Our local ‘All Talk’ team survived June’s GeoQuest Adventure Race! Lisa Matuzelis reports
I survived, we survived! The Illawarra team All Talk team survived one of the most challenging GeoQuest Adventure Race courses to date!
Over the June Long Weekend our team of northern suburbs women – Teresa Kay, Ange Tokley, Katrina Skellern and myself, Lisa Matuzelis – was blessed with favourable weather conditions and an A-grade support crew that allowed our inexperienced selves to endure a weekend of relentless activity on only a wink of sleep!
The intensity of this event started the evening prior with the arduous task of mapping out 14 legs of biking, running and paddling over a distance of 240km becoming tiresome in itself. Our early-to-bed strategy was blown out to a late night of orientating compasses, highlighting routes, determining distances with a piece of string, and breaking into fits of laughter at the absurdity of what we were about to do!
As the siren sounded on Saturday at 0800 the GeoQuest 48hr Adventure Race kicked off! The nerves settled once we warmed into the first leg with a beach run from Crescent Head towards our first checkpoint hidden amongst the dunes. What followed thereafter was sugar-coated brutality!
A kind of love-hate experience as we mountain-biked 4WD tracks in foot-deep soft sand; traversed by foot along coastal tracks with incredible scenery yet treacherous footing; entered the ocean paddle in unseaworthy kayaks to experience dramatic cliff lines, pods of dolphins and the early stages of hypothermia; equipped ourselves with headlamps for a dark starry night run only to make navigational errors that cost us time, energy, and vital battery life; and night-paddled against an outgoing tide for 4.5 hours into the blackness and bleakness of a cold morning to experience new levels of fatigue that had us alternating from senseless giggles to stone-cold silence. And this was only day one!
After a measly 1.5hrs sleep, at Transition Area 6 we commenced day two with trepidation. We were all feeling beyond weary and experiencing new sensations of fatigue, to such a point I was questioning my own endurance and resilience. But, with a belly full of warm food and a pep talk from our support crew, I found renewed strength to continue on despite the feelings of light-headedness and nausea.
Coming into day two brought upon us its own challenges: everything from gravelly 33% gradient climbs on the bike; to check-points hidden deep in the scrub along high ridge lines and down steep gullies; to hike-a-bike episodes dramatically slowing our progress along difficult terrain; to strategic calls to miss several minor checkpoints due to time-constraints and health concerns; to not finding the golden arches to stimulate our weary minds with caffeinated beverages; to trails that appeared benign on the map but, in reality, were steep, loose, rocky and tiresome; to cold wet feet as we waded in knee-deep marshlands along our pitch-black route; to a declining enthusiasm for eating nut bars, trail mix, gels, and bananas to maintain our energy levels; to knees that got crankier as the end became nearer; and to yet another early morning of crisp cool air that had us freezing our asses off!
We have come out of this experience stronger, wiser, fitter, and hungry to do another one! So look out for us next year!
A massive thank you must go to our support team and sponsors! The Edge Outdoor Adventure Store, Steel City Cycles, Thirroul Surf Lifesaving Club, Illawarra Canoe Club, Woronora Boatshed and many others. For more details, visit
www.alltalkwomen.com/support
