World champions join Webber challenge

Two of the world’s best adventure racers, Jacky Boisset and Mimi Guillot, will take part in the Elite Pairs competition at the 2012 Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge.

The French pair, who race, train and live together, will form the Pure Tasmania team for the Webber charity event, that takes place in Tasmania from November 28 to December 2.

Both are familiar with the demanding local terrain, having been part of the winning team at the Adventure Racing World Championships held in Tasmania last year.

“For us to come back in Tasmania, it's like a dream,” Guillot said. “When you are from Europe, Tasmania is one of the best destinations. It’s very, very wild and, in (the) same time, everything is close – the mountains, sea, and different forest.”

The pair are professional adventure racers, and have been lured to Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge through the support of Pure Tasmania and with the offering of $20,000 first prize.

“Since last year, we are travelling around the world for racing and discovering countries, cultures and peoples, but we like all the challenges and we will be ready to promote Pure Tasmania,” Boisset said.

For this French combination, it seems that the team that trains together, stays together. They say their greatest asset come race day is teamwork.

“We are a couple every day, for training, racing and for the life - the perfect team!” Boisett said.

“We like to practice all the sports, it’s more challenging and fun and that’s why adventure racing is perfect for us.”

“In France, nobody practices kayak or surfski, so in an adventure race in France, it's really rare to have some paddling sections. So that's why for us it's really interesting to do more adventure racing in your country, it's more challenging.”

From their last visit, Boisset and Guillot know that the island state has some unique challenges.

“Before we came to Tasmania we have heard some people talking about bush walking, and we didn't know what it was - but now we know! The Tasmanian terrain was way too bushy for us!” Guillot said.

“The other point is the weather. Tasmania is an island alone, nearly to the south pole, so the weather can change so quickly.”

Despite the distance they must travel to near the “bottom of the world” the French pair are delighted to be doing so.

“We want to enjoy Tasmania again and meet a lot of people and share some good days together,” Guillot.

“We are very happy to participate at this kind of race and to bring a small piece to help the Mark Webber Foundation.”

The Swisse Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge commences on Wednesday November 28 in Launceston, and finishes in Hobart on Sunday December 2 after around 300 competitive kilometres of running, biking and paddling.