Independent Networks Adrenalin Rush
Late Replacements
Rob / 25.05.2003
It’s very hard to get a team prepared for a big race, as many novice teams are finding out, and the last thing any team needs is an injury to a team member in the run up to the start. Four teams dropped out in the week leading up to the start, including Reebok Adventure from Sweden, who would have been among the favourites, and a team including Noel Hanna and Gary Robertson, who were on last year’s winning team.Very often the difficulty is replacing a female racer and Anabasis faced this problem. The team had put a posting on the SleepMonsters.com forum and Winnie Chang answered it on the Wednesday before the race. “I’ve been looking for a team for a while and when I saw this I was so excited, it’s something I really want to do.� She said. “I’ve never done any adventure racing before but have travelled a lot and have several expeditions planned. Recently I’ve been doing Royal Marines endurance course training so I’m pretty fit but am not totally sure what to expect here. I’m not too worried about the sleep deprivation, I do that in normal life anyway!�
Winnie was not the latest replacement though. Activ 8 suffered the worst of luck when Andy McCandlish was struck with an infection on the eve of the race. At his medical on Friday evening his resting pulse was 100 and Chief Medic Eithna Synnott said, “I knew he was feeling bad as he volunteered information, usually if a racer is under par I have to drag it out of them!� Andy slept but was no better when he woke up and both he and the team had to face the fact he wasn’t fit to race. Luckily Thorlene Egerton, who was here as a volunteer, agreed to race with the team.
Thorlene has raced in Scotland before at Red Bull Northern Exposure but is naturally nervous about taking part in Adrenalin Rush at short notice, anyone would be. “I’m excited and scared both at the same time,� she said. “Naturally I’m desperately sorry for Andy, as everyone is, but I’m delighted to get the chance to race.�
The late change gave the teams some work to do. Thorlene had little equipment with her, they had to swop bikes around and she had to go into Inverness to buy pedals as she didn’t have any SPD’s. Activ 8 will be on the start line, but they’ll have overcome more problems than most teams just to get there, and will face more challenges when they are on the course.See All Event Posts
