Snow during the first round of the Arrow International 24 Hour Adventure Race Series contributed to what the race organiser said was likley to be one of the most challenging events in this year's series. Fourteen teams took part in the first event of the series. Held in Marysville ninety minutes north of Melbourne, few would have believed the likelihood of snow.

The secret course was released to competitors on the Friday night prior to the beginning of the event on Saturday morning. The course began on Lake Eildon with a 2 kilometer sprint to the kayaks followed by a series of check points along Lake Eildon. Teams were then required to paddle up Big River encountering many portages and small rapids along the way. First to complete the paddle was team Checkpoint, Jarad Kohlar, Kim Willocks, Andrew McKenzie and Raoul Luescher.

From Big River participants then changed disciplines from kayaking to mountain biking. This leg involved some substantial climbs and for those still riding in the dark some very tricky descents. It was during the mountain bike that A3, Brett Anderson and Damien Angus took the lead with a bike leg time of 4:25. This was a lead they would maintain until the finish. The weather had been quite stable until the early evening when a cold wind begun to show the first signs of impending weather.

Leg three was once again a change of disciplines where teams changed bikes for running shoes and warm clothing. The leg involved a 31 kilometer mountain run including a traverse of Lake Mountain Ski Resort. It was soon evident that skis may have been better than shoes when snow began to settle at 1200 meters above sea level and another 250 vertical meters to climb.

Participants where fortunate to have the Marysville fire department to man checkpoints either side of the Ski Field. While the fire department is well known for putting fires out they also supplied some very much needed and appreciated fires at the check points to reheat participants who had snow encrusted on their packs, hats and jackets. Team A3 still held a comfortable lead off the mountain however the competition for second was very close with the arrival of two four-person mixed teams at the transition to the final mountain bike into Marysville and the finish line.

First into the transition was team Challenge, Mark Mex, Damon Georke, Karen Hopkinson and Ian Franzke. While team Challenge was still in the transition, New Zealand team Sierra International, Mark Minerhan, Paul Minerhan, Jo Forbs and Rob Harrow arrived. Realising that team Sierra had caught team Challenge, Challenge made a hasty departure from the transition to reach the finish line in second place and first four person mixed team. Team A3 took line honors in a time if 15 hours and 20 minutes.

All teams finished the course with only three individuals withdrawing from teams who went on to complete the course. While the leading teams completed the course in less than 16 hours, the course lived up to expectations with the last team crossing the line in 23 hours and 46 minutes. The series now moves to Sydney for the second round of the six race series. While Sydney is only the second event in the series it will decide the winners of the Australian 24 Hour Champions based on points gathered during the Melbourne and Sydney events.