2008 XPD ADVENTURE RACE
Australian High Country
For immediate release: November 25, 2008

After 800km across the rooftop of Australia, battling blizzards, driving rain, relentless fog and even a little sunshine, the first team crossed the line in the early hours of this morning in Thredbo, wrapping one of the toughest endurance races on the Australian calendar - the XPD Adventure Race.

The Blackheart.com.au team blitzed the field finishing the expedition in 5 days and 15 hours, crossing the line at 4.55am in Thredbo.

XPD covered the most mountainous terrain of any expedition race in Australia with teams gaining a total of 16,675 metres in elevation throughout the race.

"The course this year was really different, much harder than last year. On every leg of this race, at least one of us had a moment of pain, at some stages it was all 4 of us were in pain”. Said Damon Goerke from Blackheart.com.au.

There were 31 teams competing, seven of which were internationals. Teams of four travelled over 800km on foot, mountain bike and kayak in the only Australian qualifier for the World Championships. Team members were to keep within 100metres of each other throughout the entire race.

The race kicked off in the rocky outcrops of Mt Buffalo in the Victorian High Country, with teams navigating their way through the thick fog and rain. The area received over 100mm of rain in 24 hours that played havoc on the overnight mountain bike leg and the next days 85km Bogong and Feathertop trek legs.

The rain certainly made for a quick kayak down the rushing Kiewa River. Then in came the snow, with racers making their way through the high plains on bikes, but the inclement weather saw race organisers put a stop to racing for a 24 hour period while the weather eased.

Racing re-commenced Sunday afternoon and it was a dash for home, a bike through the Upper Murray region, then a paddle across Lake Eucumbene and then the final mountain bike leg taking teams through the Kosciuszko National Park to CharlottePass and the last leg a trek to the top of Mt Kosciuszko into the finish line in Thredbo.

“The high country has a lot of risk involved with the variability of the weather and the terrain. The conditions over the last few days had made for some challenging racing” said Craig Bycroft, Event Director.

“Elements like the weather just add to the challenge of expedition adventure racing,” Bycroft said.