MULTISPORT

Red Bull Defiance 2016

By Catherine Pattison

Red Bull defiance returns to Wanaka this weekend, with the third instalment of this epic 160km, two-day, two person team race amped up in intensity from the inaugural event in 2014.



The men’s elite team and mixed elite team categories will feature more of the best adventure racers on the planet, with competition for the winner’s titles in each of these divisions expected to be extremely fierce. Along with the addition of an even stronger international field, the most significant change for 2016 is the inclusion of a women’s elite category.

lt will see the strongest female team take their share of the spoils from the prize purse, which totals $32,000 cash, with an additional $10,000 worth of product vouchers.

“After such a strong field in the mixed category in Red Bull Defiance 2014, we have now included a women-only division that will be very popular with elite women” says Red Bull Defiance Race Director Patrick McAteer.

The top-placed female team from the 2014 event, multi-sport heroines Sia Svendsen, of Christchurch, and Wanaka’s Floortje Grimmet, are returning and will be pushing hard for a second all-female victory.
Teams of women are entered from all around New Zealand and their reasons range from wanting the goal of completing such an epic race, to pushing themselves to the limit attempting to claim a top-three result in their category.

Aucklanders Katie Bryan and Sarah Manders have entered as a team and have some experience of tough races, having done the Coast to Coast individually before. Katie says they decided to enter Red Bull Defiance as a new challenge and a way to enjoy Wanaka’s incredible scenery – the hard way!

Coast to Coast Race Director Richard Ussher will be involved in Red Bull Defiance in more ways than being solely entered as a competitor again this year. The five-time Coast to Coast winner and New Zealand multi-sport icon, has joined Red Bull Defiance’s organising company, the Agema Group, as a director and shareholder. He will take on a strategic developmental role within Agema Group as the company expands its event footprint.



Agema Group was founded in 2012 by Mike Watkins and McAteer with a goal of developing iconic events in the multisport and adventure race arenas. Red Bull Defiance in 2014 was the company’s first event that has become an annual fixture.

Combining the skills of the Agema Group, the team at Red Bull and Currie’s course designing expertise, Red Bull Defiance delivered a true experience for competitors over and above being a race and continues to lead as New Zealand’s most challenging adventure race.

Ussher says that when he and his wife Elina raced together in the inaugural Red Bull Defiance in 2014, they loved the approach and full experience.

“When Mike and Patrick took me through their vision for Agema Group, I knew it was a company that I wanted to be part of. We have two new events that we are about to announce shortly which is super exciting,” Ussher says.



Watkins says that Agema Group was thrilled that Ussher has joined the company.

“He is a rare talent and a great guy as well. We can’t wait to release our new events and continue to offer great experiences to competitors, sponsors and spectators alike.”

Meanwhile, Agema Group is focused on Red Bull Defiance 2016, where Wanaka’s stunning terrain will again host some of the best elements from around the world of multi-sport racing – kayaking, running and mountain biking - and make it unique to New Zealand.

For many, the highest reward will be the challenge of competing and crossing the finish line, which is no mean feat in the two-day, 160 km multisport race.

Braden Currie, who won the Red Bull Defiance’s men’s elite section in 2014 with top local athlete Dougal Allan - expects the international men’s field to be even more challenging in 2016.

“After last year’s success, a lot of strong athletes that I have been racing around the world have shown interest in being a part of this next Red Bull Defiance,” says Currie.

“I am really looking forward to seeing a strong international representation from world class athletes such as professional triathlete Ben Allen and adventure racer Jarad Kohlar.”

The high-ranking Australian team consisting of Kohlar and James Pretto will be seeking to topple Currie and Allan off the top of the podium, making for a classic trans-Tasman rivalry showdown.

The ultra-successful, adventure racing Team Thule will split from a four person-team into two teams to contest Red Bull Defiance.



The two men - Jacob Roberts, who has been competing in multisport, adventure and stage racing for over 20 years now, both in New Zealand and abroad, is racing with Rickard Norlin, who won the Swedish adventure racing championship together with Thule Adventure team - will provide stiff competition in the men’s category.

The mixed elite team category has the cream of the worlds’ male and female athletes entered and looks set to be dominated by the battle of the super couples.

Wanaka-based dynamo Simone Maier will race again with her partner and adventure-racing legend Marcel Hagener. They are both German-born and held out with grit and determination for the win over husband and wife team Richard and Elena Ussher in Red Bull Defiance 2014.



Maier and Hagener have been racing successfully in China together this year in four-person teams, notching up several international victories and will not be relinquishing the win without a fight.

Super couple number three Mimi and Jacky Boisset, from France, will return and are eager to improve on their third place finish, after narrowly being pipped for second place in the mixed elite team category by the Usshers, by only nine minutes in the amazing two-day battle.

“Red Bull Defiance is an event designed by an athlete and this is the key of the success. You get a challenge, competition, mountains, good spirit, easy and fair rules, and prize money!” says Mimi Boisset.

“We are sure to be back for chapter two of Red Bull Defiance, be prepared because Mimi and Jacky are hungry for victory!”

Further adding to the competitive mix in the mixed team category is the other two members of the Swedish Team Thule. Martin Flinta and Helena Erbenova race all over the globe together, notching up success in adventure racing circles.

Currie says that while there are plenty of ‘big-name’ international and New Zealand athletes competing, he is also excited to see more everyday kiwis take this event on.

“It’s a big challenge, but the feedback from last year says that it was well worth the effort, with 77% of those who competed ranking it as one of their top three events of all time.”

The 2016 course stays true to Currie’s original design, apart from one change to the final stage of day one, where the 15km run on the Millennium Track into Wanaka has been replaced by an extended kayak leg. The final paddle will now be 17km, from the West Wanaka bridge transition area into the Wanaka township.

There will be no respite on the grueling second day as Red Bull Defiance’s final stage will remain the same, with athletes taking on the iconic and challengingly steep 25km Skyline ridge run, after the 28km Criffel Range mountain bike ride and the day’s opening 20km kayak.

After they had time to reflect on the personal satisfaction of finishing the 2014 Red Bull Defiance, the athletes’ best course moments, included the 100m abseil down Rocky Mountain and the clay bird shooting at Oxbow Adventures. Both of these special stages were new or unusual tasks for both the elite and sports categories and competitors had to slow their heart rates down to focus for accuracy at the shooting stand and to find their footing on the abseil.

The terrain itself is a natural highlight, McAteer says.

“The fact that we race through over 100 kilometres of private farms and land is very unique and exclusive to Red Bull Defiance. The landscape and views from these farms are amazing.”

As far as supporters and people wanting to watch the race are concerned - by deleting the final run from Glendhu Bay to Wanaka and extending the kayak leg, the organisers are seeking to provide an exciting close-fought finish on the Wanaka waterfront. The rest of the course will remain the same as 2014, with some very minor tweaks to transition areas.

“Red Bull Defiance 2014 set a benchmark for the toughest, most challenging two-person, two-day multi-sport endurance race in the world,” McAteer says.

“True to the nature of this world class event, Red Bull Defiance 2016 brings all the challenging elements of 2014, while increasing the competitor numbers, adding new competitor categories and evolving the special stages with a twist!”

All details can be found at redbulldefiance.co.nz.

Image Credit - Red Bull Defiance
 
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