Merrell Adventure Addicts ready to take on Tasmanian Devil

Wednesday 26 October 2011 will see Team Merrell Adventure Addicts set course for Burnie, Tasmania’s western-most city. This ‘gateway’ to the West Coast wilderness region will play host to the Adventure Racing World Championships (ARWC), with nearly a hundred four-man teams from 23 countries aiming for top spot. This 700km, non-stop race starts on the 2nd of November, and the winning teams will take at least 5-6 days to complete the course.

Australia once again hosts the prestigious ARWC, but this year the wilderness arena in which it will unfold is the rugged and dramatic West coast wilderness of Tasmania. According to Race Director Craig Bycroft, “The remote terrain of the West Coast is the perfect destination for a true expedition race and it promises to be an experience like no other. It will definitely suit the physically and mentally tough teams, and like all XPD Races, this will be a true expedition-style race through genuine wilderness conditions”.

Adventure racing is a multi-discipline endurance sport where endurance athletes (usually both male and female) compete as 4-person teams. They have to navigate using map, compass and landmarks via a series of control point (or CPs) in a range of disciplines, including mountain biking, trekking, kayaking, swimming, rope work and orienteering. Teams will race non-stop along a 700km ARWC course, deciding if and when to rest, with the first team to complete all the race legs declared the winner.

The MERRELL Adventure Addicts have been competing together as a team for more than four years, and have developed a detailed understanding of their individual strengths and weaknesses to shape a powerful racing unit. The team is led by captain and navigator Graham Bird, and for him it will all be about focusing the team at the right moment.

Stalwart Hanno Smit, one of the original war horses, will once again be at Bird’s side, contributing quiet determination and experience to the mix. Tatum Prins, the ‘girl power component’ of the MERRELL Adventure Addicts, brings true grit, dedication, commitment and motivation to the team. Completing the foursome is Donovan Sims, an adventure racer at the top of his game: “I’m ready to lay down life and limb to help this team make it to the finish”, he quipped as the team completed final preparations for their trip Down Under.

After winning the 500km Expedition Africa Adventure Race staged in the Western Cape in May this year, the MERRELL Adventure Addicts focused on preparing for the ARWC, undoubtedly the premier AR event of the year. “At the beginning of this year we set the ARWC as our main goal for 2011”, stated Bird in an exclusive media interview. “The team has had a great build-up and are raring to go!”

The MERRELL Adventure Addicts have had a successful period over the past few years, competing in numerous Adventure Racing World Series races around the world, finishing in second position at the XPD Australia race in May 2010. This rated as the toughest Adventure Race the team has ever competed in and, according to Bird, “We seem to get stronger the longer and tougher the race is. After competing in the 2010 Australian race by the same organiser, we hope the 2011 race will be just as tough and hard.”

The team used the 500km Expedition Africa to test new team strategies, as traditionally they were slow starters, conserving their efforts for the latter stages of racing. In an effort to close in on some of the top international teams, they realised it was necessary to race fast and hard from the start and hope to do so successfully at the AR World Champs.

The individual MERRELL Adventure Addict members have all come off strong individual performances over the past few months. Donovan Sims and Hanno Smit jointly won the 120km 3-day Wild Run, while Graham Bird and Tatum Prins staked their claim as two of only ten people to have ever completed the ‘Race across South Africa’. This gruelling multi-sport event constitutes an 80km trail run, a 2300km MTB ride from Pietermaritzburg to Cape Town, and finally the 4-day, 230km Berg River Canoe Marathon.

And why do we do this amazing sport? When asked, Bird does not think for very long: “We love testing ourselves, pushing our bodies and minds to the absolute limit, and come out on the other side stronger, but humbled by the camaraderie and friendship we experience every time we GET OUTSIDE!”.

The team’s sponsorship deal with MERRELL, an internationally acknowledged leader in the footwear and outdoor apparel industry, has enabled them to focus their energy on racing rather than trying to balance a budget. The MERRELL tag line “Let’s Get Outside” makes for the perfect partnership with Adventure Addicts, as each member of the team lives their life in the great outdoors.

Other sponsors include PVM Nutritional Science, Giant Bicycles, Island Tribe Sunscreen, Squirt Bicycle Lube, Glider Eyewear and Black Diamond head torches. For an introduction to the Merrell Adventure Addicts check out the following video -: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jFBtYjuWF0

For news on how to follow the team at ARWC, go to their web site at www.advaddicts.co.za

WEB SITES:
Adventure Addicts – www.advaddicts.co.za
Main Sponsor – www.merrell.com
ARWC 2011 – www.xpd.com.au

CONTACTS:

Team Manager: Graham Bird – (083) 601 8693 / tweet@global.co.za