Out Team at Jindabyne Multi-Sports Challenge!

The superb racing machine that is Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy entered the Jindabyne Multi-Sports Challenge on 6^th March down in the lovely Snowy Mountains. I use the word “superb” very loosely. We all love our sports at Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy and enjoy the challenge in fixing sports injuries. However running, paddling, swimming and biking for most of the day can prove to be a bit difficult for our group of weekend warriors.

We Nearly Didn’t Even Get There

Initially, when putting our team together we had quite a large selection of our team who could not attend. Physiotherapist Jamie Clough said he needed to mentally prepare for his cricket grand final. Interestingly, his cricketing team mate,  Physio Jim Fuller, was able to complete the 1^st mountain bike leg in Jindabyne in the morning and then race back to attend the cricket final in Canberra in the afternoon.

Podiatrist Cecilia Brennan was volunteering at the Canberra 100, a 100km running adventure race around Canberra, so she was out. We were banking on our new massage therapist, Lindsay De Witt, a former Olympic Trails swimming competitor, for some of our swim legs, but she was unavailable. Physio Simon Davis was entered for two events but came down with Ross River Fever only two weeks before the race. I thought it was a weak excuse (in jest), to which Simon replied “Exactly, I am too weak to race”. So Simon was out. Lastly, Massage Therapist Mel Tuckwood was unavailable for a swim leg, perhaps put off by the rough weather last year and feeling nauseous.

So the new entrants to our team were:

Physiotherapist Tim Sempf who recently joined our physio team late last year. Tim volunteered for two kayak legs. He informed us that he regularly paddled. Although we were later to learn that this was in a wide based sea kayak. Nevertheless, Tim was up for the challenge in a racing kayak that we borrowed for the race.  In the end, Tim managed remarkably well given the circumstances and without him our team would not have reached the start line. Good job Tim!

Massage Therapist Ethan Ashley put his name down for the 5km run leg. Ethan has transformed his body over the last 12 months into a fighting fitness machine and this showed with his impressive last run leg. Well done Ethan.

Dr John Deery from Your GP @ Crace and Lyneham stepped up for the long 2.5km swim and the last paddle leg. Besides being an excellent musculoskeletal GP, John was previously a highly ranked Decathlete and a professional Rugby League player. He has  had 1^st Grade experience at the Dragons and Roosters. Generally not suited to long distance races, John nevertheless stepped up to the mark with some impressive results. Awesome effort John.

New-comer to the Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy family, ex-800m ACT running champion, Holly Smith, helped our team out with the first 6km run leg. Thanks Holly.

A late entrant to our team was Emily Quinlan who completed the last swim. Besides showing great form on a tightrope down at our Christmas party, Emily had great technique as she powered through the water. Well done Emily.

The Line Up

Leg 1: Swim 1.5km – Bec Condon
Leg 2: Paddle 9km – Physiotherapist Tim Sempf
Leg 3: Run 6km – Holly Smith
Leg 4: Mountain bike 9km – Physiotherapist Jim Fuller
Leg 5: Swim 2.5km – GP John Deery
Leg 6: Paddle 5.5km – Physiotherapist Tim Sempf
Leg 7: Mountain bike 11km – Physiotherapist Craig Honeybrook
Leg 8: Run 12.5km – Administration Assistant Ingrid Honeybrook
Leg 9: Mountain bike 42.8km – Physiotherapist Craig Honeybrook
Leg 10: Swim 1.2km – Emily Quinlan
Leg 11: Paddle 9.5km – GP John Deery
Leg 12: Run 5km – Massage Therapist Ethan Ashley

Head Cheerleader – Physiotherapist Simon Davis

All up there were 49 teams including 6 solo athletes.

Essentially all the race info was on the Sri Chinmoy website

Carbo Loading Dinner

We all went out to dinner on the Saturday night for pizzas at the local Italian Restaurant in Jindabyne and a few beers. The food was a good but the company was even better. We had lots of laughs and we were in a good mood to tackle the heat and the race next day.

The Race

LEG 1: Swim 1.5km

Bec stepped up for this leg. Bec was determined to have better goggles this time around so that she did not zig-zag around the course. Despite the new clear goggles, I believe she still went a bit astray. Nonetheless, Bec completed the swim with great courage and so our team was up and away. I must say that this leg is not an easy leg to complete having done it on the last 2 occasions. First it is hard to get up at 5.15am and arrive at the starting line in the dark and cold. Swimming in a foggy lake at that time of the day can also be quite daunting as well as having the whole pack in the water at once. Well done Bec.

LEG 2: Paddle 9km

Tim started this leg in brilliant fashion. However after 100m Tim fell in and it was tough after that. Getting lost out on the course also did not help. Tim had an interesting solution to the “tippiness” of the kayak – every so often from shore we could see him stop and scoop water into the kayak. His thinking was that if the kayak was heavier, it would be more stable. At least he finished his leg with a smile on his face.

LEG 3: Run 6km

Holly Smith joined the team late, but we knew she would be a great asset for us.  After Simon was telling us about Holly’s exploits as a track runner and champion triathlete we knew she would not disappoint. And we were right. Holly finished mid-field in her leg, but more importantly she pulled  us closer to the rest of the pack.

LEG 4: Mountain Bike 9km

Jim Fuller showed off his great technical skills on this tough mountain bike course with lots of rock gardens. Jim has truly taken to the sport of mountain biking since moving to Canberra and is often heading out for a ride after work at Bruce Ridge or Majura Pines. Jim came in 12^th overall – a good result.

LEG 5: Swim 2.5km

GP John Deery has been unable to run for some time since suffering an ankle injury during his decathlon days. So essentially he has done lots of swimming and bike riding over the last few years. When I asked John to join our team, he jumped at the chance enthusiastically, ready to feed his competitive hunger. John trained hard for his legs and finished mid-field in this swim despite losing 4 minutes with a wrong turn.

LEG 6: Paddle 5.5km

Tim showed some good signs of adapting to the boat and was much more stable paddling. We all gave him a good pat on the back when he finished. It was a tough gig for Tim, but he responded that he would now buy a racing kayak and be ready for next year.

LEG 7: Mountain Bike 11km

This is a nice easy flat ride over mostly fire roads. I had my tyres pumped up to 50psi for this leg. On this leg I was able to catch 4 places for our team. It was nice to transition to my lovely wife Ingrid for her run leg.

LEG 8: Run 12km

Ingrid has been training hard for this leg since December. This run goes along the Thredbo River for about 10minutes and then it is hard slog up a hill for the rest. Ingrid was hoping for a good finish and to be under 80 minutes for the leg. She ended up with 78 minutes and a 7^th overall placing. She had moved our team up another 6 places. Another nice transition to myself this time with the bike on a roll.

LEG 9: Mountain Bike 42.8km

I love this leg, but it is a tough hilly course. I had been training for about 6 months in the lead up to this race and was looking for a sub-2 hour time finish. I again had my tyres pumped right up. In the end I fell short of this but I was pleased nonetheless. This leg starts by going up 8km from Sawpit Creek to the Guthega turn-off. We then head down to Island Bend and take a right travelling down along the Snowy River. We then head across the River and then basically ride up a long hill for about 45minutes. It was tough in the heat. Part of the ride we going across some natural plains and cross some small creeks. For the last 20 minutes it is mostly down to Lake Jindabyne again. I had a big crash going down one of the hills and in hindsight my tyres were too bouncy for the terrain. I was 2^nd overall and had overtaken another 10 teams.

LEG 10: Swim 1.2km

Emily happily tackled this leg and it would have been the most pleasant leg to do,  given the heat of the day. Emily did very well and our team was well positioned in the middle of the field.

LEG 11: Paddle 9.5km

John Deery stepped up for this leg. He completed the leg in 59 minutes. Not too bad for someone who has never trained in a race kayak. At the finish, one could see John powering through his strokes and finished full of gusto. Afterwards, he complained that his “lats” (latissimus dorsi muscles) were very tight. Unfortunately, we could offer no relief as John had just tagged our sole massage therapist for the race.

LEG 12: Run 5km

Ethan ran with my little daughter Zoe (8 years) for the run, Apparently, Zoe was non-stop talking the whole way along the course and kept Ethan focused on the task at hand. They could be seen doing jumps and flips at the finishing line.

The Wash Up

Overall, it was another fun day out racing at Lake Jindabyne and the Sport & Spinal Physio team competed admirably. In the end we were 19^th overall out of a total of 49. But in the end, it was not where we came, but the journey that we completed. Being a part of a great bunch of people and having fun in the process was the best part of the weekend.

You can see the Jindabyne race results

Thanks Jindabyne for a lovely weekend and thanks to the team from Sport & Spinal Physiotherapy. Hopefully we will be back next year.