This year we welcomed a new member to Thunderbolt.  Robbie Savage is one of the large crew of competent and experienced Victorian adventure racers and we expected him to keep us old (unfit?) blokes (Hugh and Josh) honest.  Kathryn was as hyped as ever and always kept us motivated and cheerful. Preface Still Dry ..... Preparation is... Continue Reading →

Thunderbolt has had a few variations over the years.  For this race had the core of the original team (Bern, Josh and Hugh) joined by Myall Quint, a young bloke with lots of experience and practical skills.  We were also returning to the well trodden country around Port Stephens. The Preparation We have not raced together as... Continue Reading →

Well after what has been a well documented year of disruption and no racing we could not quite believe it was real when we arrived at Callala Bay for Terra Nova 2021.  Things are a bit different for Thunderbolt this year with Bern busy looking after a 3 month old bub.  Josh was off mountain biking with... Continue Reading →

Note:  This race was actually held in Sept 2019 but all details have been kept secret until the broadcast of "The Worlds Toughest Race" on Amazon Prime.  Here are the many details that the show missed about Thunderbolt's race .... it is a long one.  Due to the camera ban we do not have many... Continue Reading →

We made a relatively late decision to race at the inaugural Terra Nova event to be held at Jervis Bay on the NSW South coast.  The different venue was appealing as was simply doing a race after what has seemed like months of disruptions due to fires then floods.  We were also keen for a... Continue Reading →

Well the drama for this race started the day before with wild weather across the east coast, especially Sydney. This meant that whilst ¾ of Team Thunderbolt arrived in Marrochydore, multiple delays and 2 cancelled flights later Hugh was stuck in Sydney at midnight with no way to join them in time for the race.... Continue Reading →

Geoquest 2019 was one of those events that attracted a really good field.  As by far the longest running 24+hr race in the country (this was the 18th) it has grown to be the race that everyone wants to win.  Liam’s pre-race form guide summarised the situation well and we headed up there thinking a top... Continue Reading →

We had chosen Expedition India as a race to do this year because we thought it would provide something different both as a race and an overall experience - and it delivered big time.  Angus Rodwell joined us for the first time this race and it was great to have a strong, dependable guy on... Continue Reading →

We do not usually post stories other than race reports but we have a couple of updates. It has been a busy time so far this year.  It will not let up for us as Thunderbolt have a full year ahead with a race in the Indian Himalayas in a couple of weeks, hopefully Eco Challenge... Continue Reading →

The first race of our 2019 program was to be the new addition to the Adventure Junkie program - Alpine Quest based out of Falls Creek in the Victorian Alps.  We had all raced in the area before so were expecting lots of hills.  The event consisted of a "short" prologue on the Friday followed... Continue Reading →