Yeeha, Inward Bound was back and better than ever. An event that involves multiple residents in teams of four being dropped at an undisclosed location in the Aussie Bush, with nothing but their wits, a compass and some maps to guide them home. Eight teams across seven divisions represented Fenner Hall this year, and they all have wild stories detailing their epic adventures.
The Fenner Hall squad stretching before we tackle Mt Ainslie
As head coach I prepared six weeks of intense trail running training to ensure my teams were ready to tackle the insane distances they would be covering. Four weeks of navigation training prepared my elite navigators for their challenge, and awesome detective/guesswork work on my behalf allowed me to pinpoint the exact location of the secret endpoint - Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station (not released until all teams have been 'released' at their dropoff points. 
Final words to my team
This year I had the pleasure of navigating Division 1. My team covered 90 kms in 20 hours to place a cool fourth. A fantastic effort considring that both my co-nav, Yan Zhao, and myself were unable to sleep for the three days prior to the event as we had to organise the teams. We both were hallucinating for hours as we literally feel asleep while walking. Our Journey started on the fringes of Michlong State Forest. 
IB preparation at its greatest: I scoffed a 350gm steak, five potatoes and a bowl of salad. Lots of training leads to lots of food!
We ran south for thirty kms before crossing east past the Bluewater holes camping ground (fantastic scenery and beautiful caves) and through Learua Gap to cross the Brindabella's. Here we were able to see Brumbies and wild pigs. I was also lucky enough to halluncite national park signs, cars, and people/water stations. Yan saw many houses and tents - none of which were real. Other Div 1 teams ran 80 kms (with 1300m gain in height compared to our 600m gain - I maintain ours was the smarter route) with the first team finishing in 17.5 ours and the fifth team in 21 hours. B & G had to drop out as they were lost.
The Fenner Hall Team '09 Highlights of the Fenner sqaud included Div 5 finishing in 3 hours, the first team to arrive at Honeysuckle, Div 4 ending up at Tantangara, and Div 6 being 7 km from the finish after two hours and turing up at 23 hours later 20 kms from the endpoint.
An amazing event as usual, the follwing night all Halls and Colleges ended up at All Bar Nun for a debrief.
Fenner Hall runners regaling each other with stories.
I took some maps and whiteboard markers so we could discuss routes and tactics. I met old friends and friendly rivals
Div 1 Navs musing over each other's route selection.
Div 1 Navs from Ursies (5th place), Fenner (me - 4th place), and Johns (Alex - 3rd place)
- then we got drunk.
If this isn't intercollege cooperation I don't know what is - Cal (B&G IB coach), Brett (Fenner President), Pud (Johns Navigator), Elliot (Johns Div 1 runner), Some guy I don't recognise, and Yours Truly (Fenner Head Coach) I wish I could enter all the stories here, or even do justice to this magnificent event, but no words can describe the experience that teams go through. Congratulations to all teams the entered, and a huge thanks to all Fenner representatives for doing me proud.
All I can say is, I can't wait for next year. We're gonna win!
No comments:
Post a Comment