Phoenix Adventure - Race HQ - Hells Bells 2009

Hells Bells 24-Hour Adventure Race
By Mark Shephard

Perfect conditions greeted 44 teams of three (mixed or all male/female) for this year's Hells Bells race based in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. The race was to consist of trail running, mountain biking, kayaking and who knows what else…Team Phoenix Adventure - Race HQ comprising Mark Gray (the seasoned adventure athlete), Andy Stewart (coach) and myself, Mark Shephard (the rookie) fronted the start line for what was to be an awesome event.

Having first dropped off our mountain bikes at the bike drop in Nambour we then assembled at Race Control at Mooloolaba Primary School where at 9:30am all teams would receive the course map’s (there were eight!) and checkpoint data sheets. This gave us ninety minutes for us to plan our route for the race. Ninety minutes is not a long time to plan 100ish kilometres of hell.

11:00am. All teams were put on buses which took us back to our mountain bikes in Nambour. We then had to ride 4kms to the start line. Mostly up hill. Yay. Nicely warmed up now teams were then set off at 10 second intervals. The race was on.

Leg 1 – Mountain Bike 9km

Andy was our designated navigator with Mark Gray and myself handling the pleb work of once the checkpoints were located to run/swim/climb/get to anyway possible to then punch our card.The first checkpoint description was “CP1: Bridge. 20 meters NW of waterfall”.... Simple enough you would think .... However this was to set the precedence of what we could expect for the rest of race…This CP was indeed at the base of a waterfall in the middle of a rock pool. So with full bike kit on including camelbak, helmet, lights, shoes etc I was jumping in and swimming out to the marker to punch our card. No worries. One down. Twenty-One to go…

Leg 2 – Trek 5km + Swim

And so it continued on to the first transition. Bikes were parked. Bike shoes hastily swapped for runners and away we went on foot to collect checkpoints V, W, X, Y and Z.

These were placed pretty much along a creek line through densely covered rainforest. Checkpoint W eluded us for maybe 45 minutes or so till we established that we were too far up the creek (definitely without a paddle). Finally arriving at CP W, we were greeted by race volunteer and Phoenix Adventure athlete Wayne Benton where we exchanged photographs of our tropical surrounds.The remaining checkpoints X, Y & Z were further down the creek which quickly turned into a canyon.No option here when faced with vertical rock walls on either side with a watercourse in the middle but to jump in and swim down stream to collect these checkpoints.

Swimming is difficult enough for me with flippers and scuba gear but with full clothes, shoes and camelbak on it is almost impossible. My bungee cord in my pack saved the day as both Andy and Mark took turns in towing me through the swim section. Cheers, that was very helpful.

Leg 3 – Mountain Bike 15km

Back on the bikes to get CP’s 4 & 5. This leg was all on fire road but with plenty of hills in the way. If you want to go down first you have to up and so we did. CP5 was first on the list and this was the Archery challenge. Andy was the only member of our team to put an arrow through the middle of the target but was quick to add it was a fluke! Back on the bikes to CP6 to Point Glorious lookout for Leg 4.

Leg 4 – Trek 2km + Abseil

Off the bikes. Runners on. Here we had the option of one team member to do some abseiling (pick me! Yes!) and in the process gather one piece of a map at the bottom of the cliff of three pieces required to piece the map together. The remaining two team members (Andy & Mark G) were required to run to collect the other two pieces. Once put together these three pieces would then guide us to Parklands State Forest for the next bike leg. The abseil was excellent with a 30metre drop and views out to Noosa. I can’t comment on how good the run was but I’m sure it was a lot harder than what I was doing.

Leg 5 – Mountain Bike 20km

Back on the bikes. Yay! More fire roads through CP8 and onto CP9 which was an established high ropes course. Starting to get dark now during this leg so Andy wisely decided to stick to the main fire roads rather than the rabbit warren of single track on the map. We gained time here where other teams elected for what might of been a shorter route distance wise - but get it wrong and it would not.

Andy and Mark G completed the high ropes challenge whilst I replenished our supplies from our first box. While waiting in line Andy and Mark G are greeted by more friendly race volunteers and Phoenix Adventure athletes Melissa Tindall & Taryn Doherty . Upon their return we then set off for Leg 6.

Leg 6 – Trek 4km

It is now dark and we all have the Ay-ups blazing a path through the forest in pursuit of CP’s 10 and 11. CP10 was the first to show itself in the middle of a waterhole. It’s obviously still dark and this looks like a tepid pool of filth. I don’t want to go in but Mark G insists he’s got his camera out to take a photo. I can’t remember what Andy excuse was... anyway in I go, swim out to the CP, punch the card and come back. This is adventure racing.

Whilst swimming back I see another team is in the same process as us a minute earlier trying to decide who is going in. The short straw is drawn and some bloke wades in and swims towards me with a look of concern... I mention to him as he comes past that something just touched my leg! He wasn’t amused ... Funny!

Leg 7 – Mountain Bike 35km

Back on the bikes. Yay again! This is the leg I had been waiting for. We had to navigate to Parklands State Forest (Sunshine Coast Mountain Biking Mecca) and collect 6 of 8 available CP’s. Once again we decided to take the easiest route navigation wise to achieve this. We did get to ride some awesome single track along the way and I know both Mark G and myself crashed and went over the bars at least once. Besides the crashing this was the highlight of the race for me. Will definitely be returning here sometime soon but in the daylight!

Andy’s navigating here was almost flawless except for a stubborn CP `F’ which was hiding. We got it eventually and then headed for Bli Bli through the burbs. It was now around 10pm at night. This was great fun descending back into civilization after being in the sticks all day. We were getting plenty of looks from people as we came flying past. Ay-ups lighting the way. Tops.

Leg 8 – Kayak 11km

Off the bikes. No yay! Our kayak was an inflatable 3 person streamlined rocket ship. Sort of. First we had to inflate it. Thankfully geocentric provided hand pumps. This leg proved to be one of the most difficult for me (not as hard as the swim though) and it seemed to take forever.

We had to paddle from Bli Bli to Cotton Tree Bay getting two CP’s along the way. The first of which we missed on the way past and took the scenic route just to add in some more km’s. That’s ok. I needed the practice. The 2nd checkpoint was found without duress and we set the auto pilot (Andy at the back steering) in the direction of Cotton Tree.

My depth perception at night is absolutely useless. What looks like 100m is more like 500m. So on we paddled with the metonymical harmony of Mark G repeating 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4. I don’t know how many times he said that but it was a lot. Finally we arrive at the boat ramp at Cotton Tree and are greeted by officials telling us what to do. Not far now.

Leg 9 – Trek 5km to Finish – Yay!

Here with only the run to go and access to our last box we dump all food excess water and clothes out of our packs for the run home. Off we set towards Mooloolaba via coasteering Alexandra Headland to collect the final two CP’s on the way.These proved no problem and we ran through the finish line at 2:30am in 14hrs15mins scoring us a credible 8th place from 26 teams in the Male category!

Everyone survived and with some more left in the tank and I certainly could've kept going ... Was just as happy not to though.

Smiles all round and will certainly be back for more next year. Big thanks to Andy for his navigating and patience and also Mark G for hanging in there on the bike legs. Also, thanks to Geocentric for faultless organisation and especially all the volunteers who give up their time to help run the event so we can run/ride/swim/kayak around some fantastic scenery at all hours of the day and night!