All Black great Richie McCaw takes on a new challenge next week as he joins 200 others in a race to find the Coromandel’s mythical “lady in the mist”.
The race is Coromandel’s annual Osprey Packs ARC Adventure Race, a 24-hour kayak, mountain bike and trekking event that sees teams racing through the night on a route that is kept secret until the start.
Established in 1989, Adventure Racing is a team sport, usually of four with at least one woman, that combines traditional endurance sport disciplines such as trekking, running, kayaking and mountain biking, with challenging terrain and navigational skills usually more akin to major expeditions. Races can be between half a day and a week and run non-stop, with the route usually kept top secret until the start.
On March 5th and 6th the 2016 ARC Adventure Race will race between Thames and Whitianga via sea kayaking, mountain biking and trekking. The route this year is based on the day to day travels of ancient Maori as they moved around the Coromandel Peninsula following food, weather and sometimes legend.
“The lady in the mist” is one such legend. Said to live in the mist shrouded valleys of the Kaimarama River, she was a much sought after sage for advice and guidance. But an audience was only granted by a stream of light breaking through the surrounding fog. Without the light, the travellers searching for her guidance would be lost in the mist forever.
“It’s a fitting legend for this year’s ARC Adventure Race,” says event organiser Andy Reid. “Because the secluded valleys of the Coromandel Peninsula make this race as much about navigation and mental fortitude as physical prowess. Some parts of this year’s course only sees a couple of human faces per year and we’ve warned participants that they are likely to be lost in the mist.”
Reid admits he’s a bit nervous about the implications of losing an All Black legend to the legend of the lady in the mist.
Continuing his new love affair with endurance sports, recently retired All Black captain Richie McCaw will be racing with Rob Nicol, Sara Fairmaid and Ben Meyer as they build toward the South Island’s Godzone adventure race during April. Their charity team is aptly dubbed “Doing Godzone to Cure Kids”, but before they get to Godzone they have to get out of the Coromandel Peninsula.
“It’s great to have world champions like Richie taking on new challenges,” says Andy Reid. “One of the cultural aspects of our sport is that mere mortals can compete alongside world champions. But normally only other All Blacks get to compete next to a world champion All Black, so having Richie on the start line is going to be a highlight for many participants.”
Organisers Andy Reid and Keith Stephenson are Coromandel residents and endurance sport enthusiasts who got together 16 years ago to form Adventure Racing Coromandel, an event company aimed at promoting adventure and endurance sports in their region.
As well as the ARC Adventure Race they organise the Cranleigh K2 Cycle Classic and the Great Cranleigh Kauri Run and their events benefit the Spirit of Coromandel charitable trust, which they established to encourage their regions youth into sporting and outdoor pursuits.
