Wow, what a race this year! Team Fibonacci managed to complete the race as a whole team in 22 hours. Well below their “published” goals and expectations. Published you say? That’s because some of the Team Fibonacci members secretly believed they could achieve close to this time, but didn’t want to alarm the others

De ja vu

This year, Team Fibonacci consists of Nicole Keegan, Shane Hollaway, Brock Janiczak and Stuart McFarland. Nicole has competed 2 times already in Team Vodka and Team Insanity in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Shane and Brock competed last year in Team Insanity. This is the first time Stu is competing in the Kokoda Challenge. Hence the team name, a reference to the Fibonacci sequence: 0, 1, 1, 2. Yes, very geeky.

The Support Crew for 2009′s Kokoda Challenge Team Fibonacci’s team is Matt Moores, Jenesse Valentine and Dennis Mellican. Matt has done this job on two previous Kokoda Challenges for Team Vodka and Team Insanity. Jenesse and Dennis competed in Team Vodka and switched to Support Crew duties for Team Insanity. The old Team Insanity Support Crew re-formed once again.

And just like last year, Jenesse marshaled the Support Crew into gear with her cooking and organisational skills. Dennis and Matt were the roadie crew both sharing the driving and helping Jenesse prepare the checkpoint camps and waiting on the Team for the individual needs. Three cheers for Jenesse, hip hip hooray! hooray! hooray!

We promised last year at the end of the race that it was the last time we were all going to support a team in the Kokoda Challenge. Even some Team Insanity members said the same. But here we are all again, twelve months later. This year the Support Crew will be keeping that promise. It really should be a once in a lifetime experience. Not the Fibonacci sequence, just a singularity!

Best laid plans

Like previous years, we were very organised with spreadsheets, race plans, individual checkpoint bags and a vehicle (we dubbed the Mystery Machine) hired specifically for the event. This year we even had colour coded bags to assist the Support Crew in minimising the time spent looking for their gear for each checkpoint. Dennis had his GPS road navigation application programmed with all the way points in his iPhone. The iPhone was also handy in uploading regular Team Fibonacci updates to the Urban Crag blog with photos too. This seemed to be a success with family and friends who were interested in following the Support Crew and Team Fibonacci around the Kokoda Challenge course. Thank you for the comments posted on the blog, IM chats and text messages we received. These were read out by the Support Crew to the team, whom I’m sure loved the personal messages of encouragement they received.

Here is an except from an instant messenger chat that made the team laugh:

5:54 PM Belinda: hi dennis
hows the team going?
i read your last update to the blog
5:55 PM me: hey belinda
5:56 PM team is smoking hot. they look tired though
Belinda: how far ahead of schedule are they?
hope they don’t burn out
me: they have left cp7 about 10 mins ago
5:57 PM about an hr in front
Belinda: good to hear
say hi and good luck to them from me
me: at this stage looking to finish early
Belinda: cool
5:58 PM give brock a hug for me at the end
if he doesn’t smell too bad
6:00 PM me: i am not hugging brock
6:01 PM Belinda: hehe
i thought you were more liberal than that?

The Support Crew wasn’t that liberal, but exchanged a hand shake for a job well done at the end.

Despite all the great planning, the Support Crew definitely had some luck on their side this year. It would’ve gone pear shape several times.

Movie Fail

Firstly, between Checkpoint 2 and 5 there was a 4 to 5 hour break. Time enough for the crew to head into the massive Robina shopping centre for breakfast and maybe watch a movie. All the movies sessions had started and the next session wasn’t til 12:30pm. Team Fibonacci were scheduled to arrive at CP5 around 2:15pm. With the team already ahead of schedule there was no time to see a flick.

On the plus side, we did get a request to get some more supplies from the team while at the shops. Here’s a text message conversation between Team Fibonacci and their Support Crew:

“Can you guys get some scissors and sticky tape? We are at check point 3″

“Scissors and sticky?? Are we wrapping a present ”

Putt-Putt Not-Not

After the Movie fail,  the Support Crew found themselves at Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast. We still had some time to kill so we decided to play Putt-putt at a mini golf course in the heart of the Gold Coast glitter strip. After battling through traffic to get there, we found the tiny amusement park full of screaming kids. We unanimously decided to head straight to the next checkpoint where we would just kick back and relax for the remaining hours. Not long after arriving at at the checkpoint did the team waltz on in.

In some parallel universe, Team Fibonacci would be waiting for their Support Crew at Polly’s. Meanwhile the Support Crew would either be watching Harry Potter or trying for a hole in one at King Tuts Putt Putt course on the Gold Coast.

The Beechmont Pamper Station

No pampering for the Fibonacci team, but for the Support Crew instead. Yay!

Again we had some time to kill between Checkpoint 7 (Numinbah Community Hall) and Checkpoint 10 (Syd Duncan’s Park). I had earlier arranged to meet up with an old friend, Bec at her mountain house on top of Beechmont. The plan was to say hello and hang out there until the Kokoda Challenge organisers would notify us to proceed to a pre-staging checkpoint at Advancetown and then to Syd Duncan’s park where Checkpoint 10 is. Apparently the residents along North Road had been complaining about the noise from previous events, hence the staggering of Support Crew vehicles to this area.

It was about 28 kilometres to Bec’s place from Advancetown, but only 10 kilometers from Syd’s. We arrived in good time though and instead of hanging out at Bec’s place, her neighbours welcomed us in to theirs. Inside, we were treated to warmth from their heaters, plates full of snacks, a hearty vegetable soup for dinner and some fine drinks: Pinot Noir, beer and champagne. It was great to catch up with Bec and meet her lovely neighbours. What a party!

We then noticed there was no mobile reception on our phones. We had no choice but to head back down the mountain to get back within cell range. During the drive back, the phones went berserk with text messages. We feared we had missed the Advancetown notification. But alas, it was only messages from well wishers. Now that we were in range, we checked the kmltracks website to find out an approximate location for our team. Oh my god! They had passed Checkpoint 9 half an hour ago, and its only 3 kilometers of track to Syd’s. We were not going to make it. There was lots of cursing in the panic, “We should have been notified!”. We weren’t allow to go straight to Syd’s without authorisation from Advancetown. And besides, we missed the North Road turn off anyway. Near the bottom of the mountain, Jenesse managed to get in contact with Nicole. They had only just reached Checkpoint 9. We had misread the kmltracks data. Phew!

We were now at the Advancetown pre-staging checkpoint for Syds. This place is really a pub in the middle of nowhere. More luck was thrown our way. When after queuing to meet with the officials, we got the green light to head to Syd’s. While most people had been denied because their teams had not passed Checkpoint 9 yet. Once again the timing was perfect.

Once up at Syd Duncan’s Park, we setup camp: 4 chairs and a picnic rug laid out with all their checkpoint bags ready. Jenesse proceeded to warmed up their meals. Tonight, we were blessed with fantastic weather. Despite the clear skies, the temperature was a mild 10 degrees and our only reminder of the wind was the camping stove’s fire flickering in the breeze. As stated in an earlier blog post about Checkpoint 10, getting to Syd’s is a big milestone. We fed the team and then encouraged them to get up and keep moving. Even the weather reminded them to get a move on, as the wind started to pick up.

After the team left Syd’s. Jenesse had the great idea to prepare their next meals for Checkpoint 12. Their only requests was spag bog and hot water for tea and coffees. The spag boggers didn’t care if it was heated or not. I guess after all they have gone through so far, their care factor was close to zero. Normally at Syd’s you should be in a catatonic state. But our team was far from that. Tired sure, but not complaining or moaning like a zombie.

The Support Crew drove straight to Checkpoint 12 from Syd’s. We parked the Mystery Machine by 11:30pm and set the alarm clock from 12:30pm, giving us half an hour to get ready for the team’s arrival. We all got our first shut eye for the weekend, albeit a very short power sleep.

On queue, the team arrived at their last major checkpoint with the support crew. Shane was not coping well and promptly became sick after several sips of his coffee with his ibuprofen. The Support Crew had noticed Shane was not eating enough and it seems taking ibuprofen on a nearly empty stomach (along with the grueling race) had its side effects. Despite this, Shane recovered after drinking lots of water. At this point last year, it was Brock who had hit the wall. However, he seemed to be the strongest now. In hindsight, Brock says it was the constant eating that was his major factor in battling fatigue. Sure, jogging every afternoon helped achieve a great time but on the actual day, the basics cannot be ignored. Once again we prompted the team to leave. Nicole’s countdown timer was of great assistance too in reminding everyone that they had spent enough time at the major checkpoints. Upon their departure, we thanked Stu for his obsessive compulsive cleanliness. His gear was always packed away neatly as opposed to his Category 5 whirlwind team members who left a devastation in their wake.

Meanwhile

Our good friends Dylan Ransom and Marion “Maz” Collier were part of the Kokoda Challenge too, as a competitor and support crew member respectively. Dylan had been training very hard in the lead up to the event, and only just completed the Gold Coast marathon a couple weeks before. Maz was originally part of a two member Support Crew, but was left on her own on the day. We offered our help to Maz but she seemed to do very well despite the circumstances. Dylan’s team aimed to be very self sufficient, only requiring major checkpoints to be pit stops for water and snacks.

Somewhere along the Gold Coast in the merry Mystery Machine, we received a message from our team they had just passed Dylan on the track. This was unexpected as Dylan’s team were aiming for an 18 hour finish time. The message read,

“Just caught up with Dylan on fair view mt stretching out some cramping”

At around 1:45pm, about 30 minutes after Team Fibonacci left, we spotted Dylan and his team hobble into camp. Dylan looked shattered and explained he was experiencing severe cramping in his thighs since 9am. Maz had some anti cramping spray but this and no amount of fluoro coloured drinks helped stop the spasms. Dylan was forced to retire. A good effort mate! To battle cramps in both legs for 4.5 hours and get to Polly’s in record time is a testament to your tenacity.

Post-mortem Summary

This year was a screaming success for both the Support Crew and Team Fibonacci. It is a combination of past “tour of duty” experiences, planning, organisational skills and definitely luck.

Here are the top 10 DO’s and DON’Ts for being a successful Support Crew for the Kokoda Challenges:

1. DO write race plans and share with every member of the Team and Support Crew.
2. DO use a GPS for road navigation.
3. DO pack a Road Map as a backup.
4. DO try and prepare meals at the previous checkpoints if possible.
5. DO pack a thermos. Easier to reheat those re-hydrated meals like noodles or make a cuppa later.
6. DO pack chairs for your teams to sit on. Keep them off the cold ground.
7. DO pack a picnic rug. Good for team members to perform their stretching on.
8. DO encourage your team to have individual checkpoint bags. Mark the bags accordingly.
9. DO encourage your team to message the whole Support Team on their progress. Not all networks have coverage and gives your Support Team advance notice of your ETA at a major checkpoint.
10. DO encourage family and friends to send supportive messages. This is a real morale boost for the team.

1. DO NOT rely on kmltracks solely. It is not real time and may lag between actual team check-in’s at checkpoints.
2. DO NOT venture too far away from the Hinterland. Traffic on the Gold Coast is a nightmare.
3. DO NOT arrive at Polly’s checkpoint 5 without an update from your team. There is no mobile reception there.
4. DO NOT share the pain. Remain positive and support each other, both team and support crew.
5. DO NOT let any competitor drive home.
6. DO NOT have a single point of failure. Pack spares for everything: batteries, torches, lighters, stoves and gas.
7. DO NOT leave your rubbish behind. Leave the area how you found it.
8. DO NOT plan to watch movies at the Robina Shopping Centre.
9. DO NOT even think about playing Putt-Putt at Mermaid Beach.
10. DO NOT do this again!