Getting ready for the ARC Midnight Express

Our adventure race team - Jason Free, Julia Moore, Alan Moore and Richard Malloch - have been training hard for this weekend's Midnight Express adventure race in Coromandel. The race will include 113 kilometres of mountain biking, 35 kilometres of trekking, and a bit of rafting for good measure. Sounds a bit like madness, but it's all for a good cause - their exploits are the focus for Theta's annual fundraising efforts for the medical research charity Cure Kids.

Our racers had their first full team training session recently in preparation for the big event. They got started at 10.30 on Friday night of Auckland Anniversary weekend, and finished (60+ kms of running and riding later) at around 4pm on Saturday, having run on beaches, through the bush, climbed a fair few hills, seen a random Christmas tree, watched the sun rise and inadvertently strayed onto the fairway of the local golf course. It was one of the hottest days of the year, and according to team member Jason "it did get a bit warm in the end!".

As it's an inter-island team this year, with Richard Malloch representing the south, other training has been mostly independent - though Richard and Alan did get together for a Christmas Rogaine in the Port Hills (complete with mince pies).

Here are a few recent captures from the Auckland crew's adventures in training (so stunning they might inspire you to join an adventure race team of your own!).

‍

‍

‍

Fingers crossed for favourable weather for race day (and night) in the Coromandel this weekend, and watch this space for a full report next week. Best of luck Team Theta!

Thanks to Alan Moore, Jason Free and Emily Wong for the photos shared in this post.