Ecomotion/Pro 2008 Adventure Racing World Championship
A First Look at the Course
Rob Howard / 01.11.2008
It was not until the teams reached the town of Parnaiba that they were given the route book and maps for the race. This came after another long drive (4 hours) out through the sand dunes and then across country on a mix of dirt roads and tarmac. This was a chance to test their support crew navigation as there seem to be few landmarks and no sign posts! (Those who hired local drivers/translators were already congratulating themselves.) When they left the comfort of the vehicle air conditioning it was also the first time teams experienced the full intensity of the heat here – it was 35C in the shade today and by the time they received the route book they were focussing more and more on how to carry or find enough water.
Parnaiba is a large town and the meeting point was a student gymnasium, where there was plenty of space to lay out, study, cut and cover the maps. Their route books are slim, spiral bound affairs, clearly laid out with pictograms of activities and colour photos of the key transitions and key locations.
After another full morning travelling tomorrow the race start will be at 15.00 on Sunday, on the coast of the province of Maranhao in the ‘Parc National dos Lencois Maranhenses’.
The first stage will be trekking along the sand dunes, starting at Praia do Amor (The Beach of Love) and teams are warned to protect themselves from the sun and the wind blown sand. This trekking stage is 13km, followed by 87km of complex paddling in the Parnaiba Delta, which could take up to 20 hours. (There is also a 15km trek in the middle of the paddle beginning at PC5 where teams must spend an hour of rest time, during which the kayaks are taken to the end of the trek so the paddle can resume.) Throughout this long stage the teams will have no access to their support crew so it is a difficult start from a logistics point of view.
Teams will be using the sit-on-top kayaks provided by the race and this long stage will sort out the title contenders early on in the race. They are expected to have 3 tidal changes during the stage plus two crossings of Mangrove Channels and one of the Parnaiba river in native wooden canoes assisted by local boatmen. See All Event Posts
