Full Moon A Race

The Full Moon Adventure Race will be remembered for the huge yellow moon which laughed at us all night - and the extreme cold! We believed we had prepared ourselves for it, by rushing out last weekend and buying all manner of warm clothing and waterproofing. By 10 o’clock that night, we all wished we had more to put on, but all survived without loss of limb.




Pre-race preparation was leisurely, we arrived hours before the start and floated around digging out numerous pairs of gloves and warm tops, not yet knowing what order the race would take. The weather warm and beautiful - giving no inkling of what was in store for us.

Route handout and race briefing took place and sooner that you thought, we were lined up next to the kayaks for our first loooong 14km paddle to CP1, 2 and 3. We decided to let the rush go first, before getting into the kayak at our leisure and set off in our prepared positions. Bruce on the stern, William in the middle and myself with legs hanging over the bow

Plugging along, we found ourselves overtaking several teams which had not rehearsed positions the previous weekend. Skip the rest......and we were back at the bank a couple of hours later, only to find that it was actually winter and were all frozen to the marrow, upon getting out of the boat! Here we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves only 1 boat behind Lickety Split, exchanged “Hi’s” and when I looked around next - they were gone! Very quick transition Lickety Split! We spent time changing clothes and getting warm for a MTB leg which could run into dusk, then set off up the steepest slope imaginable. Cold muscles screaming at the torture! William easily navigated us to the next transition at the farmhouse, where we added more layers for a hike leg of 13kms, into the dark.

At this point we were around a third of the way down the field and had also met up with Lickety Split just leaving as we arrived. This hike leg, we decided to go the long easier way around on the road, rather than directly cross-country over the hill and through tall grass. Once again William navigated us straight to the CP, with only a small amount of time spent looking for a dam wall, which looked more like an earth embankment to me. At this point the team was still going strong. William singing “Happy Birthday tooo meee”. He protesting that it is the only song he knows!

Now without sunlight, we headed out up the valley navigating by the stars. This placed an unexpected hill in front of us, but undaunted we summited that and found the expected road below....only to discover we had added some extra mileage to our trip. Talking of ‘trip’ this is where Bruce managed to begin his first of several spectacular ankle-twisting trips. To his credit, he gritted his teeth and pushed on for the cause.
Passing a couple of teams returning by the light of the moon, we were warned that the ‘locals’ were not friendly and made a rough detour high up the hill to avoid the soccer crowd in the shacks below. Finding the CP just as 2 other teams approached, we hussled back down the hill, surprised to be followed by a couple of them who had completely missed the ‘river junction’ CP and maybe thought we were members of their team?

At the farmhouse, we added another layer, enjoyed a cold supper with hot mugs of tea and logged out for another MTB leg. Here starts the ‘real’ adventure racing! The temperature had dropped below freezing and the low ground near water, was exactly like cycling in a deepfreeze.....air gasping out of us in white clouds. Hands and feet burning and hurting. Still William kept us up to date on expected twists and turns in the road and we found CP after CP exactly where they were meant to be! Boy was it cold though! You pull your beanie down over your ears, buff up to your eyes, icicle of snot hanging from your frozen nose and cycle on - wrapped in a bubble of discomfort! Feet could not be ignored as they screamed for attention.....burning and then frozen solid. Expensive waterproof/windproof socks and shoe covers were not proof against the cold and wet. Determination had nothing on us though....we pushed through and met the Red Ants team passing in the opposite direction, having already done 2 kayak legs and an orienteering leg. Go Guys!

Kayaking back to the marquee only remarkable in that it was more of the same....ice everywhere....cold.....cold! Bruce was starting to wilt and finally conceded defeat now that he was back near his car, on solid ground, hot drinks and huge bonfires all around. William and I had both experienced unfinished races before and were both steely determined to see this one through to the bitter end. I was feeling remarkably well and the orienteering leg was in front of us, lit up by the moon and street lamps in the housing estate, but the hour was late - the graveyard shift.....12 hours down and more of the same to come. William and I began a bit of a ramble around the estate....the most efficient routes seemed to evade us, though we were still working somewhat within a schedule which we had worked out would bring us into the finish by around 10 the next morning. Exchanged “hello’s” with Lickety Split once again! The air crisp, clear and cold....we stopped for a second, to admire a torrent of icy water gushing over the dam wall.

Coming back to the marquee, we were lucky enough to see The Red Ants finish - they had already completed a kayak, MTB, Hike, Abseil and kayak, which we had still to face! They looked absolutely frozen, which made me feel warmer and stronger. The feeling soon wore off, the kayaking left my fingers in such pain that I was jumping around on the bank crying and flapping until my warm, dry gloves rescued my frozen fingers. A quick change of shoes, check to see that my frozen chain would still turn, rub ice off my saddle, exchange greetings with Lickety Split who were huddled by the fire....and we were off! The night was long and solitary. Plenty of time for introspection, while waiting for William who was slowing down.....and finally we both realised....asleep on his bike....only his forward momentum keeping him upright! So we hunkered down in the grass for 40 winks at 5.30am in our space blankets. Chilly, cold moon still chuckling above us.

Daybreak and we were off, slowly at first and then faster as we warmed. Stops to remove clothing as the sun rose....picking up more checkpoints.....tired now after 20 hours on the road. Transition at another farmhouse....change shoes for the last time....swop beanie for peak cap.....chat to Heidi who was full of enthusiasm and promises of breakfast awaiting us in camp. Off wading through the tall grass.....sloshing through the mushy ground.....up the koppie to the abseil with friendly faces and happy chatter. Dangling on the line as my abseil turns into a bungie jump....quick plod over the hill to the kayaks for the last leg. An olympic entry into the water.....20 minutes to the marquee....will we be in time for prize giving? Hey, there’s Mike and Trish waiting for us on the bank.....what a fantastic surprise! Yells of “Hi Mike” bringing the whole crowd out of the marquee to welcome us in! Wow, what a finish - and we get a trophy too! Final word - Yes it’s worth the pain to finish.
Post-race - surprised to find that I have no sore muscles, just feel heavily hung-over from lack of sleep .....and boy are my lips CHAPPED!
High point: Completing a 140km race and collecting all the CP’s, coming in to a crowd of welcoming teams, clapping and happy faces.
Low point: Frozen frostbitten hands after kayaking at 3am. The pain!
Race Review: Fantastic organization by Heidi and Stephan, CP’s well placed, great support and facilities, distances realistic, lucky draw prizes....as usual amazing! Thanks go to Urban Kinetic for a memorable event.