THE inaugural Placemakers South Canterbury Adventure Racing Club (SCARC) 12-hour event was held in near perfect weather on Black Forest Station and Lake Benmore. Eleven teams from all over the South Island competed in a traditional adventure racing format over three looped stages.
Stage one was a 20km kayak leg, with a shotgun start fired by Ben Innes, the fourth generation Black Forest Station owner.
The early lead was taken by a team from Wanaka comprising Tim Pierson, Mike Johnston and 2007 longest day Coast to Coast second place getter Gordon Blythen.
The second stage was a 35km tramp traversing two large ridges.  This saw the field spread out with team Buff Health and Beauty from Alexandra staying within striking distance of the leaders only 24 minutes behind at the transition to the bike leg.
The mountain bike leg featured a challenging climb up the staircase pass with snow still lying thick in the shady areas of the pass.
Team Buff Health and Beauty were the fastest over the 32km leg but did not gain enough time to challenge the leaders.
The Wanaka team took line honours in a time of eight hours and 5 minutes finishing 18 minutes ahead of the nearest rivals.
The first all female team was the Goosey Girls led by Denise Thorne in a very respectable time of 12 hours and 8 minutes.
The race was followed by a BBQ dinner and prizegiving.
The organisers were grateful to PlaceMakers in Timaru and Twizel who sponsored the event and ensured entry fees were kept to a minimum of $30 a person, which covered costs.  The feedback from the event was phenomenal and all racers enjoyed staying in the wonderful accommodation at Black Forest Station. SCARC is planning it as an annual event