21 groups of two or more sweated it out from 3pm in the MIA (Mount Isa Adventure Race), Gecko Outdoor Sports’ first event of the year.

The sun was fierce and humidity was higher than average, but with a slight breeze and lots of water everyone made it to the finish line.

Before any adventuring, participants were asked to fashion a fleet of paper planes which they had to successfully land between two trees before they could start the race.

Once they were off, teams competed in the first of four race legs in the three and a half hour outdoor event.

MIA was split into two categories, offering plenty of variety for adventurers of all ages and experience.

Foot Fanatic involved two treks, kayaking, and games for the mind and body, while Wheel Addiction had one trek, kyaking, games, and mountain biking.

Event organiser Alison Whitehead began with important announcements, stressing the need for water and close proximity to teammates.

“You must be within 100m of your team at all times. It’s off-road, it’s on unstable ground, it’s hilly, so beware,” Alison said.

Navigation was a big part of the race, with trekkers and cyclists closely following a paper map for each section of the course.

Hole punchers were attached to orange checkpoints along the way for each team to mark their ‘control card’, but could be checked off in any order.

There were 10 outdoor games to complete, one of which involved jumping in the lake and furiously paddling a pool lilo to a line of buoys.

Some games involved brain work, including puzzles and music quizzes.

The kayak leg started from a bank on the other side of the lake, adventurers paddling around the lake in boats of two.

Cloncurry team ‘Curry Scorchers’ showed excellent sportsmanship when they helped a sick adventurer return to the transition area before heading back out to complete their own race.

Other teams battled on in the heat for longer than the estimated three and a half hours, with all teams returning by 7.30pm.

Coming in first place for the mixed teams were ‘Blood, Sweat & Beers’, Zara Margolis and Kodie Kuskopf.

First overall for the Foot Fanatic were Pockeys Pals, Matt O’Neill and Chris Pocock.

First in the Wheel Addiction mountain bike race were ‘Forever Lost’, obviously not, Clayton Green and Stephen Derrick.

Gecko’s next event ‘Superhero Scramble’ is on March 19 for parents and kids.

Registrations are open from today, visit Gecko Outdoor Sports on Facebook for more details.

Team event Urban Dare will be later in the year, with adventure challenges on the streets of Mount Isa.

Alison thanked all her MIA volunteers for giving up their time, setting up the event and checkpoints all over the lake site.