Mark Webber’s adventure race in Tasmania
Formula 1 star, Mark Webber, has released details of the course for his charity adventure race, the Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge, which will take place from 28 November to 2 December, immediately after the Brazil round that ends the 2012 season.
The Red Bull Racing driver believes the course, around the north east of the Australian island state of Tasmania, which is an island the size of Ireland with one tenth of the population, will be a test of F1 proportions. For the first time, participants will be competing for prize money. The first elite pair to cross the line in Hobart on 2nd December 2 will win AU$20,000, with second taking a AU$7500 prize and third collecting AU$2500.
"Getting out in the wilds of this beautiful island is a huge contrast to racing, but is will provide a huge challenge for everyone who takes it on," Webber said. "We are building one of the world's true endurance adventure races in Tasmania."
The five-day course through the famously beautiful and rugged wilderness state of Australia includes running, ocean and river paddling, orienteering, mountain biking, as well as a number of other still secret activities.
"The course is over 340 competitive kilometres (over 210 miles) but it is more than the distance itself that defines this test, as each stage has a special twist."
The race will get underway in the city of Launceston on Wednesday November 28, with the opening day taking in orienteering, running, white water rafting, kayaking, mountain biking as well as abseiling.
The second day will see the challenge teams, made up of either two or three athletes, tackling the highest mountain in the northern region, Ben Lomond, one of the most rugged parts of the wilderness state.
The Friday and Saturday will be spent on the east coast, day three on the coast and in the mountains around St Mary's, while day four heads north to feature the renowned Bay of Fires, voted by Condé Nast Traveller as the second most beautiful beach in the world.
The race finishes on Sunday in the state's capital, Hobart, with the winners expected to cross the finish line at the Henry Jones Art Hotel on Constitution Dock.
While Webber's participation in the event will depend on his physical shape at the end of the gruelling 20 race season, he is likely to take part in a team of three, which means running, cycling and kayaking legs can be shared around. "Every year I say I might not do it, but when I actually get there, my competitiveness starts to flow and I just love getting out there and pushing myself in an entirely different way to the track," Weber said. "We'll just need to see how the season plays out."The course looks awesome. The details remain a secret until each morning of the race, but last year was brilliant, yet this looks even better."
The event raises money for the Mark Webber Challenge Foundation, established in 2006 to umbrella all of Mark Webber's philanthropic activities including the Save the Tasmanian Devil campaign.
Already 39 teams have committed to take part in the charity race. Full Details and entry forms are available from markwebberchallenge.com.
