Appalachian Extreme Adventure Race 2005
New Leaders for the 2005 Appalachian Extreme
Tracyn Thayer / 23.05.2005
TA2 finally closed late Sunday night. Staff were waiting for team the final two teams, NEMO Equipment and Team 20-40, wondering if \"Finding NEMO\" would take on a whole new meaning?! At Transition Area 2, 6 teams were diverted onto an alternate course, teams 4, 8, 9, 12, 17, and 32.
After sustaining a significant lead for most of the event, the navigation, combined with the miserable weather, got the best of the race\'s leaders, Team Subaru USA, as they opened up their Satellite Phone and called for their support crew to come pick them up. They\'d been keeping a great pace, but seemed to have succombed to the elements. All teammates are fine, just a bit cold, and perhaps frustrated with some navigational errors.
Shortly after Team Subaru was picked up, Team Shooting Star Adventures called in on their phone to say they had hiked down from CP18, to the main road, and were ready to have their support crew called as well. It seemed as though several teams may have underestimated the weather, the difficulty of the map & compass reading, the multitude of route choices, the lack of trails, and perhaps were not carrrying enough food. No one seemed to have any specific injury, but were disappointed to have left the course.
In the meantime, Team Simon River Sports has pulled ahead and completed the paddling leg overnight. They arrived at CP27/TA4 around 9:00AM. The next closest 4-person co-ed team is approximately 6 hours behind. Barring a huge navigational error, team SRS is likely to be the 2005 Appalachian Extreme AR Champs. However, they found themselves in a similar situation at the App Extreme in 2004, leaving for the last leg with a healthy lead (over 5 hours!), only to be caught by ATP during the last tricky navigational sections. So, SRS is surely not celebrating yet! They have a tough 31-mile mountain bike section left to complete, and after some brief relief from the rain, the downpours have begun again. However, if all goes well for Simon River Sports, they should cross the finish line at Sunday River mid-afternoon today, Monday.
With Subaru USA out, only 5 teams now remain eligible for the FREE entry into the world championships, including ATP/Odyssey, Eastern Mountain Sports, DART, Terranauts, and current race leaders, Simon River Sports.
The finish line is prepared, and we all wait anxiously for our first FINISHERS.See All Event Posts
