Adventure racing: Top spot to Wanaka four

Wanaka athletes (from left) Jess Simson, Dougal Allan, Bob McLachlan and Braden Currie celebrate victory at the Wenzhou Outdoor Challenge in China. Photo supplied.
Wanaka athletes (from left) Jess Simson, Dougal Allan, Bob McLachlan and Braden Currie celebrate victory at the Wenzhou Outdoor Challenge in China. Photo supplied.
A team of four Wanaka athletes has beaten the best in the world to claim the overall prize in the fast-paced, four-day Wenzhou Outdoor Challenge.

Braden Currie, Jess Simson, Dougal Allan and Bob McLachlan ran, mountain biked, kayaked, orienteered, climbed walls, abseiled cliffs and inline skated their way past 24 teams over four stages in Southern China.

They beat Thule, the reigning adventure racing world champion team, made up of Martin Flinta, Jackie Boisset, Mimi Guillot and Marcel Hagener, by about 40 minutes.

Entered as Team NZ Adventure, the Wanaka group battled 75% humidity, pollution, a stomach upset and a crash, but relied on their strong friendship to get them through.

Simson, who was the fastest woman in the one-day Coast to Coast this year, said they were ''very happy'' with their performance.

''All being friends outside of racing helped, as we very much acted like a team throughout the four days, making smart decisions to continue to produce consistent performances each day.

''We were also very fortunate to have the wealth of knowledge and leadership Braden and Dougal bring to the team from their previous races in China.''

The short, sharp nature of the stages meant, at times, one or two members of the team would be ''well and truly in the land of hurt'' and relying on the others to literally tow them along, Simson said.

Currie won back-to-back Coast to Coasts this year, Allan was third in Challenge Wanaka, and McLachlan's team was second in the recent Godzone adventure race.

Although Allan had ''gut problems'' on the last day and Simson had cuts and bruises after a fall from her mountain bike on the second day, they did not have any mechanical issues on the steep riding sections.

Simson said the team was also fortunate to have McLachlan join them at such short notice, after Glen Currie (Braden's brother) was no longer able to race, due to emergency surgery about nine days before they left New Zealand.

Team NZ Adventure won the first two days' stages, including the opening day, which they had been dreading, due to the mass start, 8km inline skating section. Simson said the skating terrain was rougher than expected.

''Speed humps, cracks in the road, pedestrians and people on scooters crossing our path. Dougal water skied behind Bob, attached from a tow line.''

They managed to survive the stage with no major incidents and arrived at the kayak stage in 10th place.

Despite forgetting their maps as they transitioned on to the mountain bikes, the team managed to catch and pass fellow New Zealand team Red Bull - Richard and Elina Ussher, Trevor Voyce and Stu Lynch - by the end of the mountain run.

They placed second on both the final two days, close behind Thule each time.

The kayaking legs, in particular, made the team feel grateful they would be returning to Wanaka's cleaner waters, Simson said.

''It was hard not to have our moods at times affected by the extremity of the pollution, particularly while paddling on the rivers.

''But that did not really affect our racing too much. Our team was very fortunate to not encounter any major challenges.''

The Wanaka athletes will return with a decent pay cheque in their pockets.

The Wenzhou Outdoor Challenge presented the winning team with $US35,000 ($NZ40,725) for their efforts.

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