MILTON SURVIVES DAY ONE OF CHALLENGE

WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2008: Despite a less than ideal preparation, Michael Milton and his Team Toyota partner, Tony Bond, have survived the first gruelling day of the 2008 Mark Webber Pure Tasmania Challenge.

Milton, who arrived at the campsite late the evening before (Tuesday) after speaking at a conference in Sydney and attending the birth of his son on Monday, says he was tired at the start of the race.

'I haven't had the best preparation. I hurt my ribs a few weeks ago and they didn't heal as quickly as I'd hoped. That affected my training and then Rowdy came on Monday so I haven't had much sleep,' said the proud new dad.

Still, the pair lined up at the start for the first stage of the five-day 280km course, a 12km trek to the summit of Cradle Mountain. Milton and Bond made it to the top in 3.5 hours.

'The running legs are my weakest so I was pretty impressed to make it to the top of Cradle Mountain ahead of one of the teams,' said Milton. 'We even managed to pass a team on the mountain bike leg.'

For more information and to track Team Toyota's progress, go to www.markwebberchallenge.com.