Wednesday marks the start of the 10th annual Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge, a 341 km (211 miles) adventure race held in the remote Tasmanian wilderness. The event is hosted each year by F1 star Mark Webber, who happens to be a huge fan of endurance sports and adventure racing in particular. Webber ended his long racing career last Sunday after competing in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The course for this year’s Tasmania Challenge runs along the West Coast of the Australian island. The five-day race features coed teams with some incredible athletes mixed into the field. While Webber himself is unable to compete this year, fellow F1 driver Mitch Evans is giving the Challenge a go for the first time. He’s joined by Olympians Emma Snowsill, who competed in the triathlon, and Kenny Wallace who is a world class kayaker. As is usual with an adventure race of this kind, the stages will include mountain biking, trail running, paddling and various other disciplines.
The elite teams will be competing for a piece of the $30,000 purse, while others will be taking part in the charity fundraiser. Most of the proceeds generated from the Tasmania Challenge goes to Whielion, an organization which provides a number of service for at-risk youth in Australia. Additionally, some of the funds also go to the Save The Tasmanian Devil fun as well.
Once the race gets underway you’ll be able to follow the progress of the teams and get updates on daily standings from the official website.
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