The XPD that seemed like it might never end … for supporters, organisers and no doubt the racers as well! Blackheart.com.au (1) hit the finish line in the evening of Day 7 at 20:55.

The Aussie team were the only team to finish Cairns XPD 2010 in a week. They had an unexpected last few kilometres without their rivals on their tails when Orion Adventure (40) withdrew due to an ankle injury in the morning on Day 7 during the final trekking leg back into Cairns. Up to that point these two teams had fought a sustained battle up the front of the field, particularly since the Chillagoe Station trek (Leg 8), This unfortunate withdrawal was a great disappointment, of course for Orion Adventure (40), but also for Blackheart.com.au (1), the other teams and all the supporters. This incident  left Blackheart.com.au(1) far out front with plenty of space for the rest of the day.

McCain Adventure Addicts (51) from South Africa gained a lot of time and ground during the last trek (Leg 11) as they closed in on the finish line and came in second, scraping in 4.5 hours later on Day 8 at 01:23.

Merrell/Alkali (42) (13:15) from Canada/NZ/France managed to stay out front and take out third place ahead of Aussie team City Bike Depot (27) (14:41).

The other team ticking off the full XPD course on Day 8 was the first all men team from Queensland, Starfactor (52) (16:28).

Very few teams finished XPD in time to follow the State of Origin on Wednesday 26^th … this had been the goal of at least one XPD team before beginning. Surely XPD is way more exciting though, no?

It looks like It’s All Good (33) followed by the Dancing Pandas (50) will be the next teams over the line …. whether  night or day, HQ will be ready by the pool with champagne and pizzas!

Another big day saw the two pull away leaders, Blackheart.com.au (1) and Orion Adventure (40), continuing to leapfrog each other on Legs 9 (MTB), 10 (kayak) and the final 60km trek (Leg 11) into Cairns. It’s anyone’s guess as to which team (and when) will be first to the finisher’s couch – it’s going to be close with still only minutes between them.

The majority of the field (34 teams still racing ranked) are spread over the Walsh River kayak (Leg 7) and Chillagoe Station trek (Leg 8) with the faster teams already well on their way from Mt Mulligan (CP17) to Lake Tinaroo (CP22) on the 130km mountain bike (Leg 9). This cycle leg travels from outback savannah country to the fertile tableland agricultural areas, and the navigation through the first third is proving particularly challenging for all the teams.

On the Walsh River, ten teams transitioned through CP15 during the daylight hours on Day 6. The site known as Nine Mile is located by the side of the river (the opposite side to where the trek begins) with plenty of sandy riverbed space for teams to spread out, enjoy a fire and rest under the shady melaleucas and river gums. It has been noted by the volunteers manning this CP, that the water level has been dropping about 10cm a day. This is taking its toll, especially on heavier and unranked teams (paddling three in a kayak), as so much of this Leg requires that the kayaks be dragged through shallows. The frustration of some teams is showing as they pull in, saying that the location is really pretty but that the dragging and navigating is terribly gruelling work.

A lot of teams have been paddling by day and resting at night, camping by the river side and making a fire, sometimes in groups of 3-6 teams. It is clear that this paddle leg has really deepened the camaraderie amongst the teams – the encouragement and genuine interest in each other’s wellbeing is great to see, yet so typical of the adventure racing breed.

Day three and generally teams were onto Leg 5 cycling 130km of the Bicentennial Trail via Irvinebank and punctated by an orienteering trek at Stannery Hills. Reports from teams arriving at midcamp (CP11, Dimbulah) was that they loved the cycling leg a lot, despite the warm and fine weather. Some reports were that the orienteering quite challenging and the French team Wenger-Nam-EasyImplants (3) were particularly stoked about having seen so many kangaroos on this section.

Teams arriving at midcamp are generally in very high spirits, even the particularly bruised and battered. It seems that the cycling leg has given racers both the physical and mental distance and to put their stinging Misty Mountains experiences well behind them. It’s questionable whether the Muppets (39) will readily forget waking up on that trek with a leech in one of their mouths though! And Townsville Adventure Racing (18) blogged at Ravenshoe that their XPD was quickly turning from a race to an experience and soon to pure survival – so hopefully it will be full revival again for them with the treats and a break at midcamp.

Mid camp at Dimbulah started to fill up slowly from the afternoon – the kitchen kicked into gear cooking hot meals for teams and the tents beckoned teams to retreat and rest sited in the cool luxury of big shady trees. The IGA here is also seeing and increase in trade and many teams have taken a bee-line for the café – & volunteers are counting on these businesses extending their trading hours in response to XPD!

Blackheart.com.au (1) were the first team to leave midcamp with a lead of about 1.5 hours on Orion Adventure (40) – both teams leaving not a minute past the 6 hour mandatory break. The 20km wheelbarrow leg out to the Walsh River, quite a scene apparently – with a mountain of kayaks and paddle gear strategically packed and balanced. Only Blackheart.com.au (1) is expected to put in early enough to get started with some daylight paddling hours. The navigation and portaging on the remote Walsh River leg will be very challenging for teams, even in daylight, so it will be fascinating to follow the progress of the leading pack of teams overnight.

Follow the race online at http://geocentric.geo-loco.com/xpd/default.aspx.

XPD racers boarded the buses out of Cairns at 0630 this morning for a two hour trip south to Mission Beach. Having discovered the main boat booked to transport everyone to Dunk Island had broken down, the event organisers had to recruit other services to help tackle the job as efficiently as possible. By 1130 and several lattes later (for those teams on the first boat) everyone had assembled for the absolutely final briefing, group photo on the beach and minute of quiet contemplative silence. Just before midday the starting gun fired – XPD Cairns 2010 is officially ‘on’!

Teams left their one (1) inflatable kayak, aka ‘raft’, on the beach while they took off ‘trekking’ at a rather cracking pace down the beach to scale the heights and circumnavigate Dunk Island. Within an hour Orion Adventure (40) and Merrell/Alkali (42) were the first back to get their boats and paddle over to Kumboola Island for the snorkelling component of this leg. The head wind and choppy conditions created a challenge for all and although the snorkelling visibility remained good (~ 10m) the buoys proved tricky for many teams to locate between the peaks and troughs.

The strong start established by Merrell/Alkali (42) took a hit when the team damaged their boat on an oyster covered jetty pylon as they left Dunk Island for the passage crossing to Mission Beach (CP2). This damage required repair which gave Orion Adventure (40) comfortable space to lead ahead and transition to Leg 2 at their leisure.

Though the boat reshuffle to Dunk Island before the start had delayed the anticipated kickoff time, the organisers’ concerns that teams could be paddling all night in the choppy conditions didn’t eventuate quite so. By 6pm half the field had passed through transition at CP2 and the two rear teams were departing Dunk Island. It seems that the tailwind across the passage worked to help quell the challenging swell and assist the heavy water and passenger laden ‘rafts’ ashore. The inflatable kayaks, when loaded with 4 paddlers on open water, became more commonly known as ‘yellow submarines’ on this leg … and vomiting featured as a familiar experience (repeatedly!) for quite a few teams during the crossing.

All the teams emerged from Leg 1 in pretty good spirits. For City Bike Depot (27), team bonding proved to be an inevitable outcome when 4 people paddle a Sevylor. It’s All Good (33) (more appropriately ‘It’s All Wet’ on this leg) said that they resorted to bad singing to get them through and several other teams sighted turtles and rays which also helped to elevate the mood at testing times.

Leaving Mission Beach, the teams will cycle 100km during the evening and night up the Tully Gorge, via El Arish and Tully, and then get to decide how they will make best use of their dark zone time … most probably sleeping!

Day 2 (Leg 3) will start at 0630 with teams trekking 9km from the dark zone area to the put in for rafting – the 10km of Tully River rafting (teams staggered 5 minutes apart – first in Wednesday, first out Thursday) will be one of the most thrilling and downright fun sections of the race. They will need make sure they exit the river quickly – no lingering for the resident croc at the edge!

After ‘easing’ into the race on Day 1 and following the fun of Tully River rafting, this is where the true competition and serious racing will really begin. The experienced and strong teams are already displaying their power and ease – so stay tuned for some major excitement to come in this XPD event.

Follow the race online at http://geocentric.geo-loco.com/xpd/default.aspx

The anticipation and excitement was incredible as the teams were provided with their course booklets and maps (all 21 of them) at 8am this morning. Craig talked through the course and highlighted prominent details of each leg, while outlining the logistics in more detail.

What a relief and release of anxious tension for teams to have the course at last! Having spent more time with race preparation in Cairns by now than adventure races often are in length (24/36 hours), it was a common sentiment for teams to report that they had been feeling a bit ‘flat’ awaiting the release of more specific race details, unable to further plan and pack with purpose.

Teams had all sorts of different approaches to tackling the course route and information: linking up all the maps; photocopying the booklets so multiple people could focus on different aspects of it (rules, equipment/packing, course navigation) at one time; packing maps into boxes; cutting out just the relevant parts of the maps to take with them (hope they don’t wander off course!); measuring distances; calculating calories require; retiring to accommodation; spreading out in the Rydges ballroom; splitting up to do different tasks; and plain out denial!

The variety of reactions to the course was just as diverse. Quotes overheard:

• “It looks a VERY long way!”
• “The start looks fun and we’re too scared to look at the rest!”
• “Some very long and daunting legs – and not just my right and left ones!”
• “We were only worried before – now we are terrified!”
• “The first 1.5 days look amazing … ”
• “I think we’ve undertrained for the wheelbarrow leg”
• “Now that last hike is just adding injury to insult!”
• “I wouldn’t like to be a team doing that part in the dark!”

Mid afternoon the teams delivered their bikes in boxes (4 per team, max 30kg), plus their trunks (5 per team, max 25kg each) and paddle bag (max 30kg) to be weighed and loaded on to the logistics trucks – that’s a few gym workouts worth of lifting just there! Many boxes and trunks received impressive artistic attention and individual adornment from their owners: paint, Velcro, thatching, reflector strips, team and personal name tagging and custom made labels.

A chilled solidarity in preparation tension was clear as teams progressed through the weigh-in line, followed by a common lift and lightness of energy after submitting their ‘baggage’ – an ease delivered from surrendering to the inevitability of their expedition and adventure to come now.

The last of the administration duties entailed sealing up the GPS and optional mobile phone units for each team and issue of the TrackMe360 SPOT units that will enable live tracking of the event online.

From the number and type of boxes that were seen entering and being delivered to Rydges on Tuesday night, it appears that pizza is VERY popular with XPD-ers!

Cairns XPD2010 will start on Wednesday in Great Barrier Reef territory, first up with hiking and snorkeling at Dunk Island and sea kayaking through stinger territory over to Mission Beach. Next will be 100km of mountain biking up the Tully Gorge via El Arish and Australia’s wettest town, Tully (rainfall 7.4m/year), up onto the Cardwell Range where all teams will wait out the dark zone until Thursday 0630 (Day 2) when the first in will be first to raft the Tully’s white water.

Follow the race online at http://geocentric.geo-loco.com/xpd/default.aspx

“The amount and severity of dangerous fauna and flora in this neck of the woods has the potential to be quite overwhelming – box jellies, irikanji, stinging trees, crocodiles, spear grass, cassowaries, ticks, leeches, snakes, wasps, wait-a-while, lantana, blackberries, spiders … anyone still keen to race?”

The day began with all teams registering and an official welcome from XPD Director, Craig Bycroft. Each team had the opportunity to introduce themselves to the rest of the field and say a few words as they collected their official race bibs. Fast-paced, 30-seconds each – we heard all variety of snappy and witty, humble, controversial, enthusiastic, sarcastic and quirky comments, sponsor plugging and also insights into some teams’ goals, experience and rivals.

This is the first XPD or expedition length adventure race for many of the teams, quite a few having only one previously seasoned member among them. Also for several teams it is the first time they have actually met in person due to reasons such as geographic location or needing a sudden new team member perhaps only days before arriving in Cairns.

The new teams are all in such great spirits and full of enthusiasm to give it their best and just have a go, an Aussie characteristic that Canadian team Race the Rockies (35) commented is unknown for similar new teams at their home events. Several of the US teams further commented that the high reputation of XPD internationally not only reflects it World Series quality, but also its capacity to foster new expedition adventure racers.

Serial XPDers and seasoned expedition length adventure racers from overseas were humble in honoring the large contingent of strong national and international teams present at this year’s event, highlighting the uncertainty and increased competition this will bring to the event – we are in for a treat of fantastic suspense once the starting guns fires.

The bulk of the day centered on teams ticking off their competency and equipment checks under the shady Esplanade trees and in the resort pool: team photos and bio updates; navigation and GPS; first aid; ‘all time – on person’ equipment checks; and kakak skills. Lots of shopping and then food preparation was going on in team accommodation … and lots of resting up and just waiting for the course to be released.

First aid was a bit of an eye opener (and fear raiser) for most teams and not just the international visitors! The amount and severity of dangerous fauna and flora in this neck of the woods has the potential to be quite overwhelming – box jellies, irikanji, stinging trees, crocodiles, spear grass, cassowaries, ticks, leeches, snakes, wasps, wait-a-while, lantana, blackberries, spiders … anyone still keen to race? Some of these things give the most painful and most deadly encounters for their type IN THE WORLD!! An easy consensus the dangerous biodiversity is the biggest concern for teams at this stage.

Follow the race online at http://geocentric.geo-loco.com/xpd/default.aspx