The MERRELL EDEN Duo 2009 assures the future for ADVENTURE RACING in SOUTH AFRICA.

Bruce Springsteen was proud to be American when he sang; “BORN IN THE USA” I was proudly South African when the best of the Adventure Racing fraternity lined up for a day of adventure on the Wilderness beach, 31st of October 2009. 05H15 it was when a line of athletes disappeared into the tunnel above the Kaaimans Mouth. The Wilderness Beach was the same spot that was filled with spectators and seconds 13 hours later awaiting their athletes from out there. Owen Middleton was the first man on the horizon and about 10 hours later the last athletes appeared just before sunrise as they arrive home after 150k’s of adventure racing.

The EDEN District Municipality, SAN Parks and Cape Nature offer us space to let some steam out. Thanks must be said to the SAN PARK Management, the Cape Nature support and the EDEN Tourism department! First Ascent sponsored goods and Psychedelic tents in Plett sponsored the tent so we would like to thank them also. MERRELL and Stormsky Studios gave the colour to the event and added invaluable detail to an absolute great sporting medium. I can say with great conviction that the race bibs were the best quality race bibs seen in South Africa, and I think they have set a new standard with these! Such attention to detail is what separates a good event from a great event! Of course the athletes that lined up at the start were the main show of the day and what a show they put on!

The management team of 24-7 Adventure were excited to be part of the event. We were surprised by the amount of athletes who wanted to change to the OPEN Category... The change in race strategy to include more racers into the navigational component proved to complicate the final results, but it didn’t take away the outstanding performances of all the category winners.

Well done John Collins and Hanno Smit, you’ve set the standard years ago and you are still out there showing us how it’s done! They collected all the CP’s and finished in under 14.5 hours. I must clarify a result here. Graham Bird may win the solo category due to time bonuses for finding CP’s, but Owen Middleton must be credited for an exceptional performance to do complete the course in less than 14 hours. Owen may not have collected any CP’s and as such may not win the solo category, but his time has definitely set a bench mark on this gruelling course and will be tough to beat in next year’s event. This brings me to the planning for the MERRELL EDEN Duo 2010 and the final results for this year.

The MED 2010 will take place on the Saturday 30th of October 2010 (23 October 2010 is full moon) at the same venue with the same route. There will be no solo entries allowed.  There will be 5 Compulsory / Check Point (CP’s) along the shortest route between TA’s. These are compulsory for all teams irrespective of what category you are racing. Missing one of these CP’s will mean you will not get an official race time or ranking.

There will be an additional 5 Orienteering Points (OP’s) for the top teams. The top teams will race in the Merrell Mercenaries category, and as the name suggests, it will be war! There will be no concession/distinction made for age or gender. If you are in, you are in all the way. If you are out, read the next paragraph, this one will give you nightmares! Teams racing in the Merrell Mercenaries category will need to collect all 5 CP’s and all 5 OP’s. The OP’s will be navigationally and physically challenging to find. The idea is to have the John Collins and Hanno Smits out there for about 20 hours (which may mean they could end up doing about a bit more than 150 k’s) and in return for their hard work, the Merrell Mercenaries will be having the lion’ share of the prize money.

For the rest of us who just want to get out there and have fun there will be the usual category winners as an added bonus to having fun on the day. The distance will be between 130 and 140 km.

There will be a junior category; it will consist of a 4 person team, with 3 members being under 18 and one member being an experienced adventure racer over 18. At least one member of the team also has to be of the opposite gender (ie teams will consist of either 3 guys and 1 girl, or 3 girls and 1 guy or 2 guys and 2 girls). The junior teams will be racing over a distance of 100 km and will have to find a few of the CP’s.

The relay team can consist of 4 members with any combination of 2 people doing any particular leg of the race. The only exception is that all member of the relay team need to complete the first kloofing leg.

In summary the categories will be as follows:

As can be seen all the category winners will have to do the 5 compulsory navigational points. No category could be won without the compulsory 5 CP’s been done.

Short course finishers (less than 5 CP’s and rerouted to miss a T) will be offered an official finish but not a position and or time (It’s too complex to compare you to other teams, but we do acknowledge your performance).

Entries will close on 30 September 2010 but entries will be limited, so don’t leave it too late. Teams may amend their category up until 30 September 2010. The sooner you enter the cheaper it might be. The different overnight options will determine your entry fee. All entry fees will include a breakfast at prize giving; goodie bag per competitor, a team map and entrance fee to SAN Parks Ebb and Flow. There will also be management fee to computerise the navigation so that you get your results as you finish.

Give your opinion on the MED event and the 100% PURE supplement that was also launched at the event. The gallery containing pictures of the event will be available soon.