Adventure ride

Posted on October 7, 2013 by teamgaec

Had a great Adventure ride on the weekend. Headed up into the Gold Coast’s Numinbah State Forest via one of my favourite road climbs -Springbrook.

I was joined by Moto fitness Guru Steve Gall, he loves the technical descents and eats it up with his exceptional skills.

Once we reached the turn off on Pine Creek rd that leads to Numinbah Valley we headed into the fire road trail that climbs further in a Northerly direction before descending quite aggressively before a short bike carry back up again that is followed by a bombing descent all the way to the valley. Then we rode back to the north to Hinze dam and a surf ski paddle to finish.

Heading into the forest. This is steep can’t tell here.

That’s Numinbah valley down there!

We ran into the new raised Dam high water level at the bottom of the decent and had to back track.

Great views at the top of the mountain

Introducing Team Rexona

Posted on October 4, 2013 by teamgaec

Meet Team Rexona: Q&A with Guy Andrews and Ben Allen

Get to know Team Rexona: The tale of two athletes. Guy Andrews, Aussie stuntman, Ironman champion and SMWTC veteran. Ben Allen, Aussie off-road triathlete and SMWTC rookie. These two are ready to smell sweet success!

Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge: Tell us about your background – how did you start in sports?

Guy Andrews: I started out as a Surf Life Saving Ironman and spent my teens and 20s as a professional athlete winning the Uncle Toby Ironman Series three times and 10 championship rounds, as well as the National Ironman championship in 1993. I have become the National Adventure Race champion in 2006 a feat matched by my team-mate in 2008.

Ben Allen: I started in Surf Life Saving as a kid and progressed through the ranks winning numerous state, Australian and world titles. I was given the opportunity by Triathlon Australia in the (NTID) National Talented Identification Program as having the potential to be a world-class athlete in the sport of triathlon. That is where I was exposed to XTERRA Off-Road Triathlon. I have won 11 World Championship Tour Races so far.

SMWTC: How did the two of you team up?

GA: Ben and I have competed against each other in multi-sport adventure races and I took a keen interest in his athletic career as he has come from the same Surf Ironman background as me, this made Ben a logical selection as a team mate.

BA: As a young nipper, racing Surf Life Saving events around Australia. I aspired to be on the Surf Ironman series like Guy. I looked up to him and I was lucky enough to race against him in the National Adventure Race Series and we both have similar skills and knowledge on land and water – perfect for Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge!

SMWTC: What does a typical week of training for you guys look like? What sort of preparation is needed to compete in the Challenge?

GA: I spend a lot of time doing the basics – lots of long rides, running and paddling. I am in the process of building my endurance back to where it was a few years ago before I started traveling all over the world doing stunts in movies! I am averaging 20hrs a week training.

BA: Racing in multi-sport disciplines (Xterra/Triathlon) requires me to train between 30-40 hrs a week swimming, biking & running to maintain an elite level of fitness to compete on the world stage against the world’s best athletes.

SMWTC: Guy, how many times have you competed in the Webber Challenge and what brings you back year after year? Ben, is this the first time you are taking part in an adventure race? What are your expectations?

GA: It’s actually my 5th SMWTC! Including the very first epic 10 day event! I love Tasmania and I really appreciate getting time along side Mark, as my love of Motorsport gives me a huge respect for his achievements. I can support worthy charities all while doing the sport I love, it’s all positive for me.

BA: I have heard and seen so much about how much fun, challenging & rewarding the SMWTC is from friends racing and watching it on TV. I was very honored that Guy asked me to join Team Rexona and race with him for the SMWTC title. I think Guy and I have a great chance to challenge and win the Challenge.

SMWTC: What is one of the most stand-out moments in your sporting career?

GA: Winning my first Uncle Tobys Ironman Series title in 1993.
BA: Winning 11 World Championship Tour Xterra Races.

SMWTC: What words of wisdom do you have for competitors that are taking on the Challenge for the first time?

GA: Pace yourself, always know where north is.
BA: Enjoy the beautiful scenery, smile and crush it!

SMWTC: And finally, what are goals for this year’s Challenge? What will success look like for Team Rexona?

GA: I believe Ben and I have the talent to win stages this year. I will be training hard to be a physical match for 28yo Ben and I will bring my A-game for navigation duty and experience. Podium would be a goal- as high as possible. The teams competing in the SMWTC are world-class, so it wont be easy. Success for Team Rexona will be not smelling bad! HAHA!

BA: Both Guy and I have the skills and knowledge required to win stages and hopefully finish on top of the podium. We both have the same desire to succeed and we will do everything possible to perform at our best come race day. Team Rexona is going to crush it, so look out… we will leave a path on smelling success!!

Check out what else Guy and Ben are up to: www.guyandrewsadventure.com www.benallentriathlete.com

Race reports

Posted on September 17, 2013 by teamgaec

It’s been a quiet few weeks with my last race being the Queensland Orienteering Tittles and before that the True Grit Obstacle course race.

A Re-Cap

True Grit- Military Inspired Obstacle course race

A Ten km off road run with 30 obstacles. I think a lot of the elite athletes out there probably don’t consider these events because they seem a bit Novelty albeit very popular, but they are missing out on the fun! However tens of thousands of competitors haul themselves over under and through the mud in races such as Tough Mudder, Spartan and True Grit being just a few brands on offer in Australia.

Over a 3 week period I did the Spartan Super and the True Grit and found the running a mix of Off road as well as some trails but the key to a great course is the number of Obstacles Natural or man made per Kilometer. Spartan Super 14km 18 obstacles and True Grit 10km 30 obstacles.

I was 8th in the Obstacle Course Racing elite wave in the Spartan and had a pretty ordinary race but enjoyed the experience enough to line up for the True Grit race a few weeks later. I managed a win in the 10km True Grit race drawing on some skills I learned way back in the nineties racing in the Channel Nine Mountain Dew Test of the Toughest events to sneak past experienced adventure athlete Glen Curtis (tall guy in pic) right on the 30th and last obstacle. My mate and training client Aaron Adcock was 3rd in his first ever event.

Check out my Obstacle Race Training Day here

My last run around was the Queensland Orienteering champs

I raced in the new ‘Adventure Racer’ class over a 12km course on foot only.

My Adventure race team mate Jon Iles decided the day before to come out and run around as well. Jon and I navigated and ran together practicing our team work and ran in for a win by about 7min. There was the odd bit of burnt vegetation around and Jon and I found most of it!

Great to see my 75 years Young Dad Colin Andrews out on course ( here in the blue top) and a small but committed group of AR athletes

Next race on the calendar for me are the Adventureton Coffs harbour Oct 12

Adventurthon Coffs Harbour

Posted on September 10, 2013 by teamgaec

This October 12/13 come and join me in beautiful Coffs Harbour for the Adventurethon weekend.

If you haven’t heard of the Adventurethon series then you’re in for a treat.

Initially born out of the need for more Off Road Multisport Events in Queensland the series will see events popping up in NSW and WA in the next 6 months and possibly a few more exciting venues soon after that.

In essence the events are Paddle, Mountain Bike and Trail run. I went up to Magnetic Island Adventurethon earlier in 2013 and was blown away with event promoter/director Joel Savage’s Dedication, Infrastructure and attention to detail.

An immediate comparison was made to events like the Anaconda Adventure series which adds a swim into the equation for their races and has been running since 2005.

Joel Savage put on a great show in North Queensland with awesome pre and post race athlete entertainment, great course and the atmosphere was as good as any large event I’ve done with professional signage and course markings, it all made for a fantastic experience.

Adventurethon events offer up the Ultra for the hard competitors and all events can be done as relay teams. The ultra is a 16-20km ocean paddle that will favor the people that paddle, 35km MTB and 16km trail run.

If you’re not up for that much try out the Enduro format with 7-10km paddle, 25km MTB and 8km run.

Don’t paddle? have that covered too with the “Dirty Duathlon” 13km trail run, 35km MTB, 4km Trail run.

Sunday also offers up “Taste of Adventure” for beginners with 1km paddle, 10km MTB and 4km run and the Junior event 500 paddle, 10km MTB, and 4km Run so the whole family is covered!

I have organised a discont code for you so use “teamGuyAndrewsAdv” in the code area when you enter and receive a discount and go in the draw to win a White Water Trip in Coffs!

Enter NOW at http://www.adventurethon.com.au

#SURFSKIGUY

Posted on September 10, 2013 by teamgaec

I am excited to take on a Stellar Surf ski dealership. I will be offering demo paddles on the Gold Coast just email me at xguy01@hotmail.com and we can arrange a time.

Use the hash tag #surfskiguy in Instagram, twitter or google to find me.

Stellar skis are a relative new comer to the market but have a strong base in Marine composites and offer a 2 year warranty on Hull construction.

I have raced the SES -Stellar Elite Small- in ocean downwind conditions and I’m super impressed with it’s maneuverability and stability in the rough conditions.

Stellar also offer a number of more stable options if you’re just getting into paddling and need that extra confidence from the craft.

Sea Kayaks, racing K1 and Touring Kayaks are another options from Stellar as well and I will be reviewing all of these here at http://www.guyandrewsadventure.com in the coming months.

Obstacle Course Skills Training

Video

Guy Andrews Obstacle Course Skills Workshop August 31, 2013 book on http://www.facebook.com/guyandrewsadventure

3 weeks 3 races

Posted on April 29, 2013 by teamgaec

It’s been a smashing three weekends in a row of races for me with weekend one being the Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run, weekend number two the Queensland Cross Triathlon Championships 1km swim, 28km MTB and 10.5km trail run and finally weekend three the Rogue 24hr Adventure race! Talk about some “same but different” diversity in your mutisport diet!

Twelve months ago I was leading the age group at the Qld titles off road Tri race when I snapped my rear derailier off passing a lapped competitor and was beaten into 2nd place after running 7km with my bike. The Luke Harrop race was a great way to sharpen up before the Off Road Tri Qld Champs for 2013 and a second chance at that elusive title.

Race one- Sprint Triathlon

I swam ok after a few sessions in Lake Hugh Muntz, I lead 40/44 wave out on bike going hard and was passed by one guy Dave Sangster who went on to win the category by 2min from me. I came away knowing my riding needs to come up a bit and that in turn affected my run slightly with a 19:58 5km which is nothing to brag about but it’s a good start for me after a few years running like a porta loo!

I have to say my Hoka One one shoes are making running a lot more enjoyable for me and I have been building the kilometers again and slowly making progress without pain.

Alana and I Checked out the Subaru stand at the race and found our choice of vehicles.

Subaru CrossTrek for weekend adventures and the Subaru BRZ to satisfy my motorsport passions-hello James Frizelle!

Race Two-Queensland Off Road Triathlon Championships

After working fairly hard early in the week post race then having a few days mid week backing off before some light pre race training on Friday I went into the race Qld off road Triathlon champs feeling good.

Alana and I camped at the Ewan Maddock Dam the night before the race and I almost blew myself up when my Gas bottle caught on fire while I attempted to cook dinner!

Watch the race report here

Race Three- The Rogue 24 hour Adventure race

Finally weekend number Three! I was a late minute starter for the Rogue 24hr race when SCAR (Sunshine Coast Adventure racers) team member Robbie Andrews couldn’t join regular team mate Dave Schloss for the event.

It was the first time I had raced with Dave and the first overnight race I’ve done in two years so was always going to be a good test of fitness for me. Thanks Dave for a great time it was pleasure to race with you.

The race it’s self was a rogaine style event, rogaines allow for the collection of points based check points to be navigated in any order rather than a numbered order in orienteering or traditional adventure racing.

This in it’s self is a challenge as you must not only select a great and efficient course but also execute it flawlessly all while never really knowing how you are going relative to the field.

Race director Liam St Pierre put together a top race with amazing value for money. Not only nailing all Check point locations and a great course he also showed some, if not all of the professional race promoters how to run social media up dates from a remote location to keep friends and family up dated. Full credit to the Rogue Adventure team.

The race was divided into 4 stages the first a Creek paddle with a short foot nav section half way through the 20 kilometers. We arrived at Transition to the 80km bike section about 4hrs into the race only a few minutes ahead of Rush/spin city cycles team.

Stage 2 the MTB leg was about 80km and saw night fall and a sensational full moon light up the landscape. The Ay-Up lights helped with the details and we nailed the course in around 5 hours with some minor chain ring issues on my aging bike. We were surprised to see Spin City Cycles team arrive just 4 min later.

These guys were making this race interesting!

Stage 3 was a foot Nav section around 20km and we hit out from HQ around 930pm knowing that stage 4 the final 20km paddle on the Burrumba Dam could not start before 530am due to permit restrictions. This meant a possible sleep was on the cards if we could find the check points and get back to HQ in good time.

With only one minor navigation difficulty we arrived back at HQ at 1:51am and enjoyed a couple of hours sleep before stage 4

Team Spin City Cycles had navigated the course in the opposite direction to us and had done a better job turning their 4 minute deficit into a 4:57min lead- the game was on!

At 5am we left HQ for 2km walk with Kayaking gear up to the dam. Race time re started at 530am and Spin city were on our kayak wash and not willing to let us get away.

Dave and I made a quick get away from the first CP and got a small lead that was soon squandered when we struggled to find a Check point on foot soon after. Back together again with Spin city on our wash I overheard one of the guy’s say “just got to get over this wave” meaning to regain our boat wash in order to make the travel easier for them.

I used this information to spur me on and upped the paddle rate immediately and we moved away. From there it was up to us to paddle, nav and not make mistakes to find that 5 minutes we needed to win.

In the end we arrived at the HQ finish line at 9:10am 13minutes ahead and got the win by a mere 8minutes. Congratulations to Russell Stringer and Shaun Lauder of RUSH Spin City Cycles for making the race a memorable one.

Not many photos from the race as my little wifey couldn’t make it. she is training for more records in power lifting!

Till the next adventure

Guy

http://www.facebook.com/guyandrewsadventure

Guy Andrews Adventure

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