Salomon QUAC 1 - Oak Valley Date Added: 17.06.2008
Salomon-Quantum Adventure Challenge #1 – Oak Valley Estate 14 June 2008
Icy winds and chilly morning temperatures greeted the 43 teams taking part in the first Salomon QUAC challenge of 2008. Oak Valley Estate provided an awesome venue for the base of this year’s race, with awesome single track, icy dams and acres of farmland for racers to play in (read: Get lost in..)
With a route that was slightly more demanding, both in terms of distance and navigation, many teams decided that rugby was of a greater priority than finishing the course. Hearty congratulations to all the teams that persevered and completed the route!
In the words of one of the racers, “A return to the roots of adventure racing at last. Saturday was like a tonic for me, to have a mixture of nav, some extreme riding, some bundu bashing, some silly water sports and a jog around fields of cow turds was invigorating. Even some hike-a-bike.”
First place was essentially a tie between Team Edge (Martin Lombardi & Nicholas Bone) and mixed pair Team Fish (Pieter & Elzaan Visser) in 5hrs 53min. Local knowledge of the area definitely played an important role as 2nd and 3rd place were taken by local farmers Rust Proof (Alec & Albert Rust) and Cape Storm (Mike Du Toit & Ian Loos) respectively.
The first all ladies team in was Team BMC (Lizzie Doyle & Aileen Anderson) in a time of 8hrs35min.
By the time midday came around, a third of the field had called it a day, while the remainder of the racers battled it out building 2 man rafts, bundu bashing through bramble filled kloofs, plotting maps halfway thought the race and searching for “hidden” check points.
This event was a great example of what’s to be expected in the upcoming Palmiet 100km race in July, with even more action, thrills and spills.
