About Geocentric Outdoors

Geocentric Outdoors, then called Geocentric Adventure Racing was born in early 2002 in response to the limited opportunities to compete in adventure races. It began with the 48 Hour Mountain Designs GeoQuest. After a nervous 5 months of hard work, the event was run. The race was daunting, hard and exceptionally challenging for all competitors. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and now years later the Mountain Designs GeoQuest is Australia's premier adventure race.

Following this first ground breaking race, the organisers set its mind to filling another gap - while there were now several "harder" races in Australia, where did someone with little experience begin? Also what about some fun? The 6 Hour Adventure Series of races was created. The series proved to be a huge success and was quickly sponsored by the outdoor footwear giant Teva. Over the 4 years Geocentric ran these races, the series grew to become the largest and most popular national sprint adventure racing series.

Inspired by great races overseas and the desire to give Australians a true expedition race in their own country, Geocentric Outdoors took on the mammoth task of organising XPD. It was a 5-10 day unsupported expedition race in a remote outback location covering over 700km. Phew! News of the success spread quickly and XPD was invited into the Adventure Racing World Series. The second edition of XPD in 2006 was even more ambitious with teams crossing the entire state of Tasmania. The third edition of XPD was incredibly popular, both locally and internationally, with entries selling out entries in 24 hours and having the largest field to an expedition race in the world that year. The fourth edition will also draw a huge field to the Australian High Country in November.

Geocentric Outdoors re-located it's office from Canberra to sunny Brisbane in Dec 2003. It became quickly apparent that Queenslanders had very few local adventure races. The concept of the Adventure Racing Queensland (ARQ) Series, including the Hells Bells 24hr adventure race was born. This series has gone from strength to strength with the growing population of adventure racers in the state. Continuing a busy year in SE QLD, 2007 saw the launch of the Bribie Island Multisport event, the Insomina 24hr mountain bike festival and Geocentric Corporate Adventures. More exciting lifestyle opportunities and the need for a larger commercial premisis saw Geocentric Outdoors move to the Sunshine Coast in late 2007. 2008 sees the 8hr Enduro mountain bike race added to the schedule.

Geocentric Outdoors is currently operated by three dedicated full time staff. Craig Bycroft comes from a background as a logistics and adventure training officer in the Australian Army. Louise Foulkes comes from a military background as well, serving as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy. She has worked in outdoor education, information technology and as a geography teacher. After working for Geocentric Outdoors for a number of years, Annie Hohns recently took some time out to complete a Diploma of Event Management. She is now back and performs event organisation and administrative roles.

In addition to the permanent staff, Geocentric relies on a number of outstanding casual staff to manage key roles at the events. These staff spend a significant amount the year travelling from event to event performing their roles. In the future Geocentric is looking for additional suitable staff to join the team. Most positions would be of a casual nature providing support at the races themselves. If you are interested in joining the team and believe you have the necessary skills, please send in a resume. (admin@geocentricoutdoors.com.au).

We look forward to the challenges ahead!