On the Road to the AR World Champs 2011 Part Two: Last Chance Saloon
Pat Kinsella / 14.07.2011
With the Adventure Racing World Championships (ARWC) now just three months away, the planet’s best off-road multisport athletes are running out of chances to book their place in the sport’s biggest annual event, due to take place in Burnie, Tasmania, in October/November 2011.In the last few weeks two additional names were added to the illustrious list of teams who are currently locked in to be on the starting line when the ARWC kicks off, when international qualifying events were run and won in Switzerland and Costa Rica.
Spain’s Columbia Spot team recently won the 2011 Costa Rica Adventure Race when they crossed the finish line at the Hotel Almendros y Corales in Playa Manzanillo after prevailing in an intense battle with fellow Iberians, Thermocool Buff.
After negotiating the final stage – which included a 12km trek and a 27km mountain bike ride between Playa Negra and Playa Gandoca – Columbia Spot finished the 800km race with a total time of 82 hours and 30 minutes.
Difficult sea conditions and darkness meant some teams were prevented from completing the kayaking stage, which led to their times being neutralized and opened up a real scrap for third place, with home team Gropo Orosi Costa Rica eventually completing the podium.
And previously, in the alpine adventure-playground surrounds of Interlaken in Switzerland, team Silva Gerber Adventure (whose ranks now include ex-pat Kiwi Aaron Prince) won the APEX event, and promptly booked themselves a ticket to Tasmania.
The race – which featured total elevation gain of around 15,000 meters – took place under the Eiger in the Jungfrau region and in the second half of the race, which took place at altitude, the weather gods turned against racers, serving them up a bitter cocktail of constant wind, rain, and snow.
<b>Silva Gerber Peak at APEX</b>
The dramatic stages of APEX included an ascent of the iconic 2973-metre Schilthorn (which only 17 of the 28 teams that started managed to complete) and the final leg saw one racer from each team paraglide into Interlaken while their mates ran down the mountain. The race turned into a close two-way shootout between Silva Gerber and R’Adys Black Diamond and at the end of day three, less than 30 minutes separated them.
The Swedes pushed through instead of sleeping at the last transition point, however, and secured an impressive four-hour victory margin. They’d only slept for 1 hour 40 minutes during the entire event.
The APEX race was a first-time event as an ARWC qualifier while it was Costa Rica's second year. Both have been deemed huge successes, with the natural attributes and variety or terrain proving challenging but popular with participants.
