UK sporting greats join Mark Webber in Tasmania for charity

British rowing Champion James Cracknell OBE, and record-breaking round-the-world sailor Dee Caffari have signed on to compete in the 2006 Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge. The Challenge is a charity fundraiser which involves participants completing a gruelling six-day, 600km trek through some of Tasmania’s most inhospitable wilderness.

Competitors will walk, run, cycle and kayak through various stages of a course that is designed to push participants of the highest fitness levels to their mental and physical limit.

No stranger to extreme conditions, Cracknell had a brush with death earlier this year during the 2005/2006 Atlantic Rowing Race, when his boat capsized in the middle of the ocean and he lost essential equipment, such as navigational and desalination instruments.

Caffari too has had her share of life threatening moments during her successful bid to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe sailing solo and non-stop against the prevailing winds and currents.

Cracknell and Caffari will compete in The Challenge between 5-10 November alongside Australian adventure racer Guy Andrews, TV Presenter/Ironwoman Grace McClure and a number of other extreme athletes and corporate teams.

Looking forward to his debut in adventure racing and experiencing the wilderness of Tasmania, Cracknell said:

“I’ve got fantastic memories of racing in Australia, especially from the Sydney Olympics, but I’ve never visited Tasmania. I couldn’t think of a better way of seeing it for the first time, and I’m looking forward to competing with - and against - some fantastic athletes over amazing days.”

Caffari also said she was looking forward to her first foray into adventure racing;

“I’m always looking for the next big challenge, so saying yes to Mark’s event wasn’t a difficult decision for me to make. Adventure racing isn’t something I’ve done before, but I can’t wait to get started”

The Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge was launched as a major charity initiative to raise money for Victorian-based TLC For Kids and the Cancer Council Tasmania’s Cancer Plus program.