does about raw fitness. Given that every check point is optional, the Rogue is the perfect step up to a longer format of racing for new teams whilst still pushing top level teams to the limit. The event is receiving support from Moreton Bay Regional Council – be sure to check out Visit Moreton Bay website for local accommodation options and other adventures to explore in the area.
Racing kicks off at 10am local time on 4 May with live tracking, regularly updated leaderboards, reports, photos and more, so be sure to check out the 2024 Rogue Live Site come race day. There are just a handful of places left in the race, so don’t delay if you are looking to take on the challenge of another Rogue Raid. Entries and full details can be found via the link below.
ExpeditionAR
| 20-27 October 2024 Expedition Length Race Bright, Alpine Shire, VICTORIA |
ExpeditionAR launches with Chapter 2 in the Victorian Alps
Thought Sports, the team from Godzone Australia and Explore Gippsland are back for Chapter 2 under the new event name – ExpeditionAR. They showed the world they can produce a Godzone quality event with Chapter 1 – Coffs Coast, and with no founding event in New Zealand this year, ExpeditionAR truly will be an “adventure like no other”.
CHAPTER 2 – VICTORIAN ALPS will be hosted in the Alpine Shire town of Bright from 20-27 October, 2024. Famous for cycling, breweries and all things alpine, Bright is one of Australia’s most loved adventure destinations. The high country is renowned for everything we love about Adventure Racing- big mountains, flowing singletrack mountain biking and packrafting delights in every valley.
The highest peaks are just under 2000m, so you don’t need to be acclimated, but with the springtime dates of 20-27th October, athletes will need to be prepared for all weather conditions. With both supported and un-supported events, teams of 4 will have up to 7 days to complete the 500km course.
Entries are now open and for the first two weeks we have a special entry price.
Check out the event website for full details the link below.
We look forward to following all the adventure racing action throughout Australia and right across the globe in 2024.
Adventure 1 Team.