Location

Here is the location for the event and a few extra pieces of information:

Please read through this carefully as there is extra gear needed

EVENT CENTRE - the event will be Atiu Creek Regional Park.  Allow a good 90 minutes from spaghetti Junction (Central Auckland) - a bit of a hike but worth it!! 

• You can come at it from SH1 - Journey north on State Highway 1 to Wellsford.  Turn left at the Caltex station and service centre onto Port Albert Road.  Follow the signs to the park. The property lies on the Kaipara Harbour, on the Okahukura (Tapora) Peninsula.
• Or SH16 - follow SH16 until you are about 15km from Wellsford and take Wharehine Road which is a km north of a small settlement called Tauhoa.

Google Map link is here

We’ll signpost you into the event off Run Road.  You will enter the park and wind up a hill to the main carpark.  From here you will enter the park through a locked gate.  The gate will be manned from 7.30am to 8.30am and after that will be locked again.  Please ensure you are there before 8.30am.  At the end of the day we will have someone on the gate to let you out at set times to be advised.

TIMETABLE

• We have made it a 9am start in order for people to finish and get back to rugby etc.
• Registration from 8am.  Get there early to be all set up, so once you have registered you can use the full time possible to read all the information (and study the first stage map) and absorb it all before race briefing at 8.45am.
• Start at 9am
• Finish at 3pm
• Prizegiving soon after

THE RACE FORMAT
There will be a mixture of formats during the day.  However, most stages will be rogaine style where you decide which checkpoints you're going to get although you must get them in numeric order.  Please ensure you read the instructions carefully.
In general each checkpoint is worth some points.  All checkpoints are optional checkpoints for you to choose from.  The more experienced may get all of these optional checkpoints, other teams only a few.
Throughout the day you will have the opportunity to do mystery activities to earn bonus points.  These are at the event centre unless specified and are voluntary unless specified and can be done in any order.
The amount of time on your feet/bike is dictated by your teams ability and fitness.
Please read the page in your racepack wirth the Checkpoint Descriptions carefully as it outlines when you are allowed to do certain things - stages and mystery activities.
Please note - the water activity is during the middle of the 6 hours (due to tides) so you will need to bring another set of gear to run/bike after this for the rest of the time.
If you finish later than 6 hours of race time - 50 points per minute will be deducted for each minute/part minute you are late.  Your team is “timed out” if more than 30 minutes late.  
You are welcome to finish before the 6 hour time limit is reached, as the result will be determined by your teams points scored (checkpoints score plus mystery activities score).
The main idea of the day is to have fun!!

THE TIMING - This year we are going old school with the timing and will be using a digital watch and manual clipcards for scoring.  Fear not, we'll guide you through this.  Basically, you will have a card which you record all the checkpoints you visit.  At the end of each leg, you'll tell the finish officials how many checkpoints you got and we'll take note and add to your final tally.  We recommend you bring a least 2 pencils per team (2B format recommended)

COMPULSORY CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT - The safety of our participants is important to us. For this reason we insist every participant carries certain minimum clothing and safety equipment.
We will randomly select participants compulsory gear to be checked at registration and throughout the day.
Each Team will need: a good first aid kit (must contain as a minimum: 2 metres of adhesive strapping tape, 4 bandaids, 2 gauze pads, 4 cm width crepe bandage, 2 pain relief tablets (Panadol or similar), 2 anti-inflammation tablets), compass, mobile phone (with charged batteries), torch, bike pump and a bike toolkit.
Each person will need: a weatherproof parka, thermal gloves and hat, polypropylene or thermal long sleeve shirt and long johns, a survival blanket, a whistle, bike helmet.  Of course you will also need your mountain bike (1 for each team member) and running shoes.

SPECIAL GEAR REQUIREMENTS

• Each person will need a car sized inner tube (available from a tyre shop for about $20).   We recommend 4wd car size.
• On the website we say for compulsory gear you need a buoyancy aid/life jacket for the water activity.  This is highly recommended but if you are a confident swimmer (competently swim a minimum of 50 metres) then we are happy for you not to have a boyancy aid as you will have the tube.
• For the water activity you will need some sturdy shoes that you don't mind getting wet/muddy.  You will have a mtb and then run/walk to the start of the paddle (carrying your inner tube) from the event centre and the same back to the event centre.

For the Mountain bike leg you may want to consider a mapboard which sits on your handle bars and makes navigation while riding easier.  You can make a cheap mapholder using ice cream sticky tape and cunning.
There is no water supply at the venue so please bring your own for the day - likewise with food.

PRIZES - This is an entry level fun event and therefore the prizes will mainly consist of spot prizes, with some token merit prizes.  That said there are some great spot prizes. 

ENTRIES - Entries are still open if you are still thinking about doing the event or have friends that are interested.

RULES 

• Team members must stay together at all times. This means within unaided verbal contact. A team shall demonstrate compliance with this requirement with any event official or other team on request
• All team members must visit and visibly sight the control they are scoring.
• Not all out of bounds areas are marked on the map, but please respect private property and take care of the stock
• Competitors should not discard litter - please pack it out
• No GPS, but altimeters are allowed
• Each competitor must carry all compulsory gear at all times whilst on the course (apart from the time you are in the water).
• In an emergency the competitor shall give a series of short blasts on their whistle. Any team hearing a distress signal must abandon their course and help in any way needed.