In less than a week’s time, over 130 competitors from across the east coast of Australia and New Zealand will descend on the shores of Pumicestone Passage for the fifteenth edition of the Rogue Raid 24 hour adventure race. AHassive course awaits teams with a total of 86 check points spread out over 8 different stages and 236km of kayaking, mountain biking and trekking. Teams will be challenged navigationally, physically and strategically, with the unique rogaine format ensuring competitors will need to push for the full 24 hours in a bid to maximise their score. The course takes in all the highlights that the Moreton Bay region has to offer including remote stretches of beach running, a maze of forestry trails to cycle and off trail check point hunting in the shadow of the imposing Glass House Mountains. The race is proudly supported by the City of Moreton Bay.
Looking at the competition, there are two team names that stand out as clear favourites for the win: the Alpine Avengers and Thought Sports. These two teams are arguably the best adventure racing outfits in the country and finished first and second in last year’s race. They return in 2024 to renew the battle, with the competition too close to pick a favourite. Perhaps it will be the local knowledge of Alpine Avengers that makes the difference, or perhaps the knack for team Thought Sports to snatch an unassailable lead on the technical navigation of the overnight trekking stages of a race that will see them walk away victors.
After these two teams, there are number of other solid teams looking to fill the bottom step of the podium, with Wild Flow Tigers probably the pick of these. Teams Marginal Gains, Yeah the Chatter and Green Dog Karaoke stand out as contenders in the all-male category while the Mountain Designs Wild Women are unbackable favourites in the all-female division and should rank well overall.
While 130 hardy competitors take on the 24 hour Rogue, another 20 teams will set off from the Donnybrook headquarters location for the shorter 6 hour option of the race. Team 3 Points of Contact, who were originally one of the favourites for the 24 hour race, have dropped down to the 6 hour event to manage an injury, and despite those injury concerns are probably still the hot favourites on the short course. A full list of teams in both events can be found here.
Racing starts at 10am on Saturday 4 May. The winning team take home a swag of prizes including free entry to the Adventure 1 Asia World Cup to be hosted later this year in Malaysia. You can follow all the racing action over at the live site linked below, including GPS tracking of teams, race maps, news reports, photos from the course and more.
3 POC Claim Victory at Wildfire Raid
Experience proved the key determining factor at the recent Wildfire Raid, with team 3 Points of Contact taking the overall win in a decisive manner. They managed to sweep the 6 hour course with 15 minutes to spare, the only team successful to do so. Second place went to team Sweeping Skills with third place overall taken out by the mixed team winners Tri Adventure Last Minute. The all-female winners were team Tiger Kats. Full results can be found here.
The race returned to the familiar stomping ground of Lake Wyaralong with the support of the Scenic Rim Regional Council. The venue is almost purpose built for adventure racing with twisty single track riding, open spur-gully terrain for navigation and the picturesque lake for kayaking. As always, the race attracted a healthy field of family and junior racers in the shorter 3 hour course option. The Wildfire Raid is set to return in 2025, so watch this space.
The Escape Raid Returns With a Twist
The Escape Raid will make a triumphant return in 2024 for it’s third edition. The race will head to a new venue, with new sponsorship from the Sommerset Regional Council. Lake Wivenhoe makes the perfect venue to host this unique format of race, with lake side camping provided to all competitors.
The Escape Raid includes three individual small rogaine events over one weekend of socialising and competition: a 3 hour kayak rogaine (boats provided), a 3 hour trek rogaine and a 3 hour mountain bike rogaine. Teams can choose to race just one event or all of them over the weekend in an effort to compete for the title of overall Escape Raid champion. However, each of the three events has a unique twist on the traditional rogaine format that ramps up the strategic element of racing and will be sure to leave even the strongest of teams scratching their heads.
The move to Lake Wivenhoe means that all three events can start and finish from a single location, with the Escape Raid just as much about the fireside stories of racing glory as much as it is about the competition itself. Expect to see a return of the Escape Raid puzzle this year as well, with the puzzle answer perhaps giving teams a little advantage on the Sunday morning racing.
Entries are set to open on Monday 1 July. Check out all the information in the race document linked on over at the Escape Raid page below.
We look forward to seeing you on another start line soon!