British Racers Around the World
Rob Howard / 23.02.2006
It may be a little quiet in the UK right now, but the SleepMonsters sites network is busier than ever, and in races around the world there is usually some British interest.The Iditarod Trail Invitational is about to start in Alaska and Andy Wilson is attempting the 1100 mile foot race and if he makes it he will be the first Brit to do so. Others, including Andy Heading have done it using bikes in the past.
It’s a big ‘if’ though, and Andy’s account of the course from his experience last year shows he knows that only too well what lies ahead. The route follows the historic Iditarod Trail used by the mushers in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and racers compete on mountain bike, skis or on foot and will be required to be self sufficient for long periods, and have the Arctic survival skills necessary to cross the Alaskan winter wilderness.
Our US site is carrying regular updates (the first time its been done for this race), and there will be a leaderboard on which you can follow Andy’s progress.
(A similar winter race was the Yukon Arctic Ultra which has just finished and which had a strong British entry, including adventure racer Katherine Hay-Heddle. Look under Race reports on this site to see those reports.)
Across the other side of the world the Australian expedition race, XPD, is now taking place with teams crossing the island of Tasmania in a race which could take up to 10 days. The race is in its early stages and we are carrying coverage of it on all SleepMonsters sites. Currently lying in 8th are Team Vicious Power with Ski Sharp, who is probably the most travelled UK racer of all. (He also recently won the Arabian Quest in UAE – see SleepMonsters.com.) With him on the team is Thorlene Egerton, who now lives in Oz but used to race in the UK with the Stobhill Roughnecks. She’d never met any of three team mates before the race!
