Caffeinated winners -Â David Atkinson and David BrookeÂ
Written by Dave, with contributions from Dave.
Huge credit to the organisers and volunteers; yet again, an exceptionally run event. Everything worked like clockwork, which is more than I can say for our route planning once we hit the course.
We started with a bold but sensible strategy; aim to clear the map but identify a few checkpoints we could cut if needed. It felt united but I should’ve known it wouldn’t last.
Almost immediately, I could feel things drifting off-script. Dave was moving like a thoughtful tortoise, while I tried to set a reasonable pace. Apparently, I needed to “just relax.”
I had concerns about us blowing out early, so I suggested we take it easy at the start. Dave interpreted that as an open invitation to shout motivational quotes to "get me pumped" at each checkpoint, whilst depriving me the opportunity to stop and catch my breath.
While Dave was rushing everywhere, I settled in to doing most of the navigation—after all, I had the map, the time, and the best sense of direction (arguably). Meanwhile, with his enthusiasm, Dave took the reins on the answer sheet, scribbling down answers whilst keeping us below our target pace of 6min/km.
It worked well until Dave confidently navigated us into what turned out to be a dead end behind a residential care facility. There’s nothing like standing behind a locked gate, while being told to “just relax”, to really test team morale.
Tensions came to a head when we reached a decision point in West Launceston with two route options. As the navigator, I insisted on the flat and sensible one. However, in his frenzied state, Dave wanted the other unnecessarily vertical option. We settled it like adults: rock-paper-scissors. I lost and followed Dave as he charged up the hill.
Even while we were approaching the finish, moments before the 4 hours mark, Dave kept reminding me to “just relax”. We crossed the line seconds after the four-hour mark. The time penalty was minimal, however, could have been avoided entirely if he didn’t spend so much time relaxing.
The miniature time penalty was only a small loss when we received our result. Somehow, despite the multiple-choice format and only three options per question, Dave, in his chaotic haste managed to get one wrong. Thankfully it was only one, and low value, so it didn’t cost us the win.
All said and done, it was an excellent day out. The course was fun, the terrain varied, and the weather perfect. Huge thanks again to the organisers and volunteers for putting on such a great event. We’re already looking forward to the next one. Hopefully Dave will bring his A-game.
