The Wilderness ARC
Sneaky Feet and Decelerate
Rob Howard / 01.06.2006
Superfeet and Accelerate have had a close race since the start, with positions changing several times and both are now on the Grey Corries, completing the final trekking stage to the finish. They are expected to arrive tomorrow morning and unless there is a dramatic change Superfeet are going to win the battle between the two teams who have their own names for each other.
‘Sneakyfeet’ comes from a time when Accelerate were asleep and were quietly passed by their rivals, and ‘Decelerate’ is a reference to the teams ability to incur race penalties and let their rivals past.
This happened twice in the later stages of the race. First Gill Watson refused to make the deep water crossing at CP27 during the night. “I was already almost hypothermic,� she said, “there was no way I was going to cross.� The crossing came at a time when the team were moving very slowly and Watson was at her limit, something the marshals and her team recognised.
“When she started saying she could not cross or her pretzels would get all wet we realised she was not in the best condition to make decisions,� said Dave Brown who was supervising the crossings. “So I told them we’d bring her over on the kayak and they’d have a 30 minute penalty, instead of sitting on the far bank arguing about it for another 30 minutes. The instant we had her in the medical tent she was asleep and her team continued to make the crossing.�
Later on Watson arrived at another checkpoint some 20 minutes before her team ... and so the team had another 30 minute penalty to be served at the final transition, TA10 in Roybridge village hall.See All Event Posts
