While we were celebrating the long weekend here in the States, teams of adventure athletes were battling it out in the Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge in Australia. The five-day, stage race featured plenty of running, mountain biking and paddling as competitors challenged each other across a course that was more than 340 km (210 miles) in length. The video below, which includes highlights from the final day of the competition, is a good indicator of what this race is all about.

After five days of racing, the race was won by the team of Richard Ussher and Braden Currie. They completed the entire course in 18 hours, 54 minutes, which was more than two hours faster than the second place team that consisted of Alex Hunt and Mark Hinder. Third place went to Jarad Kohler and James Pretto, who finished in 26 hours, 52 minutes and 2 seconds.

This was the 10th annual Tasmania Challenge and over the year the race has become a staple on the adventure racing calendar each season. With another strong turnout this year, it appears that the race is poised to continue well into the future.

Wednesday marks the start of the 10th annual Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge, a 341 km (211 miles) adventure race held in the remote Tasmanian wilderness. The event is hosted each year by F1 star Mark Webber, who happens to be a huge fan of endurance sports and adventure racing in particular. Webber ended his long racing career last Sunday after competing in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The course for this year's Tasmania Challenge runs along the West Coast of the Australian island. The five-day race features coed teams with some incredible athletes mixed into the field. While Webber himself is unable to compete this year, fellow F1 driver Mitch Evans is giving the Challenge a go for the first time. He's joined by Olympians Emma Snowsill, who competed in the triathlon, and Kenny Wallace who is a world class kayaker. As is usual with an adventure race of this kind, the stages will include mountain biking, trail running, paddling and various other disciplines.

The elite teams will be competing for a piece of the $30,000 purse, while others will be taking part in the charity fundraiser. Most of the proceeds generated from the Tasmania Challenge goes to Whielion, an organization which provides a number of service for at-risk youth in Australia. Additionally, some of the funds also go to the Save The Tasmanian Devil fun as well.

Once the race gets underway you'll be able to follow the progress of the teams and get updates on daily standings from the official website.

The Mark Webber Tasmania Challenge wrapped up a week ago, and at the time I mentioned how it has become a staple on the adventure racing calendar each fall. Turns out I spoke a bit too quickly, although the future does continue to look bright for the event.

Late last week I received word that the Challenge will go on hiatus for 2014 as race organizers prepare for the future. Details are a bit light right now, but I'm told that they are preparing for a "significant step up" when the race returns in 2015. The press release accompanying the note that I received indicated that the race has positioned itself nicely to move into a premium position moving forward. It also indicated that Webber, who has now retired from F1 racing (although not automobile racing completely), will have a bit more free time that he'll use to grow the Tasmania Challenge further.

It seems that there is something big in the works and the race will return with a vengeance in 2015. Until then, we'll have to wait to hear more once the details emerge. Considering the Tasmania Challenge has now been around for ten years, finding out where it is headed next should prove very interesting.