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GoLite/Timberland out of the race
Susan McKenzie / 16.05.2005
Early this morning, the Kiwi/American Team GoLite/Timberland joined Holofiber as only the second team to drop out of the race.“We came into the transition area (after the last kayak leg) thinking we’d really be able to make up time here, especially on the orienteering,� says Billy Mattison. “I was ready to just get out and there and keep going, but Aaron (Prince) said he really needed to sleep. So about two-thirty this morning I went into the teepee and said ‘Let’s go.’ Aaron got up and then went straight out and threw up everything. He just kept throwing up.�
The medical staff recommended that Prince stop racing and rest, but even after some rest the Kiwi racer was still feeling ill, so the team decided to stop.
“I guess that’s just part of racing,� says Mattison. “It’s really hard, but it happens. Yesterday, we had some trouble with the navigation on the bike leg, but now I think that was Aaron beginning to go downhill.�
GoLite/Timberland was among those teams that portaged into the TA, instead of paddling.
“I really wish now that we had paddled,� says Mattison. “It would have been much faster. That other river we paddled was amazing – the wildlife was incredible. We saw this herd of reindeer on the shore at one point. The next thing we know, they’re jumping in the water in front of us. They were so close to us that I could have put my paddle out and touched one of them. We had to stop paddling to let them pass. I don’t think they even knew we were there until they got into the water and then they were kind of nervous when they saw us because they just ran out of there.�
The team is staying at TA4 for the next while, as Prince recovers (and sleeps). But Anna Keeling and Billy Mattison hope to get out on the course later.
“I’d really like to do that mountaineering section,� says Keeling.
“And the ski section, too. Though I’d rather do it with some randonee skis,� adds Mattison.
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