Kokoda Challenge

Chris Wight was at Isurava with several other family members honouring his two 'Great Uncles' when the winner of our first Kokoda Challenge Race 'John Hunt Hiviki' ran through. He was so inspired that he entered our second race. Click on his link below to read his story.

100 Miles and Runnin' - 70 years in the making.
August 30 1942 my great uncle Thomas Harold "Butch" Bisset died in the arms of his brother Stan, after being badly wounded the previous day by Japanese machine gun fire, just above the village of Isurava, along the Kokoda Track. To continue reading this well written article written by Chris Wight, please click this link:
http://chriswight.blogspot.com/2012/08/70-years-in-making.html?spref=fb

Congratulations to Damon Goerke,Kathryn Preston,Gary Sutherland, Dave Schloss, (Mixed) - team Mountain Designs for winning the XPD 8th Edition Race. Can you all imagine what they have gone through as they commenced the race on Wednesday and now Monday have just crossed over the finish line. Do not know the others in this team but DAMON GOERKE came 3rd in one of our Kokoda Challenge Races from Owers' Cnr to Kokoda and 5th in another race from Kokoda to Owers' Corner in the opposite direction. One tough gutsy competitor as is proven again in this race. Well done Damon and all other team members. Photographs from the XPD website.

Ramsy has now made it to Sydney Airport. He now has to get to the Blue Mountains before cut off time for entrants. Good Luck Ramsy!

Ramsy will compete in the North Face 100 this weekend in the Blue Mountains.

Good Luck Ramsy !!

https://www.facebook.com/TheNorthFace100?hc_location=stream

KOKODA CHALLENGE RACE 2013 - this race will commence in KOKODA on the 31st August and will finish at Owers' Corner on the 1st September. In this year's race, a group of Australian's who had entered the 2012 Kokoda Challenge Race were overheard to say that this race is only for 'experts' but is highly recommended for anyone who has the fitness, mental attitude and ability to compete Trek 908:

For anyone entering, you would need to plan to arrive in Port Moresby on the 29th August where you will overnight before heading over to the Oro Province on the morning of the 30th August where you will be guests at our base, Orohaven Kokoda Retreat. On the day of the race, you will be driven up to the Kokoda Station archway in readiness for a 7am start.

Name of Competitor:

1. Ramsy Idau - winner of our 2012 Kokoda Challenge Race in a time of 18:28
2. Horace Yauga - 2nd placegetter in a time of 18:51

Ramsi Idau and Horace Yauga are being sponsored by Kokoda Trekking Limied in the North Face 100 held in Sydney in May 2013. Their entries are confirmed!

Please share this with all of your friends and family!

Ultra-Trail Australia By UTMB The Official page for Ultra-Trail Australia by UTMB

Hi Gail,

I'd planned to wait until Id written a run report before passing on a note of thanks for the Kokoda Challenge, but it's taken so long to get it done I shouldn't have waited. Took a little while to get over the tummy bug post race. :-) Anyway here it is....
http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_3377/period-7/enddate-2012-09-02

It really was a great event that you put on, and I am very glad to have been there. Thanks again. It was fun to relive writing about it.

Snake-wrestling on the Kokoda Trail - Source: http://www.ses.vic.gov.au/media/news/news-items/jungle-a-snake-and-the-kokoda-challenge

“When I set my mind to doing something, I do it,” says Andrew Turner.

Considering he recently pulled a 16-foot python out of the Papua New Guinean underbrush with his bare hands, it would be foolish to doubt his commitment.
Andrew, a volunteer with Victoria State Emergency Service’s (SES) Malvern Unit, took on the Kokoda Challenge last month.

The event sends competitors on a gruelling, 96-kilometre race along the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea. This unforgiving stretch of earth is famous as the site of intense fighting between Australia and Japanese forces during World War II.

Among ultra-runners like Andrew, it’s also known as the toughest run out there due to its uneven terrain, steep slopes, thick jungle and punishing humidity. And that’s exactly why Andrew wanted to go.

He’s a regular competitor in the Melbourne Oxfam run; his team has raised $25,000 over four years and had their best turnout this year with a fourth-place finish. He also ran in the Maroondah Dam 50 kilometre race this year and has a number of 10 and 20 kilometre runs under his belt.

Andrew set his sights on the Kokoda Challenge that was run in late August, and set himself a goal of finishing the run in 24 hours. The all-time record is 16:34 hours.

“I was going really well up until the 35 kilometre mark when I took a nasty fall. Up until then I was on track to get there in 22 hours,” Andrew says.

Despite injury Andrew limped his way through the rest of the race – more than 50 kilometres – and finished in 40 hours. He’s not done.

“I’ve been invited to go back next year and I’m going to do it in 24. When I set my mind to something, I do it,” he says.

While making his way to the finish line, Andrew indulged in his other major hobby: snake handling.

“I saw a 16-foot python there in the bush and that was after I was injured so I went in and pulled it out,” he says.

“There were some Japanese runners there and they loved it. They got some great photos.

“I do the snake handling on the side, not for the money, it’s for the thrill. I’ve done skydiving and everything but nothing beats coming toe-to-toe with a tiger snake; words can’t describe it.”

He’s not a man for laid-back hobbies, and Andrew says his Kokoda expedition had been fantastic.

“It was definitely one of the wildest trips I’ve ever been on, and I got to hang out with ultra-runners from Australia and Japan,” he says.

“It was good to hang out with others who do it and understand. Apart from the physical challenge, there’s the mental side of it. When you get to the 50 kilometre mark, knowing you have to do it all again, I don’t think many people realise what kind of mindset you need for that.”

That kind of mental fortitude serves Andrew well with the SES, where he has volunteered for almost two years.

“I love it. I love the teamwork and everything it stands for. It’s not often you get people so prepared to help others at 3am,” he says.

“You don’t get anything out of it except helping others, and it’s good to be a part of that team and a part of that scene.”

Kagi Village

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