It is over ....

Yes we have knocked the buggar off.... yes we survived ..... yes we have tamed the XPD 2010.

Was it hard? Yes, the hardest yet. What were the highlights? The rafting, the ever changing scenery, the challenge of the mega legs - 48 hours on one trek for example, the true remoteness of the course, the navigation, the atmosphere and friendliness of the teams. What were the lowlights? None really but our transitions sucked and the rainforest walk in the final trek was a real mind challenge and on more than one occassion we were doubting whether we would make the finishline or not. What did we learn? Never give up...even if you think things can't get any worse. Would we do it all again .. hell yes .. what an amazing experience it was.....

This race has been an incredible experience for us and we hope that through the dedication of Sonya and Annie you have experienced the race with us.

Thanks for all your support. Also a massive thanks to the team at Macpac - the gear we had was perfect for the conditions and we looked the smartest of all the teams out on the course.

Will write up a summary of the race later and upload some piccies. Off to drink champagne and enjoy prawns on the barbie

Cheers Deb

Macpac Girls On Top FINISH!!!!

Look at those smiles and sense of relief!  Yes the Macpac Girls on Top have completed XPD Cairns at 3pm today and are the second Kiwi team to finish.

They are all stoked to be cross the finish line and Debbie has been quoted as saying this was definately the most challenging XPD they have ever competed in.  It took them all to the depths of their souls and then a little bit more! 

Having watched the girls on this most epic 9 day adventure, we couldn't be more proud of them and what they have achieved which is truly amazing.  Only 20 out of 47 teams who began this journey last week will complete the course before the cut off at 6pm tonight (only an hour away).

They celebrated in style with bubbles and pizza.  The bubbles were quickly ditched for a cold beer which went down a treat.  With minimal coaxing the Girls bombed into the hotel pool and washed off 9 days of grit, grime and hard work (poor other patrons of the hotel).

They are all in amazingly good physical condition for what they have been through.  Zoe managed to get a leech in her eye this morning which Viv had to extract - yum.  No major damage done. 

So the only question remaining is can they shower and get back in time for the race party which starts at 6pm ?  Actually the big challenge will be them keeping awake to enjoy the party!

So I'll sign off now and the next entry will be from the Macpac Girls on Top themselves to no doubt fill you in in more detail about their tremedous journey :)

Girls At Tinaroo

Well, yet again, apologies for the news void.  The team have been on 2 massive legs as you no doubt have learnt by now from watching the live website.  Lets just say that the times for both the paddle down the Walsh River and the trek to Mt Mulligan have blown out for every single team.  These two legs were punishing but almost universally enjoyed - even by team members that have had to pull out!

Just spoke to Debbie and the Girls have made it to Lake Tinaroo and are about to head out on the last paddle leg for the race (15km long).  Most teams to pass so far have managed the paddle in 4-5 hours, to be followed by a mammoth 60km trek to the finish which we expect will take a minimum of 30hours!

Word from the bike leg is that as usual they all had a fantastic time and are as always smiling.  Some interesting route choices had them at one point bashing their way through grass taller than all of the girls (even Zoe) which ultimately led to some great single track riding - wicked.  A stop at the dairy for some pies I believe and they are well fuelled up.

This is turning into one epic adventure, and we are expecting the Girls in on Friday before the race ends at 6pm, what time exactly yet we are not sure!  They are the middle of the field, so no doubt the multitude of teams behind them will be offered a short course option soon (all must start the trek by 6am tomorrow or they cannot start it).

So our next blog will be joyously letting you know that Macpac Girls on Top have successfully completed an amazing adventure in what will have to go down as the toughest XPD yet!

Warren the Wheelbarrow

Well, after saying we thought there might be an info blackout on Macpac Girls on Top - we hunted them down on the road this morning pushing their wheelbarrow.  They headed out of Midcamp this morning at 6am and made it to the river just after 10am.  As you can see they continue to be in fine form.  Zoe's feet are pretty sore but she hasn't scored Debbies bracelet yet - Viv is still holding on to that one. 

Their wheelbarrow was affectionately named 'Warren' - at times he was a bit useless and Anne said he wasn't pulling his weight except on the downhill when he wanted to run.  All the Girls took their turn pushing Warren the 20km to the rivers edge, but you could have been mistaken for thinking Debbie and Viv were going gardening (when their turn came around they donned some fetching gloves).  By the time they reached the river the temperature was up to 28 degrees and the sun was beating down, so yet again one word pops to mind ... Legends.

A wee bit of a faff on the rivers edge taking an hour to transition onto the river, but you can't really blame them when they have an epic 70km to head down. Craig has told us all that given the river level is lower than when he paddled it there will be some significant amounts of boat pulling/dragging along the river bed or carrying over rocky areas.  Orion have finished the paddle section now taking approximately 20hrs, so this leg is going to be epic. 

I am telling the truth this time when I say that we won't see them again until after the 68km trek that follows the paddle.  These next two sections of the race cover a huge distance which is all on one private landowners property.  Apparently he doesn't go into the section they are trekking on EVER as its 'tiger country' or did he quote 'mongrel country'.  Either way you get the idea. 

So until Mt Mulligan and the end of the trek, the info blackout begins.  We'll post again in probably 36hrs - ish.  :)

PS  Who knew Viv could 'Beat It' so well and was a fan of Michael Jackson?

Midcamp - Yippee!

To all the Macpac Girls on Top fans we apologise profusely for the media lapse on our intrepid adventure racers.  We lost them last night in the haze of the stinging tree nightmare.  They have arrived here at midcamp in Dinbullah at 23:19.

No doubt by now you have heard about the awful Stinging Tree - the most painful plant in the world!  Almost all the racers have had varing degrees of exposure to the nasty bugger.  Apparently our young Zoe did an impression of a ghost with her treatment (which folks consists of application of 15% hydrochloric acid to the skin, follwed by a wax in an attempt to remove the invisible threads of sting) .. she is a legend, grown men were screaming with theirs!  Debbie declined my kind offer of torture/treatment this evening ... I can't think why.

They had fun out on the rogaine and MTB to midcamp and have arrived in good spirits and may we say looking pretty sharp (don't they always).  The shot above is them just after they pulled in.  They are busy now breaking down their bikes into their boxes, and will tuck into a big plate of hot food before heading off for a well deserved sleep (they have to stop at midcamp for a minimum of six hours).

Tomorrow they have an epic day ahead - a 20km wheelbarrow push filled with all their kayaking gear to the Walsh river.  Then its a 68km paddle on what the race organisers have described as 'pretty rugged and remote' - no sweat so say the Girls!  We anticipate that the push will take them 7ish hours and the paddle around 12-14hrs so watch this space .. there will be a drought again.

So to sign off here from Midcamp - Debbie says thanks heaps to everyone for the great messages and support - they love it, keep it coming.  And especially for Craig .. some big love from Zoe (she said you would know what she meant).  Until post paddle .. Macpac Girls on Top out.

Macpac Girls on Top were looking fine this morning pre race start, until some monkey jumped in front of the camera.  The bus trip was uneventful, and all made it out to Dunk Island for a race start just before noon. 

In fine form as usual, the Girls have smiles on everytime we spot them, and at least a couple of cheeky remarks.  I think they may have enjoyed the snorkelling too much ... fins and snorkels flying in all directions (they should invent the female equivalent of the cricket box so I'm told).

They made it back to Mission Beach this evening in  19th position.  They are currently putting together their bikes and making ready for the 100km MTB through Tully and up to the top of the Tully Gorge before they hit a darkzone and will no doubt get at least a few hours sleep before setting off on white water rafting tomorrow morning.  NO teams are allowed on the river prior to 6am.

So far, no casualties - in fine form (unless you count Anne feeling a bit gippy on the paddle back into Mission Beach) and heading out on the bikes looking great.

Race about to start

Macpac Girls on Top are looking good and raring to go.  From this point in they have entrusted us with their blog for the race duration ... ha ha (I suspect at times they may regret relinquishing their password)! 

The race starts tomorrow with what looks like a pretty awesome leg making the most of being alongside one of the most beautiful reefs in the world and its fantastic marine environment. 

A 6am start to the buses and they are heading south down to Mission Beach which should take a couple of hours.  Then the competitiors are loaded onto boats to head out to Dunk Island for the official race start.  Then its trekking/kayaking/snorkelling around and on the island followed by a paddle back to Mission Beach (4 to a kayak).  The girls should have an impressive advantage on the paddle over all the teams big on size = big on boat sink with 4 aboard.  Top teams are expected to hit the beach around 5:30pm and the last should be through by 7:30pm all things going well.

The buzz around all the racers at HQ today was a good mix of excitement, trepidation, out and out fear, followed by more excitement again.  The race overview as its laid out is going to truly fulfill the philosophy of the organisers - 'as much an expedition as a race'.

For more info have a look at http://www.kiwixpd.blogspot.com/ for info on Macpac Girls on Top and all the kiwi teams here at XPD.

Made it to Cairns

Debbie, Zoe and I arrived safely in Cairns just after lunch on Friday and without having to pay any excess on our luggage thanks to some good sweet talking to important people before we left. We were picked up by our chaffeurs Chrissy, Scotty and Greg and whisked away to our accommodation much to the envy of the other New Zealand teams who were waiting for a shuttle. On arrival at our accomm we unpacked our bikes and moaned about the heat. Viv our new teammate wasn't far behind and thanks to Chrissy again was transport to the accomm of course we spent the next few hours getting to know Viv and sharing stories about past adventures and adventure races. Saturday was spent doing the shopping for the race and getting our Macpac gear and equipment sorted and labeled with our individual colours. Deb is yellow, Zoe is red, Viv is blue and I am green. Sat night was spent living the high life up at Chrissy and Scotty's place at Kewarra Beach. Man were we spoilt we got to walk their Rotweiler on the beach, sip gin and tonics, eat prawns and kanga on the barbie mate, and scoff the most amazing chocolate mouse cake you have ever seen .. wow was it scrummy. It seems Viv is not so strong when it comes to cake eating .. she let the team down and couldnt finish hers so was awarded the "harden the f..... up" wristband by Chrissy. This wristband will complete the race with us and be given to the person who really needs to just ... harden up... we have nicknamed it the wimp award ... Sunday was spent doing more shopping and doing more preparation of bike boxes, gear bins and food. We also took a dip in the pool to test our snorkels, masks and fins out. Apparently i was a bit of a wimp when I got in so guess who is wearing the wristband now ...!!!

Things get a bit more real tomorrow with competency checks, photos and gear checks. All hell will break loose on Tuesday when we will be given the course..... bring it on.

Will upload some photos tomorrow.... off to cook some pasta now.

Ciao Anne

Final days leading up to the XPD

This post isn't about training but about the last few weeks leading up to the XPD Adventure race. As you can see from our previous blogs this event has been our focus for the entire year. The last few weeks have been a real rollercoaster of emotions starting with Erin falling off her bike and dislocating her elbow. At the time it happened we were openly optimistic and had rose colured glasses on all believing that Erin would make a full recovery in time to make it to the startline. However after her first Doctors appointment a week after the injury the warning signals came on and we started to think the unthinkable that she might not make it to the startline at all. Once the alarm bells were in full ring we started to hustle for last minute teammates. This is not as easy feat as there are not that many people meeting our description - Wanted:  fast, fit, funny, female able to go without sleep for long periods of time, happy to push mind body and soul to the limits, not scared of snakes, spiders, leeches, crocodiles, box jelly fish and other creepy crawlies, able to fund a three week jaunt to Cairns and able to get leave from work, family and any other commitments they may have. Not surprisingly my inbox was full of thanks for thinking of me but ....... emails ... not what one needs in the build up to a big race.... however, it seems the good luck angels were on our side and we were more than fortunate enough to secure an Adventure racing legend Viv Prince ... woo hooo how lucky are we :) ... soo things were once agin looking all rosey and we were sorted and ready to roll. With one and a half weeks till departure Anne came down with Larangitis and has spent the last week madly trying to find her voice and recover any way she can..

Soooo... fingers crossed we all make it to the startline on May 19 in good health, good spirits and feeling fit and fantastic. A massive thanks to Viv for stepping up to the plate. Bring on the xpd

Countdown to Race time ...

Team Macpac Girls on Top is heading off to Cairns Australia to participate in the XPD; code for an extreme adventure race, a 700km kayak, raft, mountain bike and walk/run based out of Cairns Australia.
The XPD is Australia’s own expedition length adventure race. In just over a weeks time on May 19, 47 teams from over 7 different countries including ‘Team Macpac Girls on Top’ will be embarking on an expedition into the unknown. The teams will travel by kayak, raft, mountain bike and on foot and will navigate their way from checkpoint to checkpoint sleeping when and where they dare. This type of adventure race pushes competitors to their physical and mental limits. These adventurers will race day and night over a 700km course.

XPD is open to mixed, all male or all female teams of four. The exact course is kept secret until 24hrs before the start. Then with much excitement and anticipation, teams are provided a course booklet and their race maps. The course booklet contains the location of each of the race checkpoints. Once teams start, racing is 24 hours per day; teams choose when and where they will sleep. The winning team is expected to complete the course in 4-5 days. All other teams will be permitted up to 10 days to complete the expedition without mid-race cut offs. XPD will be challenging for first time racers and experienced teams alike.

Follow our every movement in the race at … http://geocentric.geo-loco.com/xpd/TeamDetail.aspx?id=35 …