Dougal Allan's Blog

The Race

Ecomotion is Brazil’s pride and joy when it comes to AR, and
I was keen to find out why. I flew to Brazil 2 weeks before kick-off to meet my
team “Green’s Brasilia Multisport Team” and get acclimatised and prepared. This
all happened in the country’s capital city Brasilia. The people were nice, the
city had plenty of green, the sun was warm, the stars looked great at night,
things were looking good. Our team spoke openly with each other about our
desire to win the race, and I could sense that we had the team for the job.

Mountain views; Credit: Alexandre Carrpi

The race took place in Chapada del Veadeiros, a national
park and adventure tourism destination 140km north of Brasilia. It is an area
famous for its crystal geology, massive waterfalls, stunning river networks,
huge plateaued mountains and general expanse of wilderness. In short, the place
was beautiful. The race would be 616km long with 108km of kayaking, 183km of
trekking/running and 325km of mountain biking.

Day One

We started with a short orienteering course to break teams
up before the paddle. This worked well and we were 2^nd onto the
river for the 53km paddle on Grade 3 rapids, sitting on our plastic double
kayaks. Our team had sourced Legend paddles all the way from NZ so we quickly
set into our work overtaking Spanish team Columbia and then immediately putting
a big gap on them. It was great to be leading the race so early and we knew
paddling was a strength so continued to push the pace. The rapids came and went
with adrenaline and we were commenting to each other how cool it was for a race
to involve such a genuine river paddle.

Things changed.

Camila and I were starting to slow considerably and noticed
we were sinking. Quickly we jumped out of our kayak and tried to empty the
water. To our horror we realised we had punched a huge hole in the bottom of
the kayak, probably on one of the many rocks hidden in each rapid. So we had to
dry the hull (with toilet paper and lighters) then tape the hole as best we
could. 20 minutes passed on the side of the river before Columbia came past. We
were not even half way through the paddle, so we stayed optimistic. But the
tape was never going to last long with the rocks that were unavoidable most of
the time. So we continued to sink and empty the kayak at regular intervals. For
the last few hours we put Kenny, Camila and I in the front kayak and towed Gui
who sat at the front of the sinking kayak to keep the hole at the back out of
the water. But we continued to sink and empty, get passed by teams, and
generally feel miserable about the whole situation. The kayak with three of us
on it also started to sink under the extra weight and gradually we became
increasingly cold, tired and impatient, but stayed optimistic. It was only day
one after all.

Bush bashing. Credit: Alexandre Carrpi

After about 8 hours of paddling we arrived at the start of the trek. We took off quickly to make
time back. After bush-bashing for a few hours I began to lose patience and
asked Gui why we had chosen this route. He admitted we had taken the wrong
valley and progress would be slow. Again, we had to stay positive about our
situation. Plenty of racing ahead and we knew that if we could get things right
we would make ground back quickly. Besides we reasoned, if we were having some
bad luck now then other teams were likely to be having their own at some stage
too.

By the end of the trek and following mountain bike stages,
we had crawled back to about 5^th position. The first really big trek
was about to start and we had to be accurate. We left the host town of Alta
Paraiso (“High Paradise”) about 1am and set off on a mission. By 3am we had
caught three teams and were in a battle for 2^nd place, with Columbia
out in front.

Day Two

The final CP on this trek proved extremely challenging. We
lost hours (probably at least 3 hours) trying to find it before eventually
getting there. We figured we must surely now be dead last but we were told at
the transition we were in 5^th. Other teams had struggled too. The
trek had taken us 17 hours and we had food for 12 so I was feeling pretty
peckish in transition after going hungry for the past 5 hours.

Transition = Organised Chaos. Credit: Chico Bruno

We elected to sleep for an hour in transition before setting
off on bikes for the 144km stage that had a 2 hour sleep CP at the 82km mark.
All I remember of this bike is the small mountain villages we passed through
with the ferocious dogs that lined the streets like soldiers trying to get a
taste of a tired adventure racer in the early hours of the morning. I also remember
seeing a speed camera in the middle of the countryside and slammed on my brakes
but saw it flash and take a photo of me. Bugger, a Brazilian speeding ticket I
thought. Clearly the camera didn’t exist and my brain was shutting down.

We did our mandatory 2 hour stop and managed an hour or so
of sleep and some backcountry cuisine before venturing on for the last 62km. As
the sun came up for the start of the third day of racing, we had clawed back
into 2^nd place and were again filled with fresh hope that our race
was going to run smoothly from here on.

Day Three

We joked as we ran with our kayaks down to the river about
how we better check them for holes before we started the paddle. The support
crew had done this already and our kayaks were sweet. Paddling off for another
50 km stage we were on the hunt, Columbia was a few hours ahead, but we knew we
could take big time out of them in the paddle. About 30minutes downstream
Camila and I led the line down a waterfall rapid that dropped a few feet. We
got through fine, but Kenny and Gui did not. The boat got trapped vertically on
the reflux wave at the bottom and cracked under the pressure of the flow. It
was a write-off. With over 40km of paddling to go, things looked grim. But
Kenny and Gui came up with idea of running back upstream to the transition and
paddling another boat back down to us. We had nothing more to lose so went with
the plan. We lost about 2 hours in the process but had no other option. We were
back into 3^rd and the distance to 1^st and grown
considerably.

Camila and I enter THE rapid. Credit: Chico Bruno

More fantastic rapids and river paddling followed, including
a massive rapid that the two teams ahead had portaged. Camila stood up at the
front of our kayak to scout a line, I swallowed, and we went for it. The media
on the side of the river couldn’t believe we were going for it and started
lining up their lenses ready for the carnage. And we didn’t disappoint. We got
through the technical upper section of the rapid before encountering the
largest standing wave I have ever seen. It was truly spectacular. I can still
picture it now, looking down on us like an inner-city skyscraper. It threw us
skyward and without leg braces we lost complete contact with the boat beneath
us. So the rest of the rapid was experienced from the swimming position (and at
times, the scuba diver’s position!). It was fantastic fun though and adrenaline
filled our veins. We were loving it.

By now I had been told by the team that we had been
penalised 4 hours for losing our card that we stamp at checkpoints to prove our
attendance at each. The Portuguese discussions in transitions with officials
must have been much more serious than I had perceived. It seemed a harsh
penalty, until I learned later again that the penalty was for missing a CP
altogether (on the first paddle). We had been so distracted by the sinking
kayaks that we had paddled straight past the CP. Usually this is a
disqualification. But because we had passed directly beside it (and simply
forgotten to stop at it) and a dozen other teams had done the same, we were
fortunate enough to be slapped with a 4 hour penalty and allowed to officially
continue. Still, it was another big blow to our team and our hopes of winning
the race started to fade, though not completely.

Credit: Alexandre Cappi

The following trek took us through the night and involved
some steep climbing and tricky route finding. It was through this night that I
invented “Ecomotion FM” – a radio request show hosted by yours truly that
related in various ways to the happenings of the 2012 Ecomotion. Songs like
“Break my stride” by Unique 2 and “Stand by me” by Ben King were sung at full
volume as the hours ticked by and the shooting stars kept us awake along the
mountain tops.

Kenny had fallen from his bike and hit a knee that he has a
bad history with and was now starting to get a lot of pain. We fed him up on
pain killers and he soldiered on. But as a team our progress was slowing. By
the end of the 14 hour trek we had just a short downhill bike ride to go until
transition, and the timing was perfect. Kenny needed serious pain and
anti-inflammatory treatment (a needle in the bum) and Gui needed sleep after
using his brain to navigate for us for the last 75 hours and sleep walking the
last 5km of the trek.

Day 4

Somewhere in the overnight trek we had overtaken the team
ahead and moved back into 2^nd place. However, with a 4 hour stand
down penalty at the final transition we had to keep the pace on. We rode the
110km bike stage in less than 7 hours and transitioned casually to the first
stage of the final trek of the race. We were casual because it was 7pm and we
had hit the dark zone which meant we would have to stop at the checkpoint some
6 hours away and wait until 6am to begin again with the canyoning section. The
problem was if the team behind us got to the dark zone as well then they would
start just 20 minutes behind us on the canyon and be a big threat as we sat out
our 4 hour penalty.

Day 5

After shivering miserably under a survival blanket and getting
bitten by ants for a few hours, it was time to depart for the canyon. At 6am
sharp we were ready to go. It was cold but we were motivated by the fact 3^rd
place had not made it to the CP yet.

Gui on the map. Credit: Chico Bruno

The canyon was spectacular. There were some huge abseils
down waterfalls and technical rock running sections, which seemed to suit us
well. We made it to the bottom and set off running at close to full pace. The
final trek was huge. It involved a lot of slippery rock running, swimming
across and down rivers, and climbing and descending steep terrain. But we still
had the 4 hour penalty in our minds and we were running every section we could,
like it was day 1. Gui made a very clever navigational choice and we cut off at
least 5km by back tracking one section from a CP and climbing a steep mountain.

Our feet had been wet for the whole race and I was starting
to get a lot of pain in the arch of my right foot. By about midday the pain was
excruciating so we had to stop and check it out. Gui was horrified by what he
saw when I took my sock off and advised me not to look while he dried it and
taped over the rotting flesh. I popped some pain killers and caffeine and we
were off again, full pace. Kenny was in worse pain than me and his knee had
turned a disturbing purple-black colour. We figured we would have plenty of
time in our 4 hour penalty to stop and lick our wounds so kept the pace on for
the whole 12 hours it took for us to reach the final transition. Unbelievably
we pulled back over 4 hours to reach the final transition alongside race
leaders Columbia. We had smashed the last stage and we were left in the penalty
zone wondering what might have been of the race had come down to the last 11km
ride to the finish.

Finish line. Credit: Chico Bruno

Now all we could do was wait and hope that in the next 4
hours, no team would come through and snatch 2^nd. We huddled under a
tarpaulin and shivered violently under our wet survival blankets as the hours
ticked by, and no team arrived. With euphoria we climbed onto our bikes for the
final 11km ride to the finish line back in Alta Paraiso.

The Finish

The finish line was all rather surreal. I couldn’t believe
how big the occasion was. Media swamped us and fireworks lit up the darkness of
the night sky. Our support crew joined our celebrations and all of a sudden I
realised that we had achieved something very special. We aimed to win but we
did not. Second place is a position I becoming very familiar with. But this is
a sport where you must always consider the entire context. You would be silly
to go into an Expedition race expecting to get everything right. Something will
always go wrong at some stage. Always. It is not about avoiding the mistakes
and misfortunes, but about dealing with them as they arrive. With 3 sinking and
broken kayaks, a 4 hour time penalty, a couple of major navigational errors on
the treks, some moments of pain and discomfort and a whole lot of team optimism
and perseverance, we made it through. The team is very proud of the race we put
together and I think I may even do more of this crazy racing format.

Quick team debrief before facing the media. Credit: Chico Bruno

Green’s Brasilia Multisport Team thanks its major sponsors
Green’s Natural Restaurant (http://www.greens.com.br)
and Brasilia Multisport (http://www.vivabrasilia.com/bms/)
for the support they gave towards our 2012 Ecomotion campaign.

I would like to thank my personal sponsors also. I wish to
make special mention of my doctor and friend Dr Andrew McLeod from the Wanaka
Medical Centre who sent me to Brazil with a bag of pills and potions. By the
end of the race it was having the right pill for each of the right occasions
that enabled us to keep moving fast. My team mates were stoked with the goodies
I was presenting from my 1^st aid kit. To have a GP who also does
this sort of racing is a huge bonus! I also have a great family of sponsors
that provide some of the best gear available for this sport. Here are a few
pieces of gear I found particularly awesome for those doing the sport that may
be interested:

• Osprey Hornet 24 and 32L AR Packs. Light, comfy
  and super durable: http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/group/superlight/hornet_series
• La Sportiva Crosslite shoes. Grip  and comfort beyond imagination:  http://www.mountainadventure.co.nz/category.php?id_category=40
• SmartWool PhD Graduated Compression socks. 5
  days on my feet, no blisters. Zero. No swelling in ankles or feet. Zero. 100%
  NZ Merino Wool: http://www.smartwool.com/phd-graduated-compression-light-0989.html
• Polar RS800 CX Watch. Separate GPS unit so can
  be legally worn in Adventure Races that ban GPS use. Still have access to
  altitude, bike speed and distance etc: http://www.polarnz.co.nz/nz/products/maximize_performance/running_multisport/RS800CX
• Legend Hydra paddle. So good for short and long
  races. Very cool split shaft system makes for easy travel and racing: http://legendpaddles.co.nz/paddles
• Sharkskin technical exposure gear. I used the
  long sleeve performance top and pants for the canyoning section and made my
  team mates jealous. Warm in the wet and protection from the sharp rocks: http://www.sharkskin.com.au/catalogue/category_intro.php/1/1
• Smith Pivlock PV2 sunglasses. Extremely simple
  to change the lenses, useful in AR for clear lens at night/tinted lens at day
  transitioning: http://www.smithoptics.co.nz/product/Sunglasses/Premium+Perfomance/Pivlock+V2

Flying the flag.
Credit: Chico Bruno

So next for me is a few weeks recovery before getting back
on my Giant Anthem and heading to Canada to realise my dream of competing in
the famous TransRockies mountain bike race. I will keep you posted.

Cheers,

Dougal

Well, it is now Wednesday and race day is nearly upon us.
Since arriving in Brazil 11 days ago so much has happened. Our team has spent
countless hours preparing ourselves for Ecomotion by organising every last
detail of equipment and food as well as a few last team training missions
before we embark on the non-stop race, expected to take 4 to 5 days. Rumours of
an official start time for the race have changed daily this week. I have heard
midnight. But then 1pm and 4 pm. So at some stage (likely Sunday Brazilian
time) we will get underway.

Tomorrow our team travels by van for about 2 hours to the
natural wilderness area known as Chapada. I am told that people from all around
the world have moved to Chapada to live in the past few years as the world will
end on December 21^st this year, but Chapada will survive… There are
many ‘magical’ things about Chapada, I am told. Including the Chrystal geology,
waterfalls, giant mountainous plateaus, sub-tropical vegetation etc. So the
race will no doubt showcase the many features of this landscape that seem to
have captured the imagination of many people around the world to date.

Regarding the race itself, you will need to tune into the
official website www.ecomotion.com.br
to follow the live tracking of teams during the event. I am told the website
will be reliable, despite the fact it has not been so far! You can also follow
our team website at http://www.vivabrasilia.com/bms/
but this may depend on your ability to read Portuguese…

We know there is a 50km kayak stage early in the race that
features very genuine Grade 3 water. The organisers are adamant that even the
most skilled paddling teams can expect to portage and swim a number of the
major rapids. So this will be exciting!

The confidence in our team (Greens’ Brasilia Multisport
Team) has grown with each day we spend together. We now hold a genuine belief
that we can contend for the prestigious Ecomotion title based on our individual
qualities in the team, along with our very experienced and enthusiastic support
team. Kenny is generally regarded as the best multisport athlete in Brazil at present.
Camila has a similar reputation and is improving rapidly with her experience
training and racing in NZ the past year. Gui is hugely experienced and as our
team captain and navigator, he hold the key to our success. His strategic
approach will be crucial and we have nothing but faith in his decision making
ability. I expect my role to be similar to Kenny, as a workhorse and engine. I
will be backing up Gui with the 2^nd maps, but will be hoping Gui
stays healthy enough to function without my input! As my first expedition race,
my goal is to race consistently from start to finish, and to concentrate my
energies on helping optimise the functioning of our team.

Thanks for the support leading into the race. Our team is
lucky to have support from Green’s Natural restaurant in Brasilia, the Brasilia
Multisport Team, Viva Brasilia, and a host of other businesses. My two main
supporters are also very influential on my performance, even from afar! Thanks
R & R Sport and Mainfreight.

My next update will be post-Ecomotion!

Dougal

All members of the Braslia Multisport Team with our Legend Paddles. Credit: Chico Bruno

I made it! After flying Queenstown to Auckland, then
Auckland to Santiago, then Santiago to Sao Paulo, then Sao Paulo to Brasilia, I
was met by my team at the airport and taken back to my temporary accommodation on
our team manager – Carrijo’s couch. 30 hours of travel can’t have smashed me as
much as I expected though because at 2am Brazilian time, I lay down and could not sleep.
I didn’t have long to get bored however because at 6am I was up again and on the
road with the team headed 140km towards a river for some ‘white-water training’.
Not knowing what to expect this to mean I just nodded and smiled my way through
the safety briefing etc which was spoken in Portuguese. It was then explained
to me by Clint, an American based in Brasilia with his wife and part of
our Ecomotion support crew, that we were headed down to a waterfall to do some
practise being in white-water.

Before I knew it one of the instructors who had led us down
to the river was jumping off a 3m waterfall into the whitewash at the
bottom and disappearing beneath. He was down just long enough for me to wonder
if he had got it wrong before reappearing happily about 20m downstream. This,
another instructor gestured, was what we were all now going to do. So I nodded and
smiled in nervous acceptance of his request. Just before jumping, he signalled
with his body language that I must go ‘floppy’ or I would not resurface. So I
jumped. As soon as I hit the water at the bottom I was immediately dragged
downwards. Down and down, deeper and deeper, until my ears popped. I stayed
relaxed as instructed, hoping it would lead to good things, i.e. survival. Sure
enough, what felt like an hour (but was probably more like 5 seconds) passed
and I was spat out at the surface of the river again, about 20m downstream.
Phew.

We continued doing a lot of submergence activities in
various rapids before taking a lunch break. I realised as I ate that I had not
slept for about 48 hours by now. After lunch we returned to the river, this
time with kayaks and paddled 13km downstream, which took us about 2.5 hours
(slow plastic doubles!). Camila and I enjoyed getting to know each other’s
paddling style as this will be our likely combination for race day. There were
some genuine grade 3 rapids along the way, one we portaged, another Camila and I swam unexpectantly, and
another we made it through. It was fun times but by 8pm and with a 140km return
drive awaiting, there were still Portuguese debriefs happening and I was
getting seriously tired.

We made it home about 11pm and I was quickly in bed,
sleeping until noon the following day (Monday). Gui and Camila, two of my team
mates for Ecomotion, showed up about 1pm and we ventured into the city to do
some various chores including two trips to see the guy who will be printing our
race clothing, two trips to eat at our sponsors “Greens” natural restaurant, and a
trip to see our nutritionist which was a fascinating experience and I learned a
lot. He also measured my body and calculated I had 5.2% body fat. I cannot say
this information changed my life, but it was interesting to know. We also did a
few trips back and forth across town for various reasons, none of which I
understood. Home by 11pm again.

Up at 8am this morning and off into town for a race. I was told it would involve
a 500m swim, a 5km kayak and a 5km run. I didn’t seem to have a choice in the
matter, I was racing. I must say the atmosphere was very different to NZ races.
Everyone was very relaxed and friendly. Music was playing all day and everyone
seemed to be having a good time. No one seemed to know when we would be
starting the race so I just bided my time for a couple of hours until about 11.15am when I was told
to get ready to start very soon.

Green's Brasilia Multisport Team: Camila, Kenny, Me, Gui.

The swim was always going to be classic. I am hopeless at
swimming and was not expecting any company on the lake. So it was pretty
exciting to notice after a while that I seemed to be holding speed with a
couple of people out to my right. I popped my head up to see who they were,
only to notice that they were chatting to each other and swimming breaststroke!

Into the kayak and I was finding it a bit tricky to stay
upright. I had chosen to paddle an Olympic level K1 mainly because it was there
if I wanted to try it and I figured I wouldn’t get many opportunities to paddle
a boat like this in NZ. The kayak course involved paddling 3 laps and after brace
stroking my way through the first lap I started to notice I was making ground. The
familiarity of using a Legend Fluid paddle from NZ was the only thing keeping me in
the kayak I reckon. Up ahead I could see there were still plenty of people
ahead of me.

By the end of the kayak I could see Camila heading out into
the run. I knew Kenny and Gui, my two other team mates, would be ahead too so I
was anchoring the team in last place – hopefully not a pattern that will
develop at Ecomotion! I set off into the run and passed Camila who was light
years ahead of the 2^nd placed female. I passed a fair few others
along the way and finished the race in just over an hour, having really enjoyed
the experience. It was nice to spin the legs out after so much travel and I
later found out I was actually 3^rd overall, behind Gui and Kenny.
Hopefully this bodes well for our team’s performance at Ecomotion on Saturday
week.

Loving my new Smith Pivlock V2 sunnies. Credit: Chico Bruno

Tonight I will shift to an apartment in town and get my gear
organised to see what I need to buy here. I have just built my bike up which
has no noticeable damage from the flight, always a relief! I believe our team
is off for a mountain bike ride tomorrow so I will see how the Anthem performs
then. It is all very exciting stuff and I think I like Brazil already. The people
a very friendly and supportive, although punctuality is not a word I would
associate with those I have met thus far. More updates to come as I work my
way towards my first expedition race.

April Update: The Road to Brazil…
It’s been a while since my last real correspondence. It is not so much because I have been lying dormant, but more because I have been on the go to such an extent that sitting down for an hour to document my latest training and racing happenings has been out of reach for the past month!
If you are short on time, let me summarise: 1st in the Goldrush, 1st at the Tour de Wakatipu (new course record), 1st in the Naseby 12 Hour MTB Solo and 1st in the Contact Epic Lake Hawea MTB Event (also a new course record). To learn a bit more about how each result came about and how it has all been geared towards Ecomotion in Brazil next month, please read on…
Goldrush: March 24-26th
The 375km Goldrush is a three day multisport race held in Central Otago each year. It also happens to be my favourite multisport race and it was tremendously exciting to be back on the start line this year after a year off in 2011. I was hunting for my 4th win in the race and the conditions on the first day of racing ensured my victory was not to come easily. Strong winds caused havoc on the first kayak from Alexandra to the Roxburgh dam with many capsizing. Luckily I stayed upright. However the winds only got stronger in the following stage, a 35km mountain bike up onto the Knobby Ranges. Again I was lucky to come through in one piece to lead the race going into day two.
With the appropriate cancellation of the Serpentine bike stage that usually begins the second day, we were faced with a shortened day. Things went smoothly for me and I was able to extend my lead despite the elements again testing us with a hail storm on the Thompsons Gorge mountain bike stage.
I have always enjoyed the final day of Goldrush and this year was no different. We were finally rewarded for our tenacity in testing conditions by waking to a fine and sunny day with a good tail wind for the Clutha River kayak stage and road cycle to Alexandra. At times I had my Giant Trinity TT Bike ticking up 70+ km/hr with the assistance of the good old nor-wester pushing up my backside. I crossed the finish line at Molyneux Park in Alexandra with a pleasing win and a comfortable margin over my training mate Gavin Mason who was second overall.
Tour de Wakatipu: April 7th
As part of my preparation for Ecomotion in Brazil I was keen to get in some good sessions on the mountain bike. The Tour de Wakatipu is a race in Queenstown that looked short and fast, a good hit out in my view. I was impressed to see around 600 athletes at the start line and I knew that I was going to have to work hard to place well in a race that wouldn’t exactly suit me (too short!). After a 90 minute battle with Matt Randall, Brent Miller and Gavin Mason, I was able to pull away in the final few kilometres to win the popular race on my Giant XTC Composite 29er and break the course record in a touch over 1 hour 31 minutes. A pleasing result, given my big training volume focus leading into the race. I even managed to head out for a 3 hour paddle that night and finished with the sound of my Legend Hydra paddle slicing through Lake Wanaka with a giant full moon casting a bright reflection across the water. Very special.
Naseby 12 Hour: April 14th
I have always loved the Naseby 12 hour race because of the fun atmosphere created by the people that take part each year. However, despite being involved in about 5 editions including the first one in 2005, I had never taken part as a solo. With Ecomotion being my first expedition-style adventure race in May I thought it was only appropriate I get some time on the saddle and experience a few hardships along the course of 12 hours of riding 11km loops.

The new Anthem 29er at Naseby

The course was fun with plenty of good flowing single track and spectacular vistas along the tops of the course looking out over some of Central Otago’s best scenery. I spent the first 3 or so hours riding within myself, but I was getting nervous when I heard that Norman Dunroy from Dunedin had stretched out to a 10 minute lead. From here I started to wind it up and I think this may have coincided with Norm starting to feel the pinch of perhaps riding slightly beyond himself early in the race. The team at R & R Sport had sorted me out with a beautiful Giant Anthem 29er which had felt instantly comfy despite this race being its maiden voyage. At some stage between 3 and 4 hours I caught and moved passed Norm to take the lead. Never looking back again and finishing some 22 laps later with a distance of around 240km covered for the day.
Contact Epic Lake Hawea 125km MTB Event: April 21st
There was some talk going into this year’s Contact Epic about my face-off with 2010 winner Tim Wilding from Wellington. I had never raced Tim but I was well aware that it would take a pretty special performance from me or anyone to beat the guy who has won 24hr single speed titles! Sure enough the pace was furious from the start with Tim leading the way. I am always respectful of top contenders that are happy to show their hand early in a race, rather than hide in the background hoping to appear shortly before the finish as the leader. Tim made us all hurt. Shortly after Kid’s Bush, it was only he and I that were beginning to form our own little battle for the race. I was wearing my new Smith Pivlock V2sunnies for the first time and loving every second of them as we smashed our way along some dry and dusty sections of track.
Crossing the Hunter River at about the half way mark I still felt pretty fresh. But I was also aware that Tim might have been too, and my 12 hour effort the week before might catch up on me at any moment. So I kept sucking back the Leppin Squeezy Gels and fluids in my Osprey Reservoir to keep the energy at its max. Somewhere during the countless hill climbs en route to the Dingle Burn, I had managed to drop Tim. Suddenly I was running scared. Being in front of a chasing Tim Wilding is a pretty vulnerable feeling I must say. So I kept the power on and never let up until I crossed the finish line back at the Lake Hawea Inn with a hugely satisfying victory, breaking the course record in the process in a time of 4 hours 36 minutes. I couldn’t stop there either as my coach Val Burke had me programmed to run 2 hours off the bike, which I did with the company and support of my mate Bob and my SmartWool Graduated Compression Socks! I was again joined by Bob and my mate Braden Currie for a paddle Sunday morning down the exciting grade 2 waters of the Hawea and Clutha rivers. All up it was a weekend to remember!
What I really admire about the Contact Epic is the way it is structured by the organisers. I especially like their approach to self-responsibility whereby there is no compulsory gear to carry – just that which you think you will need. Every competitor is expected to make his/her own decisions on what clothing, food, fluid, and puncture/bike repair equipment they will need, to get through 125km of backcountry riding. Long may this approach continue, and long may people make responsible decisions about what they should bring with them on race day.
Ecomotion Brazil
So my training has been spot on for my first ever expedition race. Stringing together four good wins in a month has made for some very rewarding preparation and I am getting excited. Leanne Kent has been instrumental in keeping my body intact with her wonderful massage support. So now all eyes turn to Ecomotion. This is a well established adventure race held in Brazil annually which I will have the privilege of competing in this year with the Green’s Brasilia Multisport Team. My team mates Gui, Kenny and Camila are all Brazilian and all very experienced. I will be flying to Brazil this week to join them and acclimatise before racing starts on May 10th. You can follow our progress on the race website www.ecomotion.com.br and follow my blog entries via my website www.dougalallan.co.nz.
These adventures and successes are all made possible by my wonderful family of sponsors. I wish to thank Mainfreight and R & R Sport especially, for their support of what I choose to do. Thanks also to Wanaka Medical Centre, Polar, SmartWool, Legend Paddles, Osprey Packs, Leppin Sports Nutrition and my other contributing sponsors for helping me along the way. Without the support of my sponsors, coaches, family and friends, I may have lost interest in being a broke multisporter by now. But instead here I am, and I can’t wait for more!
See you along the way,
Dougal

Hi everyone,

I have had a busy old time since Goldrush finished on Monday, preparing for upcoming races and commitments. Usually I like to write a report on the race to give people an idea how things unfolded through my own experience of the race, but time is pretty limited at the moment. Please follow this link to read about the way the race finished up for me:

http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14168&Itemid=1

Thanks to my support crew of Rossco, Amy, Sally and Aves for getting me through it all. What a  great weekend!

Dougal

Hi All,

I am pleased to say I have come through the recovery window post-Coast to Coast and seem to be in a good physical state. I always take 2 weeks off after my big races so I enjoyed doing things for fun and getting back on my Giant XTC mountain bike after spending a summer on the roadie. Since my recovery window I have resumed full training and now have a couple of solid 20+ hour training weeks under my belt which feels nice.

I have now jumped back into training, and feel good.

The next race for me is the mighty Goldrush, right here in Central Otago from March 24th to 26th. It is my favourite multisport race and I am so excited to be involved again after a year away from the event. I will be hunting my 4th win in the race but with a 375km course and 3 days of racing, I know that ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’.

My big training focus this year is running and mountain biking with the aim of being fighting fit come August and September for my three big international races of 2012 in Canada, Mongolia and China.

See you along the way.

Dougal

I have come to find there are days in racing where you will rely on the strength of your support team more than your own. The 2012 Speight’s Coast to Coast was one of those days for me. It was my third consecutive runner-up placing, but by far my hardest to achieve.

The plan this year was to go from the gun and either set myself up to go one place better, or blow up while trying. I didn’t go one place better, and it was the latter option that would prevail about 20 minutes shy of Goat Pass.

I worked hard to drive a breakaway on the first bike ride and was pleased to be joined by five willing others. By around halfway through the ride to Aicken’s Corner we were down to four: Richard Ussher, Braden Currie, Jeremy McKenzie and myself. I kept encouraging a solid pace, hoping it might take the sting out of the legs of the runners as the sun started to shine and we neared transition.

Breakaway at sunrise with Braden Currie alongside

Aicken’s Corner can be manic if you arrive in a big bunch. This was one advantage I saw in getting away with the other three: a clean transition, but also a 3 minute buffer to the chasers. It was time to swap to running shoes and find out how the ride had affected our legs as we set off towards the Deception Valley.

I quickly realised that the ride had not taken any noticeable toll on Currie’s legs as he disappeared up the valley and I focussed on sticking to Ussher and McKenzie’s heels. We remained in this formation for a good hour or so before our chase bunch of 3 became 4 when James Coubrough joined us, looking worryingly comfortable after having just pulled back 3 minutes well before we had even reached Doreen Creek! We continued through big boulders until we hit a stream crossing and McKenzie and I dropped off the pace.

Goat Pass with Jeremy McKenzie right behind

At Goat Pass I could still see Ussher some 30-40 seconds ahead but I was in no shape to pull back time and my focus had now switched to preservation as I felt myself drifting deeper and deeper into a hole. My pace for the rest of the run down the Mingha Valley would barely register as race-worthy, but McKenzie was in a similar world of hurt and as we hit the flats of the valley floor I pulled away and found myself clearly in 4^th with no sign of 3^rd place ahead.

The transition to my Trinity at Klondyke was very tough mentally as I felt like my whole world was falling apart as I was overwhelmed by fatigue. I could sense it was just one of those days every athlete dreads, where everything feels twice as hard but giving up is not an option. So with the energy and encouragement delivered by my support crew I was soon on my bike bound for Mt White Bridge.

As I arrived and ran down the road to the start of the kayak I was still hopeful that my kayak training this year would pay off on the river. As rough as I felt, I figured there was every chance the 3 guys in front were feeling the pinch too after a swift run stage. So as I set off in my Omega, with the key words from my kayak coach Grant Restall in my head: “Focus on the process”, I was in pursuit.

With a low river and a head wind I knew the paddle would take about 4 ½ hours. But when, just five minutes into the kayak I noticed a fair amount of water getting into my kayak and my bilge pump unable to keep up, I figured I was going to be in it for the long haul today. A split offered to me at Gooseberry suggested I had lost another 5 minutes to the front guys and my hopes of a podium quickly sunk to zero. For the entire gorge section I wore myself out by fighting a losing battle pumping my bilge and looking over my shoulder for the train of athletes I was sure were about to fly past. Stopping to empty my kayak at about the 3 hour mark offered some reprieve from the non-stop pumping of my bilge and I decided from there on just to focus on my technique and let the boat fill with water. At Woodstock the split to 3^rd was 10 minutes meaning I had not lost any time since Gooseberry, this came as both a surprise and a boost in my esteem and I tried to pull my Hydra paddle has hard as I could for the final 50 minutes to the Gorge Bridge. By the kayak get-out I had pulled the split to 3^rd back to around 8 minutes, despite a kayak full with an estimated 15-20 litres of water.

Start of paddle at Mt White Bridge

When I got on my bike for the final 70km ride to Sumner, all I could think about was getting to the finish and stopping. But when a split offered by the Newstalk ZB team about 20km into the ride estimated me at about 6 minutes to 3^rd my hopes were restored. I started to wind up the pedals and ‘race’ again with my newfound sense of purpose. Only about 5km later the split was down to 3 minutes “to 2^nd and 3^rd”. I couldn’t believe what I had heard. It seemed Currie and Coubrough were riding close and I was gaining quickly. By about the 40km mark I had caught and ridden past both of them and now had to manage myself enough to hold on for 2^nd.

By the time I hit the sand of Sumner I had managed to pull off a 2^nd placing in what I would consider the most competitive one-day field in the past few years, and on a day where I felt my race had been anything but perfect. So despite a disappointing process, I had achieved an outcome that I could be very proud of. I didn’t regret pushing hard from the start, even though it seemed to leave me hurting all day. Sometimes you have to really push the limits to truly know what they are. I have taken a lot of lessons from the race and I feel I will be better for the experience.

My support crew deserve full praise for their consistent enthusiasm throughout the week leading up the race, and their wonderful efforts on race day. My sponsors also need to be mentioned as I could not be part of this great race without them, especially R&R Sport, Mainfreight, Polar, Giant and Leppin. Finally, big congratulations to Richard, Braden and James for making for such an exciting race.

Photos thanks to www.sportzhub.com

Sponsors:

R & R Sport         Mainfreight

Leppin                  Polar                      Giant                     SOS Eyewear

SmartWool         Wanaka Medical Centre                                Osprey                 Legend                 La Sportiva

Wanaka Physiotherapy                 Sharkskin             Sisson Kayaks                    Central IT Services

Last Friday night, as part of the big weekend of triathlon here in Wanaka, I participated as part of Team Wanaka Lonestar in the Contact Sprint Distance Triathlon held in the heart of town the night before Challenge Wanaka. Tane Duncan, a young promising local swimmer kicked started our race in a choppy Lake Wanaka and managed to exit the water just 40 seconds off the lead after having to wrestle his ankle transponder back on mid-way through the swim!

I was thrust off into the 20km criterium style bike course (8 x laps of Pembroke Park) with the 40 second deficit to make up to Team Outside Sports cyclist Scott Rainsford, and reigning champion team Radio Wanaka Rockets rider Gavin Mason. I figured it would be a pretty big undertaking to bring back the 40 seconds in a draft-legal race where Scott and Gavin could work with each other to keep me away. This is exactly what they did, very smart racing. But lucky for me, Team Wanaka Lonestar had a secret (or not-so-secret) weapon in the form of speed demon Oska Ingster-Baynes as our runner-in-waiting.

The Hurt Box

I jumped off the bike just over 30 minutes later (average speed of 37 km/hr) having reduced the deficit to the leaders to about 15 seconds. We had ourselves a race! After transferring the transponder to Oska I was finally able to realise just how much lactate I had managed to accumulate in my legs and I spent the next 5 minutes doing my best to stay conscious while still trying to look like I had plenty of fuel left in the tank (yeah right!).

Meanwhile, in the land of the runners, Oska had taken the lead within a handful of metres and was going about tearing apart the 5km run course out in front. He had mentioned to me before the race that he was aiming for a 14.30 for the 5km. I thought at the time that he was being a little optimistic on a course that has plenty of corners and a fair amount of soft grass. However, as I would find out Oska knew his pace pretty damn well. He finished the run in an unbelievable 14.27 to bring Team Wanaka Lonestar home in first place, stealing the team’s title from 2-time champions Team Wanaka Rockets with Wanaka lad Lorenz bringing Team Outside Sports home strong for 3^rd place.

Oska displaying fine form

A big thanks has to go to Patrick at the Lonestar for getting behind our team and being a huge support. If you are a mountain biker here in Wanaka and keen on the Sticky Forest trails, you will have noticed the awesome work done by Patrick and his Lonestar team to improve all the single track and build wicked new signs at the start of each track. Wanaka is a better place because of Patrick and the Lonestar. And here I was thinking that all they did at Lonestar was mean as feeds!

If there are any teams out there that want to compete for the prestigious title of fastest team at the Wanaka sprint triathlon in 2013, see you on the start line (of the bike stage that is, I am NOT a swimmer).

Dougal

Hi all,

I am always happy to get some coverage in media as it is good for my sponsors obviously, but most of all good that our sport is recognised and valued in such a way.

The latest Vo2Max magazine has a feature if you are hanging out and passing time in a book shop. Also here is a link to my interview from Radio Sport on Tuesday night:

http://www.sportzhub.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13723&Itemid=1

3 weeks until Coast 2 Coast. Training is on track and I am excited to be involved this year in what looks to be the best one day mens field in the 5 years I have been involved in the race. There are some phenomenal runners entered, so I hope to limit my losses over Goat Pass and push hard in the 2nd half of the day which has traditionally been my stronger part of the race. Whatever happens I will hope to enjoy and appreciate being part of such a competitive race. Life as a competitive multisporter is too short to stress out, better to enjoy the moment and be the best I can be on the day.

Talk soon.

D