BENDIGO duo Jim Russell and Craig Feuerherdt led for most of the Adventure Race at Crusoe Reservoir on Sunday but ultimately fell short in the final stages of the unique triathlon.
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Russell and Feuerherdt dictated the triathlon which encompasses running, kayaking, mountain bike cycling and a navigational component, but finished second behind Thierry Ellena and Francois Bationo.
In third place were Jarad Kohlar, a renowned adventure racer and Paul Gruber.
About 26 teams took part in the final leg of the Jetts Adventure series.
Competitors took part in a four kilometre run, followed by a three kilometre kayak and finally an 11.5 kilometre mountain bike ride through the rough terrains situated around the Reservoir precinct.
Russell, the Bendigo Orienteering Club president, said he had never done anything like it before.
“We knew we would be confident in the first navigation because we are both orienteers,” he said.
“We are both members of the Bendigo Orienteering Club, so we knew that the orienteering part of the race would be good.
“The first part of the race was fairly basic.
“We thought we might lose out on the running speed, but I think we surprised ourselves on how well we did.
“We got through the kayak okay.”
Russell said their biggest issue was their footwear.
“If you put the cleat shoes on you can spend up to four minutes and then you get on the bike you are four minutes down the track, so we rode on flats which is a bit of a struggle, but we were happy with how we went,” he said.
“We got into the last run in the lead, but we had this team who ran better than us.
“Our navigation was better than their's but their running was better than ours.”
Russell said he was pleased with how team performed, in what was their first adventure race together.
“Up until half way through the competition we were leading. . . we dictated the race,” he said.
“But we are happy with the result.”
Feuerherdt, an Orienteering Australia board member, described the race as comfortable.
“These are good events because it is a chance to mix up the disciplines,” he said.
“If you are not strong on one you can make it up with another discipline.”
Jetts Adventure Race event organiser Serge Kurov said it was a successful event.
He hoped to return to the city to put on another adventure race.
“I really love this place,” Kurov said.
“I think for this type of race it is probably the best course we can set, everything works."