Battling hallucinations and sleep deprivation, four Defence members placed third in this year's Legend Expedition Race, completing the six-day, 564-kilometre course in four days.

The non-stop race included trekking, mountain biking, kayaking and other adventure disciplines.

Team captain Lieutenant Colonel David Manzin said it was a challenging situation.

“There are funny things that we would hallucinate in our sleep-deprived state,” he said.

“We were constantly calling out to things that weren't really there – trees that looked like the Mona Lisa or cliff formations that looked like everyday objects.”

Held from April 18 to 25, the self-navigated race began at the remote Border Cliffs near Renmark on the Victorian-South Australian border and tracked all the way back to headquarters in Murray Bridge.

The team, ‘Shanks Pony’, also had a logistics officer for scheduling, a lead navigator for map-and-compass guiding and a backup navigator for route verification.

Lieutenant Colonel Manzin said the goal was to finish as a team.

“The journey began months earlier with intensive goal-setting and preparation to ensure the team would finish together,” he said.

'If you had a microsleep while you were mountain biking you could end up in the gutter, in the ditch, in a tree or just on the ground.'

The most concerning point, Lieutenant Colonel Manzin said, was when people started falling asleep while moving.

“At one point, I was falling asleep while we were paddling and each time I was having a microsleep, I'd wake up feeling like I had to get off the boat,” he said.

“If you had a microsleep while you were mountain biking you could end up in the gutter, in the ditch, in a tree or just on the ground.”

Team members pushed themselves day and night while sticking to the rules of remaining within 100 metres of each other at all times.

Adding to the challenge, the route remained a secret until just hours before the start, when the team finally received maps and race books detailing mandatory checkpoints.

Participants relied on lightweight survival bivvy bags to snatch sleep where they could.

Mountain bikes and kayaks were pre-staged at transition areas by race organisers, allowing members to quickly swap out gear, pack away their bikes and grab fresh supplies from pre-planned boxes.

To maintain momentum, they fuelled themselves by sucking down gels and bars while paddling and switching to ration-pack style meals during trekking legs.

Logistics officer Flight Lieutenant Melissa Picton was responsible for food, mandatory gear and transition boxes to get equipment to the right locations.

Faced with extreme exhaustion, she relied on a portable speaker and playlist to survive.

“Keeping that music going and singing along to it definitely helped keep us awake those quiet hours of the morning, especially on the paddle,” she said.

'The team adapts and grows with every event and I encourage anyone interested to simply take the leap.'

Flight Lieutenant Picton’s fatigue reached a tipping point on the final paddle leg when, too tired to properly steady herself while reaching for a checkpoint, she accidentally tipped straight out of her kayak.

“I was so tired, I lifted myself up and just fell straight off the kayak into the river, almost capsizing it,” she said.

Despite the extreme physical toll and the intensity of the race, she said that gruelling endurance events were highly accessible and thrived on teamwork and continuous improvement.

“The team adapts and grows with every event and I encourage anyone interested to simply take the leap,” Flight Lieutenant Picton said.

“Every time we race together or have some sort of an event, we learn from it and build our plan from there.

“Give it a go, it's a lot of fun, and you don't need to be an elite athlete to get into it.”

Lieutenant Colonel Manzin is now setting his sights on course planning for the Adventure Race event at the Australian Army Fitness Racing Association Carnival. 

The Adventure Race will run alongside obstacle racing and other popular fitness races, and will be headquartered at RAAF Base Amberley in mid-November. 

Those interested in competing should reach out to their state representative via aafra@resources.defence.gov.au