GIRLS ON TOP
What a lovely feeling it was coming into the cabin to a hot feed and a change of clothes. Oh that bed
looked so nice!!! Before they knew it the girls were being whisked into the cars by the “boys on the side” and
driven off to the start of stage two at the Corrindi River at Red Rock for a 16 km paddle. It was here the
girls made a strategic decision to portage their kayaks in the hope of cutting paddling time down they then
smoothly navigated their way around the twists and turns of the various estuaries in the night getting the
occasional slap in the face from fish confused by their lights.
The next “mangroves by moonlight” run/swim leg saw the girls use their heads to collect all the dry
controls before launching into the water to collect the water based controls. By the time the girls got to the
water section the tide was in full flow and Debbie who went to test the waters did her fastest sideways
hundred meters ever. Bearing this in mind the girls popped back into transition to pick up their body boards
for extra support before heading across the channels in the dead of the night. The rest of this leg was spent
floundering around in mangroves and swimming across deep channels luckily no crocs were seen or heard!!!
Glad to be warm and dry and out of their wetties and full of two minute noodles, the girls set off on their bikes ready to take on the
40 km navigationally and physically challenging ride ahead of them. Around midnight and about an hour into the ride the girls made
the decision to stick to their sleep strategy and sneak off the track for 20 minutes of sleep. In previous races they had become
inefficient in the later stages of the race due to sleep deprivation and they were determined not to let this happen again. Although a
team passed them while they were snug as bugs in rugs, the girls were glad to have had their power nap as the ride turned out to be
physically and technically challenging. Boy were they happy to see “the boys on the side” at the transition before the final 3km beach
trek to the campground for the end of stage two.
This time they arrived into camp to a feed of toast and spaghetti, boy those boys were good to them. Stage three consisted of a 25 km
trek through the Nymboida gorge, a 40km MTB, a 4km trek, a 13 km MTB and a 3 km beach trek. The whole leg bar the last beach
trek was to be self supported. This meant the girls needed to organise food and water for 17 – 19 hours and to make sure they had all
the gear, maps and instructions required. They were more than aware that the race organisers had warned teams not to underestimate
this leg so spent a reasonable amount of time in this transition making sure they had got it right.
Once again they were bundled into the car for a car drop to the start of the trek. The corner riddled one hour drive was enough to
make Debbie car sick and boy was she glad to get out of the car and onto the trek. By this time it was day light and the girls were
injected with a new blast of energy as they strode off into the wilderness. The Nymboida gorge was stunning with massive rock cliffs,
sheer waterfalls and miles of untracked forest. Once again Anne’s accurate nav paid off and Debbie and Ally’s tracking skills came
into play. They also had to dig deep in order to cross the full flowing river as it plummeted into a deep pool some distance beneath
them. They were so focussed in this stage of the event that Debbie didn’t even notice that she had walked over a snake. A huge 20cm
snake!!!
It was only on the following 40 km bike leg that the girls dared to believe that they may finish in a reasonably good time and may even
sneak into the top ten. Half way through this ride the heavens opened and it began to pour down. Keen to escape the rain and the
ever increasing sticky muddy roads as well as try to get some of the next trek done in daylight the girls pushed hard to the next
transition. They arrived just on dark quickly put their warm Smartwool tops, hats and pants on and headed off into the second part of
the rogaine to get the two remaining controls. Aware that this section could make or break them Anne made sure she was on the ball
with the navigation and followed the map every step of the way. As a result of this the girls made quick work of this section and exited
25 minutes ahead of the first male team after going in 15 minutes behind them.
Wow only a 13 km downhill MTB and a 3 km beach trek to go. With this in mind and the knowledge that they had requested hot guys
with hot towels, the girls were on fire and they sped off down the road averaging 40 kms an hour. This is a feat that was only made
possible for Debbie, Anne and Zoe due to their new full suspension Ellsworth Truths, Ally on her carbon Scott has been riding like this
for years. The girls skidded into transition, had a quick chat to the boys and then jogged off down the beach for the final three km
beach run, remembering to walk in the non-competitive nature reserve zones.
Wow what a race!!! The girls finished 8
th
overall, beat all the all men’s teams and won the all female category.
Girls on Top are passionate about encouraging women to try adventure in the outdoors, and
invite you to join them in becoming Women of Action!
Visit
www.girlsontop.co.nz
o
p
For updates on events, sponsorship, gear, training & nutrition.
l
s On T
Supporting a Girls Quest for Adventure!
: Gir
to
Pho
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