Kohlar in no hurry to leave after win

ADVENTURETHON National Challenge winner Jarad Kohlar enjoyed his stay in the North so much he’s planning to stay.

Melbourne- based Kohlar won a back- to- back title over Townsville competitor Sam Stedman in the 61.5km multisport adventure race at Pallarenda on Saturday, and will be basing himself in the region for the next six weeks to prepare for the XPD expedition race to be held in North Queensland.

The event attracted a record 500 registrations, including 100 juniors, across five different races over the weekend.

Kohlar and Stedman will be in the same team in that 10- day event, but yesterday went head- to- head in the kayak, mountain bike and trail run which took in both Magnetic Island and the Town Common National Park.

“The course was fantastic with the change in the mountain bike, with a lot more single track and it was a lot more challenging,” he said.

“It was for me about dealing with the heat and trying not to let Sam get sight of me.’’

Kohlar said Townsville’s mild winter provided perfect conditions to acclimatise and get ready for the XPD.

“The XPD is probably one of the toughest events in Australia to do so it was definitely one of the goals this year to put a strong team in,” he said.

“Just being up here for a few weeks beforehand, it’s just going to enable me to acclimatise.’’

The Adventurethon is into its fifth year and Kohlar said he had seen the growth of the sport in that time.

“The first race, a lot of the mountain bike course was along the beach and slashed grass tracks, and the next year the Under the Radar was built, and then this year Smedley’s is a world class trail,” he said.

“Compared to the first year it’s a joy to do that course.”