After six days of continuous rain many of the Sydney based teams were nervous as to whether the second event in the Arrow 24 Hour Series would go ahead. Other well established events such as the Oxfam 100km walk were postponed due to the rising waters and flooding. A few of the 24 Hour teams went so far as to e-mail the race director to ask if the event was to be postponed. The reply was "Don't be soft, it's wet but not that wet".

The Sydney 24 hour event was based around Wisemans Ferry an hours drive north east of Sydney. The weather had affected the course but fortunately the sand based tracksmeant the race was able to go ahead despite the wet conditions. Thirty-one teams registered for the largest Arrow Sydney event yet. Teams included individuals such as Julie Moss US - Ironman legend, Guy Andrews - former Uncle Tobys Ironman champion, and New Zealand based Team Sierra International - Mark Minerhan, Julian Minerhan, Rob harrow and Jo Forbs.

For many teams just reaching race registration was an adventure. Stuart McFadzean of Team Abbot & Costello was four hours late departing Melbourne after fog closed the airport. His teammate and world-kayaking champion, Chad Meek, was also waylaid after breaking a rear axel while driving from Albury. After finally completing the race registration at midnight Team Abbot & Costello were able to get little sleep prior to the Saturday 8am start.

Staying with tradition, the racecourse was revealed at the Friday night briefing. The event would start at the Del Rio resort on the Hawkesbury River and consist of a 15km ride to the MacDonald River, followed by a 16km kayak back to Del Rio. Another mountain bike ride approximately 115km long would take the competitors to the start of the 30km trek along part of the Old North Road and finish with a 44km mountain bike ride back to Del Rio. Prior to the rain all that didn't sound too bad.

As the weather cleared the event began with a staggered bike start to ensure no large groups formed on the first leg. Team Checkpoint (Damian Georke "Daz", Jarad "Coca" Kohlar, Kim Willocks and Andrew "Maccabags" McKenzie) were first onto the water, closely followed by the rest of the field. Relay team Halvaboy (Paul Darvodelsky, Richard Mountstephen, Guenter Hauber, David Hatley, Greg James and Peter Hatfield), were first off the water in a total kayak time of 1:25 hours, with team Checkpoint only one minute back and team Landdrover G4 Challenge (Guy Andrews and Gary Southerland) in third place.

With some navigational aid from the race organiser, teams departed on what was to be the deciding mountain bike leg of the event. Armed with circa 1973, 1:25000 edition topographic maps, the field undertook an 115km mountain bike leg, which traversed the entire Yengo National Park - twice. With most trails consisting of a sand and quarts, equipment failure became common. Team Sierra International from New Zealand was one of the first teams to withdraw, after breaking a derailleur and then a rear hub. Approximately half way through the mountain bike leg teams reached checkpoint one, where they were given new course instructions.

With failing equipment, fading light and with inaccurate maps, many teams went astray from the recommended route and where forced to turn back to the nearest manned checkpoint. . On arriving back at the checkpoint, teams were unhappy to find the official had closed down the checkpoint as all teams had safely passed through a few hours prior. This left a number of teams stuck at the Colo Heights Ampol Service Station trying to contact their support crew who were waiting at transition three. After a few calls, all teams bar one were safely rescued from Colo Heights. Gary Farebrother of team Maximum Adventure not only had to chase away a would-be bike thief during the night, but also remained at Colo Heights after turning down a ride as he had been assured that his support crew were on route to pick him up.

Continuing with the race, team Checkpoint described the mountain biking as entering "Deliverance Country" when the road deteriorated into single track and teams had to carry their bikes across a creek and up to the ridge line before joining the Womerah Range Track to St Albans and the transition at Wrights Creek Road.

Only fifteen teams reached transition three. a Six teams decided to withdraw due to fatigue, lack of food and sore bums. The remaining trekking leg involved 30km of firebreak trails and the Old Great North Road. Team Halvaboy had maintained their lead off the kayaks and mountain bikes, while team AROC Sport - orienteering specalised - Tom Landon-Smith and Alina McMaster had moved into second place ahead of Landdrover G4 Discovery after they made a small navigational error.

With a straightforward mountain bike to the finish line, relay Team Halvaboy completed the course in 16 hours and 17 minutes. Two person open Team Landdrover G4 Discovery and two person mixed Team AROC Sport crossed the line together, however Team AROC Sport incurred a 90 minute penalty for entering an out of bounds area. Four person mixed Team Checkpoint completed the course in 20 hours, while three person open Team Crank - Michael Meryment, Matt De Belin and Hugh Flower finished in 20 hours and 18 minutes.

Showing the most endurance was two person open Team Fat Boys - Andrew Harmer and Anthony Mitchell who suffered a broken rear rim on the final bike leg to complete the course in 26 hours and 48 minutes. While team Fat boys showed the most endurance to complete the course, they were not the last to leave the course. Team Dead Wombats -(Peter Sanders, Martin Kypr, David Drury and Richard Kypr) prompted a police callout when they had not been sighted and failed to make contact with the race organisers by 10am Sunday morning. Fortunately the team managed to call police just prior to a helicopter being dispatched to the area. Team Wombat had decided to get five hours sleep during the night and struggled to get cell communications the following morning. Also unfortunately July Moss's team had to withdraw prior to completing the mountain bike leg due to equipment failure.

In summary, the Sydney event was certainly one to remember. The weather played a significant part affecting competitors, terrain and equipment. The Arrow 24 Hour Adventure Race Series now returns to New Zealand for the third race to be held in Auckland on July 26.

In summary, the Sydney event was certainly one to remember. The weather played a significant part affecting competitors, terrain and equipment. The Arrow 24 Hour Adventure Race Series now returns to New Zealand for the third race to be held in Auckland on July 26.

For more information about: Julie Moss
http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/vnews/ironman25/1044381287/
http://vnews.ironmanlive.com/vnews/ironman25/1046282543

For more information about: Guy Andrews
http://www.landrover.com.au/g4challenge/GUYANDREWSBiography.htm
http://www.guyandrews.com.au/home.htm