ARCTIC TEAM CHALLENGE 2005 RACE DAY 3 and 4

Arctic Team Challenge

ARCTIC TEAM CHALLENGE 2005 RACE DAY 3 and 4

Jesper Kunuk Egede / 19.07.2005

Brian and Allen of Jabberwock are the first people at the breakfast table this morning. Seeing Race Director Anders Stenbakken entering, Brian yells out: \'God, you look worse than I do and I\'ve aged 20 years over the past few days!\'
Allen also looks a bit beat, and even if the race is a lot harder than they\'d expected, both Brian and Allen are ready to start again today. Allen: \'We\'re 2Â½ hours behind the next team, but hopefully we get to close some of that gap today. We\'re as ready as we can be.\' \'Well, there\'s gonna be some tears on the glacier today - these legs are soo sore!\' says Brian, and checking out the map with today\'s race, he adds: \'C1, C2, C3...we\'re in for a bloody long day again today.\' When Anders teases \'Come on, it\'s not that hard\', Brian\'s retort comes promtly: \'If I could get up I think I\'d hit you!\'

Today\'s race starts with a mountainbike relay race. The teams have to go to the Lake 168. The relay race is 14 kilometers per team. After this, the teams are in for mountain and glacier trekking to the base camp in the Sermilik Fjord (\'The where?\' asked Giles Carter at the race briefing). This part of the race is 25 kilometers long.

Team Captain Gustav Brandt of Team Siku is feeling confident today: \'We know that I can\'t run a lot because of my respiratory problems. Now I\'ve found my pace and I think I can push myself some more. It\'s an advantage that we know the area. Yesterday, we made a navigational mistake but we still came in an hour ahead of ACG Ilulissat.\' And Johannes Lyberth adds: \'We\'re racing against the best teams. We\'re only 2Â½ hours behind the leading team. We can still catch up with them in the last stages.\'

After the first part of the relay race, we catch up with PÃ©tur from 66 North. \'You know the story about the American who jumped on to a bunch of cactuses. When asked why, he answered \'It seemed like a good idea at the time.\' That\'s how I feel today. I wouldn\'t mind, if the race ended after today. But we are really enjoying ourselves. We are not in the top 3 so we can take it easy and enjoy ourselves.\'

On day 3, PharmaNord/Inu:IT is once again the first team to cross the finishing line, increasing their lead over Saab/Salomon to 4 minutes and 25 seconds.

The trek across the island including the glacier trekking is tough, but beautiful. Brian from Jabberwock is out of luck and falls into a crevasse. He gets stuck in the crevasse and has to pick his way out of it, using an ice axe. It takes about Â½ an hour and that is really cold. On top of that, he also gets a pretty big abrasion on the back of his leg.

At night, a surprise is in store for the teams and the officials at base camp. Greenlandic popstar Angu, who recently had an MTV Nordic #1 hit, plays unplugged with his band at base camp. Most team members enjoy the concert before going to bed in the beautifully situated base camp. They need the rest before the last big expedition stage.

BEGINNING OF DAY 4
The last part of Arctic Team Challenge started today - the almost 150 kilometers long expedition race that will take the runners around most of the island.

8 teams started in the official race this morning. Brian Clarke of Team Jabberwock had to leave the race as his injury from yesterday on the glacier was taking its toll. So on his 34th birthday, Brian had to take the sad decision to leave the race. His three team mates are still in the race, but out of competition.

The expedition part of the race includes several stages with canoing, mountain trekking, glacier trekking and a lot of running.

We expect the first teams to arrive in Tasiilaq sometime Wednesday morning. The last teams will probably finish on the night between Wednesday and Thursday.

We will update www.atc.gl regularly.
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