It's known as the Gympie Gympie, sometimes the moonlighter, or just the stinger, and two Yukon adventure racers got way too close for comfort with the painful stinging plant during a 700-kilometre adventure race in May.

Greg and Denise McHale placed third in the XPD Australia adventure race from May 17-28 that journeyed through the outback and rainforest, but it wasn't without a few set backs.

The first being their run in with the stinging plant – their second was the cure.

The stinging plant releases sharp barbs if it is disturbed, and those at the top of the XPD race were unfortunate enough to run into a patch of the race where organizers had not yet looked for the plant.

In the Australian outback, one would assume the threat of wildlife would be the biggest problem, but Denise said that wasn't the case.

"We found the plants probably worse than anything,” she said, although they did meet a few unwelcome critters on the way.

Denise said the stinging plant they encountered in one of the rainforest sections of the race was a very unwelcome surprise.

"They hadn't told us there was a stinging plant,” she said.

Before the start of the race, the participants were shown a sample of the brutal plant, that has heart-shaped leaves and can grow to one to two metres high, but without any warning that it would be around, they swept past it anyway on day two in the Australian rainforest.

The race was eventually re-routed for the rest of the pack, but the McHales and the rest of their four-person team were not so lucky.

"It was kind of too late for the front half of the teams,” Denise said. "The downside (was), we were the first ones to go through.”

To relieve the painful, irritating stinging of the plant, first aid personnel on the XPD used hydrochloric acid – which Denise said was put on the open wounds the plant created – and then pulled out the clinging barbs using hot wax.

If the barbs are not removed, they will continue to release a toxin and the pain will continue.

"It's just really annoying, it's not going to kill you or anything,” Denise said of the toxin.

Even with them removed, she said she can still feel where the barbs were

"It still stings a little bit,” Denise said.

Despite the setback, Denise said she and her husband Greg were happy with their performance.

"We feel pretty good,” she said. "It was a very, very difficult race. Overall, we're happy.”

The race included trekking, mountain biking, paddling, white-water rafting and snorkeling. Teams navigated by map and compass, which they received the day before the race.

The race took over seven days to complete, with 48 teams looking for the top slot.

Denise said the first-place team missed a checkpoint, so the Yukoners could see their position move from third to second depending on a decision from the race officials. She said the change in standings will only effect the current second place team, because the first-place team earns a spot at the adventure racing world championships.

The team of four, Denise her husband and two racers from New Zealand and France, had to stay within 100-metres of each other at all times – which is something the team took literally when they spent a very cramped night inside a two-man tent in the final rainforest section of the race.

Denise said waiting in a tent makes you turn to what everyone else is experiencing on the trail.

"Then you wonder what's happening with everybody else,” she said. "You think, ‘Oh no, you've blown it.'”

But the McHales didn't blow the race, because every team took a bit longer than originally planned.

Race organizers expected the race to take between four and 10 days, but the leaders took seven.

"Everything just ended up taking longer than expected,” Denise said. "It was a tough race.”

With it behind them, Denise said they are happy of one thing in particular;

"We survived the Australian outback.”

Denise's next racing event is the Death Race in Grand Cache, Alta.

The solo event is a 125-km trek that Denise expects to make over 14 or 15 hours in August.