Five Times Lucky?

This year's Otway Odyssey mountain bike marathon marked a milestone for 30 odd riders; a persistent bunch who own the distinction of finishing all four events to date and were saddling up for their fifth. Will they make it? Not if La Nina has anything to do with it...

It was around 10pm on Friday evening that the patter of rain turned into a pelting on tin roofs across the Otway Ranges in south west Victoria. The downpour brought with it a restless night plagued by mud monsters. Every rider hunkered down that night – all 1,700 of them – knew what awaited them in the crisp early hours of the next morning; forests filled with real life monsters, embodied in the sludge that saps your energy, bogs your momentum and insidiously sets about destroying your bike.

For those new to the event, there was nothing to compare—they knew no different. Perhaps this was simply what mountain bike marathons are all about. After all, they were warned that this was perhaps hardest mountain biking marathon on the calendar.

However for a select few, the so-called Five-Timers, there is 'The Knowledge'. They know the deep, dark forest that waits, ready to swallow them and their hopes of finishing. For these stalwarts, there is more riding on rolling under the finish arch than for any of the other competitors; including two-time winner Adrian Jackson and World 24 Hour Solo Champion Jess Douglas amongst a crowd of staunch weekend warriors aiming for more personal goals.

Over the previous four years, these riders have slogged it out in varying conditions – from sweltering heat of 2007 to the mud-fest of 2008 – conquering a course that, during one year, dealt out DNFs to 30% of the field.

"I remember the first race being the toughest I had ever done," says Christy Harris, one of only two females to have completed every edition, the other being Jess Douglas. "I remember throwing my bike down at the finish line and telling my family I was never doing the Odyssey again! I had given it everything and was exhausted."

"The first race was the toughest of all," says Jess Douglas. "Everyone knows John Jacoby is a sinister course designer—we just had to suck it up and whinge about it later. I saw grown men crying under the shade of a lone tree on a stupid, unrelenting climb. I vowed never to return!"

For most five-timers, it's a wholly different motivation pushing them through up to 10 hours of pain; the notion of simply not quitting—no matter what!

As well as being one of the originals, Kerry Ryan is also the marathon’s eldest statesman at 68 years of age—for him, defiance and personal achievement are the prime motivators.

"The Odyssey is one of the toughest 100km events going and it takes every bit of passion, strength and determination I have to complete each race," says Kerry. "But there's a drive to do better each year, to continually prove to myself that despite, or even because of my age, I can keep improving. If I'm honest, ego is involved, too. To know that at 68 I am still competitive (finishing in the top 20-30% of the overall field) and can turn in a respectable time feels amazing."

The other five-timers also point toward personal achievement as the return factor, in the sense that any time you overcome complete exhaustion, mechanical failure and the conspiracies of Mother Nature – in this year's case a wet, wild and moody El Nina – you've proven something, even if that is only to yourself and your kids cheering madly at the finish line.

For all the results go to: otwayodyssey.com