A short sharp run to the kayaks and out through the crashing surf was the
start of the World Champs in Westport and the start of the carnage. The 46
teams competing in this years Champs many would get their first dose of the
coast in the first 2 hours of racing. Landing on the beach at Waimangaroa
River only 50% of the two man kayaks would make it to the shore without
capsizing. Careful selection the right wave set saw us surfing towards the
beach amongst upturned kayaks and athletes struggling to swim to shore. The
dumping of so many kayaks in the crashing surf was a spectacular display for
the waiting support crews, media and concerned race officials.
There we had a quick transition
from wet paddle gear to our mountain bikes for a 4.5 hr ride through the
historic Denniston mining area. Some good fun riding and a bit of time to
settle into what was going to be the hardest and most enduring event held in
New Zealand. Team Bridgedale had settled into a mid field position among
some of the worlds most talented Adventure Racing Teams.
Slipping into a combination of
“X-Hale" and ”Impact” socks we headed up into the Lyell Range for what was
going to be the first of the grueling 26-30hr treks. Race organisers had
indicated the trek was 18-22 hrs, underestimating how slow teams would
travel in the west coast bush and demanding ridgelines. The dark and fog
would also play a major role in determining the speed of travel, with the
fog making the navigation extremely difficult. Route choice was also a major
factor with 50% of the teams choosing a route that was 2-3hrs quicker than
the route we took which appeared to provide quicker travel, “on the map at
least”.
Eventually Team Bridgedale Socks
emerged from the bush at the start of the rafting section on the Buller
river and still in a mid field position but knowing that it would be a
struggle to meet the cutoff times throughout the course. It was now not
about winning, but about the adventure.
After 1hr of guiding our own raft
down the fun filled grade 3 Buller river, we refueled our bodies and got a
quick nap in preparation for the second of the grueling 30hr treks into the
Brunner range.
It was here on the Brunner range
at Mt Curitis Hut that our team would face our greatest challenge. Having
packed enough food for 20hrs of trekking and already 18hrs into the trek we
hear that the leading team Balance Vector took another 12.5hrs to finish the
trek from the hut. That would give us at least 30+ hrs on our feet!
Extremely wet and cold and struggling with the difficult navigation I
gathered the team together to point out that we needed to make a decision
whether to continue on the race route, or take a shorter route off the
course and effectively put us out of the race.
It was clear that the only option
was to continue racing even if it meant that we could be on our feet for the
next three days, we were here to race not take soft options.
We spent a cold night in the hut
and after some hot fluid supplied by check point Scotty we headed back up
into the fog knowing that we needed to nail the navigation. With three Silva
compasses working overtime we finally emerged from the fog with a faultless
route down into bush to the next check point and down to our waiting support
crew who by now were the last support crew at the transition areas. Many of
the teams had already withdrawn from the race leaving us in the unfamiliar
position of last ranked team!
Finally off our feet and onto the
Mountain Bikes we headed off towards Big River with a mix of sealed and
gravel roads, a bit of good old single track and some nasty carrying through
scrub and bush. Plus a bit of pushing where it was too steep or muddy to
ride. We had a great time riding and a good two hour sleep at the Waitua
Lodge half way through the ride. Taking about 24hrs to complete the ride we
arrived at the transition in good spirits and ready to accept what the race
organisers had to dish up. It couldn’t be any worse that what we had already
endured.
The third trek up into the
Kirwans turned out to be enjoyable even though it was another 25hrs on the
feet. For the first 4.5hrs we sleep walked up a good formed track up to the
Kiwan Hut where we stole another 2hr sleep (spoilt in Adventure Racing
terms). After the sleep we carefully navigated our way into the daylight
through the scrub and bush and on the unforgiving west coast ridgelines. We
were probably traveling quicker now than earlier in the race. Now last on
the course and in 13th place we even had to assist the last of check point
charlies out of the mountains.
We arrived into our last
transition area with our support crew waiting and eager to get us on the
bikes for a quick 20min ride to the transition into the kayaks down the
Inangahua and Buller rivers.
Our final leg in the kayaks was
uneventful apart from Ray leading us down a chute that had numerous trees,
rocks and waves which woke us up a bit.
Arriving into our final check
point we could only lament on what could have been a couple poor route
choices, some navigational errors earlier in the race and a course that was
just too demanding on the feet for most teams. Only six teams finished the
full, adjusted, course and another six teams like ours were still on the
course when it closed at 6pm Saturday. Only 12 ranked teams out of 46. It
was the world champs and it was hard.
Team Bridgedale Socks had taken
on the challenge and persevered. Our aim was compete to the best of our
ability, to complete the full course and to have fun and finish as good
friends as we started. The only thing we didn’t achieve was to complete the
full course. We had whole lot of fun and we cemented our friendships
throughout the journey. And at the end of the day we come out of the race
with very little damage to ourselves. Not one blister thanks to our
Bridgedale X-Hale, Impacts, and Trails, just some minor chaffing and a
twisted knee. Not bad for 100hrs plus on the feet!!
It was all about the Adventure!!
Murray Thomas Team Bridgedale
Socks.
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Adventure Racing World Championships: Back to the West Coast
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