The mighty Murrumbidgee River
This year, Top Dog 24 once again delivered an epic event — starting in the nation’s capital and heading south-west into challenging hills and rugged terrain.
Fifty-five teams and nearly 150 racers arrived at race HQ in Stromlo for the 2025 event, lining up to collect their race packs for either the full ‘Top Dog’ course or the shorter ‘Little Dog’ course. Both had a 24-hour time limit and included running/trekking, paddling, and mountain biking to checkpoints scattered through back-country and wilderness areas. Finding these required solid map-and-compass navigation — and, as always, there were a few surprises and twists in the course.
At registration, teams discovered that they would be skipping the Stromlo MTB trails — featured in the previous two editions — and instead heading straight out to Cotter’s Crossing, the Murrumbidgee River, the Bullen Ranges, and, for full-course racers, on towards Tidbinbilla and Gibraltar Rock, where a mystery activity awaited at the summit.
Big highlights of the 2025 course included a white-water kayak down the Murrumbidgee, challenging navigation for both the full and half courses, some serious climbing, and a midnight river crossing back over the Murrumbidgee with bikes in tow.
In the full course, teams EXT2 and Results Racing pushed hard straight out of the gate, with Straight is Great, Proximity AR, and Capital AR in hot pursuit. In the half course, it was no surprise to see the Adventure Racing Maniacs (racing as a female pair) and Ainsley AR charging hard, with Argo and Are We There Yet? chasing them down.
After a quick trek and bike leg, the full and half courses split at Transition 1 (Cotter’s Crossing) — the half course heading to the river paddle first, while the full course tackled some fun off-trail navigation at Riverview Farm. It’s unclear whether there was a home-ground advantage for Sean King from Straight is Great, but we’re very grateful that he gave us access to his property for the day. Teams certainly enjoyed the rolling hills and engaging navigation.
Both Top Dog and Little Dog teams then took on the white-water kayak between Cotter’s Crossing and Uriarra. Featuring grade 1–2 rapids and good water levels, both courses reached Transition 2 with big smiles — and plenty of stories of capsizes and missed checkpoints. The hike back to Cotter’s Crossing and Transition 1 featured some tough navigation and the beautiful rolling hills the area is famous for.
As the sun went down, Top Dog teams headed for Tidbinbilla through the forestry, while Little Dog teams tackled a demanding bike ride across the Bullen Range to checkpoints 24 and 25 — and the now-notorious second encounter with the Murrumbidgee River.
Navigating their way through the forestry and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve on bikes, Top Dog teams arrived at Transition 3 in the dark to discover a 10-kilometre trek up to Gibraltar Rock — and an abseil challenge at checkpoint 20. Although only 25 metres high, it required a leap of faith into the darkness below before teams continued the rest of the trek. A big thanks must go to Andy McLachlan and his crew for making the abseil happen, and to Challenge Works for providing the equipment.
Leaving Tidbinbilla, Top Dog teams re-joined the Little Dog racers at CP25, where they faced a 30–40-metre river crossing of the Murrumbidgee — with bikes. Teams were instructed to take a flotation device for their bikes and a life jacket for safety. Upon arrival, they also discovered they needed to travel off-trail, lowering bikes down a series of small cliffs beside a rocky, blackberry-filled creek just to access the river. These big challenges are what separate true adventure racing from multi-sport events on gravel roads — and it was the experienced racers who led the way through this section.
Once across the river, the final kilometres took teams along the gravel trails and bikeways circling Canberra’s suburbs, with many relieved to be out of the bush and back at the Stromlo finish line. The race director was, appropriately, berated for the nasty river crossing — though it’s unclear if he listened.
A big thanks must go out to all the teams and volunteers who made the event happen — there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, and they do an amazing job. Thanks also to Squirt, Wild Magazine, Parks ACT, and Stromlo for their ongoing support and permits.
Team EXT2 featuring Tim Boote, Elly Jackson, Tony Wilson and Joel Claxton
🏆 Top Dog 24 – Full Course
Mixed
EXT2
Capital AR
Blood, Sweat & Vows
Female
Tomorrow’s Problem
Thelma and Louise
Male
Straight is Great
Proximity AR
The Meerkats
🐶 Little Dog – Half Course
Mixed
Are We There Yet?
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Invert
Female
The Pack
Little Detour
M&M Mountain Mavericks
Male
Argo
Emotionally Not Ready
Joseph and Son
You can find the full results and tracking at www.topdog24.com.au/live.
The next adventure races from Wild & Co are the Shoalhaven 6-hour in Vincentia and Buckley’s 24 in Victoria — details at www.wldnco.com and www.buckleys24.com.au.
Top Dog 24 is part of the Adventure Racing World Series Oceania calendar.
