They’re under way in the 2011 Mark Webber Challenge – a super tough, 350km multi-discipline endurance race around Tasmania, which starts in the beautiful Freycinet National Park.
Mark Webber left the world of Formula One behind – at least for one day – as he teamed up with ironman legend Guy Andrews to take on the opening leg of the Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge. That meant swimming, orienteering, paddling, mountain biking, abseiling and running through the opening day’s 55km course.
"It's been an absolutely incredible first day," Webber said. "The weather has just been awesome, the mountain biking was just great, everything has gone like clockwork.
"It feels great to be back on the course. It's always the same in that you'd like to have had more preparation but its great just to be out there.”
It’s back to work for Mark tomorrow as he heads to India and then back to the UK for Red Bull Racing’s double F1 world championship celebrations in Milton Keynes.
But he said he enjoyed his time back in Tazzy and was happy to clock a competitive time (and no injuries). "I got a bit disappointed about slowing Guy down a little as we were hanging out with the French guys (Team Renault-Garmin) on the bike for quite a while, but I was a bit underdone there.
“But what I like about the event are just the people you meet,” he said. “It is a completely different world to what I normally operate in and I feel really comfortable here hanging out with these people.”
Mark’s Team Tasmania shoes will be filled by another all-rounder: Olympic sprinter, rugby league star and triathlete Darren Clark and then there’s Team Red Bull, made up of Aussie V8 star Rick Kelly and South African ultra marathon runner Ryan Sandes.
RYAN SANDES
Someone may have run more miles in 2011 than Cape Town’s Ryan Sandes, but it’s highly unlikely they did it as quickly. Famed in the strange and masochistic world of ultra-endurance races, Ryan’s seam-splitting race CV includes the honour of being the only man in the world to have won all of the Four Deserts races (Chile, China, Egypt and Antarctica), each of which is a 250km self-supported foot races. Ryan has also won the Jungle Ultra Marathon, the Leadville 100 and has placed second in RacingThePlanet Namibia, covering more than 150km in distance in all races.
Ryan got the Challenge invitation a couple of weeks ago when preparing for a 250km footrace in Nepal and, having always wanted to see the Tasmanian coastline, he jumped at the chance. The Challenge will finish his year of racing before heading back to Cape Town for Christmas.
“I think some parts of the race, like the running, will be quite easy for me but I don’t have a lot of experience in multi-discipline or team races so I’m not sure what to expect,” Sandes says. “I know our goal is just to finish, but I do very much like to come first.”
RICK KELLY
Rick is well known in Australia as an owner and driver for V8 Supercar team Jack Daniels Racing. He’s also known as the youngest man to win Bathurst. Few, however, know him as an adventure racer. Largely because he’s never adventure raced.
“This is something I've always wanted to do, but the Challenge always conflicted with our (V8 Supercars) championship so I’ve never been tested,” says Kelly. “This year I could do it and now I’m just starting to understanding the difference between saying you want to do something and having to actually get out there and do it.”
Rick, like most elite drivers, is extremely fit and does have more experience riding mountain bikes and kayaking than his partner, but is nervous, wondering if his body and mind will hold up in the latter stages of the race. Rick’s last race (The Telstra Sydney 500) was the same distance as Ryan’s last race and Kelly says it was tough enough with 650 horsepower of help. And then there’s that ferocious competitive steak that Kelly is well know for.
“You have to let people go past sometimes when you’re driving, when your nursing fuel and tyres but you’re thinking about when you can catch them later. Here, I think we need to concentrate on taking it a little bit easy early on, to make sure we have enough in the tank.”
So on day one, the V8 driver won’t take the opportunity to take down the F1 driver?
“Well I guess if we decide we’re not going to make it then maybe it would make sense to go hard on the first day,” Kelly laughs.
Sandes says he and Kelly spoke a little bit about where your mind goes on extreme distance races.
“You feel like your world is ending and you just want to ball up and basically die,” says Sandes. “But the lower the low, the higher the high. So while you hit that true low, you can look forward to your true high.”
The field tackles the Tasman Peninsula tomorrow before taking on Bruny Island on Friday, the Hartz Mountains on Saturday and finishing in Hobart on Sunday. Find out more on www.markwebbertasmaniachallenge.com
Want more?
- Follow the challenge on Tumblr
- Follow Red Bull Australia’s Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge blog
- Competition: Share a NASCAR with David Coulthard at the Red Bull Racing show run
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