Busy times for Base Auckland multisports
By FLTLT Benny Austin
The past year has been very busy for the RNZAF Base Auckland Multisports Club, competing in events from the bottom of the South Island to our own back yard. We even had members competing at multisport type events internationally.
Day Night Thriller - the club tent site with the riders out in front.
Not satisfied with just competing, club individuals and teams have regularly obtained podium finishes and admirably represented the club, the Base and the RNZAF.
In September, the club made its annual pilgrimage to the Jamis Day-Night Thriller, an event we have attended almost every year since 2001, but this was the first time we brought back some silverware. Held at Spa Park in Taupo, teams comprising of up to five riders compete in various categories and attempt to complete as many laps as possible of an 8 kilometre course, from 1030hrs on Saturday until 2230hrs the same day. The teams arrived on Friday night and camped out under canvas, unless you were in SQNLDR Gowthorpe’s bus - aka ‘the Officers Mess’ - which allowed for plenty of time to check out the course prior to the start. Entertainment throughout the day and into the night was provided by the Base’s deployable Freeview setup projected onto the side of the No. 5 Squadron marquee; this proved the clincher in us winning the prize for ‘Best Site’ with the number of people in the marquee quadrupling to watch the All Blacks Rugby World Cup pool match against Portugal. Out of the 527 teams that entered, Team ‘Low Flying Idiots’ were 13th in category and 31st overall; ‘Designated Riders’ were 46th with FUBAR 54th and SNAFU 71st.
November rolled around with the inaugural Bicyclette 12hrs of Woodhill race, held west of Auckland it was technically our ‘local’ 12 hour race. Due to a number of people being unavailable, the club only managed to enter three teams, a mixed team with three members and two open men’s teams of five. With a marquee set up and Air Force logos emblazoned everywhere providing fantastic PR and recruiting opportunities, the teams once again bought home the silverware. SGT Jar Millar clinched the fastest lap time with an impressive 23m 59s for an 8km lap, which contributed to the mixed team including CPL Graham Russell and LAC Rach Taylor placing 1st in their category and 4th overall. ‘Not the Navy’ were also on the podium with a 3rd in the open men’s, closely followed by ‘Not the Army’ in 9th.
The inaugural Bicyclette 12 hours of Woodhill tent site.
Taupo was the scene of the next two club events, both of which involved circumnavigating Lake Taupo. November 24th began as a dull, dreary and windy Saturday but soon warmed into a glorious day on the Central Plateau as four club road riders were amongst the 9500 that completed all or part of the 160 kilometre Round Lake Taupo road race. A 160 kilometre solo is no mean feat and requires a lot of dedication and training by competitors; the slowest riders take up to 9 hours to complete the course but all four of the Base Auckland personnel were within 90 minutes of the top riders who finish in around 4 hours.
The second event to go around the lake was the Great Lake Relay, held on February 16th. Twelve club members formed themselves into the ‘Whenuapai Flying Circus’ to travel down on Friday for the pitch black start at 0200hrs on Saturday morning. The course was split up into manageable stages with each runner doing 5 to 10km legs before handing over the reigns to the next team member. Teams estimate the time it will take to finish the course, thus deciding what time they started and after a tussle that lasted the entire distance, the Flying Circus placed second in the 0200hrs starters; a very impressive 11th overall out of 319 teams that competed.
An early start and high tide just before race start didn’t deter five hardy club members and a five person relay team from 6Sqn from competing in the North Shore City Coastal Challenge in early March. Depending on the distance entrants chose, ranging from the 33 kilometre ‘Full Monty’ to a more sedate 5 kilometre, the start line was one of five beaches on the East Coast of Auckland. Under the very concise directions of the race organiser - ‘keep the water on your left and the beach on your right until you hit the finish line’ - the course provided fantastic views of Rangitoto and multi-million dollar waterfront mansions in what was a beach run/rock-hop/swim/wade for all involved. The lure of event sponsors products and the promise of a free sausage sizzle was consolation for the skin that was donated to various rocks that lurked just below the waters surface.
24hr Moonride. CPL Graham Russell brings half the course back to the tent site.
Not satisfied with just 12 hour mountain bike races, two teams from Base thought they’d go for twice as long and entered the 24 hour Cateye Moonride, held each year in the Whakerewarewa Forest, just outside Rotorua. Heavy rain made for a muddy and energy-sapping track with the ongoing rain forcing event organisers to make changes to the course repeatedly throughout the day. The riders alternated between riding, warming down, eating, sleeping or warming up for the next lap; this cycle was repeated around 11 times per rider for the duration of the day’s race and the results were an outstanding 7th in the open category and 8th in the mixed category for the teams.
As well as these club events, keen and eager members have competed individually up and down the length of the country in a wide range of events including Southlands 60 kilometre Kepler Track mountain run (yes, that’s nearly 1½ marathons) to the three race R ‘n’ R Mountainbike series in West Auckland, the 200 kilometre K2 road bike race near Coromandel to a full day of physical punishment crossing the South Island under the guise of a legendary event called the Coast to Coast. Club Captain, F/S Grant Winwood also graced the pages of the 89 issue of the Air Force News as Base Auckland’s Sports Person of the Year 2007, a year that saw him place 21st in his age group at the Florida World 1/2 Ironman Champs.
The upcoming year doesn’t look like slowing down so thanks must go to Base Auckland for its ongoing support of the club, to the members who organise club events and to all the participants who make it worthwhile. The club has programmed Wednesday afternoon sports where members can attend an afternoon ride, run or kayak nearly every fortnight and will be hosting Interbase Harriers in 2009 - check out the club website on the intranet for further details.