Revenant Race Report, January 2023

By Adam Keen, Run Coach, Aerobicedge, New Zealand

📸 Mike White

Intro

This was @revenantnz number 3 for me and number 5 since the event began. To finish the race you must complete 4 loops (14 checkpoints each) within 60 hours. Every loop is in the opposite direction to the previous one. In the months leading up to the race, competitors (limited to 40) receive newsletters with clues regarding any course changes or curveballs that could be included in the race. So far in the races history there has only been 4 finishers -
2019 - zero finishers
2020 - 3 finishers
2021 - 1 finisher
2022 - zero
2023 - zero

Anyway back to race day 2023!

2023 Startline with Jean Beaumont already asleep😂 📸@sean.beale

Woolshed - Race Briefing

Everyone meets at the woolshed at Welcome Rock Thursday 3pm for race briefing. Here we are given our maps with checkpoints (9 new checkpoints, 5 the same from 2022). We are also given a time to be at the Ski Hut 7.40pm for our race start which ends up being 9.30pm. Also at the briefing we are given a playing card which we must bring to the start line. From the newsletter clues a number of us are thinking that the competitors will be split into two groups and sent in opposite directions. We are thinking one group will be red and one black. I draw 7 Diamonds and immediately notice a number of experienced entrants @adventurian @runningbeastnz and @toffs_trails draw black! I guess they won’t be much help to me now 😂 With the briefing done everyone gets busy with last minute planning/packing and eating. Once up at the ski hut the atmosphere is awesome as only Revenanters will know and is a very cool experience. Last minute things like having your cellphone sealed in a courier bag and placed in the bottom of your pack is done. Using your cellphone is an immediate DQ and is only for emergency or once you have decided that your race is over. No electronics/no watches only map/compass are allowed.

Ski Hut / Start Line

A couple of minutes before we start Scott tells us to get into our card suit groups and our suspicions of two separate groups are confirmed. Red group will be going anti clockwise to CP1 first and Black will be going to CP14 first. A quick check of red group and we had Bob Hunn, Laura Pattie, Jean Beaumont and Andreas Borger all seasoned veterans so a good bunch to work with. Also going anti clockwise meant we would be hitting a known checkpoint 1 which is always good 🤙

My Card and Race number. Once you get a race number at Revenant its yours for life #66

Race Start - Loop 1

After a quick start heading to CP1 we established a lead group of 8 which was on the large side but all good. Things largely ended up as expected with myself, Laura, Andreas and Jean out the front and 4 newbies following. The first couple of hours of this race are always key and especially if you’re a newbie if you have the wheels it’s good to keep up and use the veterans if you can. Lap 1 was pretty straightforward and I don’t think we had any major issues. Having said that I remember about 5 hours in thinking how bloody hard and rough the course was but hey it’s the Revenant right what did you expect! Coming into transition at around 13 hours I think I was around 6th/7th in from our group.

Loop 2

After a quick transition Andreas and I were back out on the course first, off to CP14. Heading up the long climb to 13 I was feeling the pinch and dropped to the back of the group and ended up maybe 20 minutes behind but managed to catch back up at CP11. By the time we got to CP8 (19 hours) I had made up in my mind that it was time to start maybe separating from the group. This can be quite tough but I think once your through some of lap 2 it’s a good time to either be solo or with one or two other people. Time starts to get a bit tight and also going at a group pace can become a bit taxing, it’s a fine line. Of course there can be issues with being solo as well, mainly Nav problems and battling fatigue on your own. But I think to crack lap 3 and 4 either being solo or having one other is the way to go and let’s face it by that stage there will likely be only 1-2 souls that have got that far. From CP8 - 3 on my own I had a great time, I could take breaks, navigate and choose my pace - life was good:) At CP3 Dean Stewart caught up to me and asked if we would make the 30 hour cut off which I thought we should be fine. Dean quickly scrambled up the hill and left me in his wake! A machine! From here things started going a bit sideways for me. Heading up the ridge back towards the Welcome Rock trail I started to notice that even though I was awake I was starting to drift off! The lights were on/eyes were open but no one was home! I was hoping that I would be getting into the ski hut around 28 hours but ended up having a bit of a blowout mostly heading down to CP1 and finally clocked in at the Ski Hut in 29 hours 30 (3am Saturday). This being halfway in the race and only having 30 minutes to spare really makes things tight.

Getting my 14 checkpoint pages checked by the gate keepers Scott Worthington and Tom O'Brien 📸Mike White

Loop 3 

Had another quickish transition and was back out this time heading down to CP1 with Andreas and Jean. At this stage there was only 5 of us left in the race. Dean, Laura and then the 3 of us Andreas, Jean and myself. We found out in transition that the black group heading in the other direction had not made the 30 hour cutoff. Heading down to CP1 we got it done and crossed paths with Dean who was going well and we egged him on to get cracking and become a finisher! We also caught up with Laura who had been going great guns and was maybe a hour ahead of us. Once we got to CP1 I let Jean and Andreas know that I would take a break and catch them up. I ended up seeing them again up near CP2 but they were coming towards me and had decided to call it quits. This was quite funny as Jean immediately got FOMO and decided she better keep going and tag along with me. This was short lived and Jean turned around again soon after by which point I was moving pretty slow and starting to stop for sleeps. The sleep monster was taking over! And it was taking over in exactly the same spot as a year earlier and exactly the same number of checkpoints 2 laps and 2 checkpoints! So for the next hour or so in the rain I think I slept walk stumbled about a km! Good times! I finally woke up properly and managed to get down to CP3 and felt a lot better. A lot of time had elapsed and I think I realised that finishing was now not going to be possible. It crossed my mind that I did feel good and could finish lap 3 but would be a number of hours over cut off. I was having a good time though and quite enjoyed the checkpoints 3-7 so thought this would be a good goal and a new PB for me. This was a good time and I crossed paths with Matt who was on his 2nd lap so we caught up every now and then and would bump into each other at the checkpoints.

The End

And that was Revenant 2023 for me! I got back to the Ski Hut around 4.30pm on Saturday (43 hours after starting). Dean was the only other entrant out and would complete lap 3 but was over cutoff by about 30 minutes. So no finishers again this year. Lots of lessons and good times! Gutted that the fatigue/sleep around 28-33 hours took so long to come right as you only really have a few minutes to resolve these things but was glad I persevered and could carry on. Huge thanks to Scott Worthington, Tom O'brien and all of the Revenant crew and competitors. I love the people, the land and the challenge of this epic event. Once again it gives more than it takes, and it takes a lot. Stay Savage and if you ever get the chance I reckon sign up and give it a nudge. Of course you can always stay at @welcomerocknz any time of the year with good food, wine and a hot tub…it doesn’t just have to be sleep walked😜 See you out there! 

My Vital Race Stats

43 hours

125km

10000metres vert

Tapping out 📸Sean Beale