Amazonian Racing on Huairasinchi's 3rd and Final Day
Natalia Greene / 09.03.2011
Huairasinchi's teams were astonished to discover that ecosystems could change and temperature could drop so rapidly in such short distances.<br><br>Starting at the cold and rainy Andean highlands, with a snow covered Antisana volcano guarding some of the lost racers, teams descended down to the warm and humid Amazonian lands. Now teams understand why Huairasinchi 2011, is officially called the Water Route or Yaku Ñamby in kiwcha, since racers could see the water transforming from amazing water sponges in the highlands to waterfalls and rivers in the forest.<br><br>Team Apex Switzerland was wondering about the difference between jungle and rainforest, and they decided that you call it jungle when you are completely lost and rainforest when you are soaking wet ... many teams found themselves in a rainforest-jungle.<br /><br />After waking up early in the morning, teams had a long bike leg, in between which they crossed a very long Tyrolean traverse over the famous Jatunyaku River. They then switched to jungle trekking where they had to swim across the Arajuno River which was very high in the morning making it very hard to cross. It was a tough challenge for all teams, especially those with more than 50 hours of non-stop racing behind them.<br><br>The organization had to take many decisions in this leg due to the changing river, and because adventure category teams arrived early to the kayak section. For safety reasons they had to complete the last leg biking. Elite teams arrived about two hours after the first adventure teams, when the river was lower, and in spite of the rapids, it was safe to kayak. The first teams to get to the river were team Thule Adventure Team, Team Skandia Adventure, FJS powered by SAAB and Equipo Ecuador. During the kayak leg, teams had to complete a rope system that consisted of leaving the kayak on the shore, racing up to the bridge, rappelling down and falling into the river since the rope did not reach the river. Then swim to catch the rope at the other side of the river, driven by the river's current. The rope leg finished with teams snatching into the rope system, and ascending up to the bridge to then run back to the kayak and continue. 6km separated the teams from the finish line so leading teams forced a final running sprint to cross the finish line.<br />
<br />Huairasinchi's final day was amazing, warm, developing in the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon, with the unique detail that one of the CPs was operated by a local indigenous community, Shiwacocha, reached only on foot, where teams were received by the community in "Samuel's house" with chicha and guayusa (indigenous traditional drinks) for all those willing to share and learn about their culture. <br />
<br />International teams, look the time to take their cameras in spite of the running time to capture this exceptional moment.<br />
<br />The Organization had to take some difficult decisions during the race, the elimination of CP11-13 and the elimination of the orienteering section since one flag was off and it made it very hard to find, especially for the leading teams. <br /><br />The race total profile is described by the race director as an ideal route: it started at the highlands, at 3600 meters, went very high up to 4300 meters, rapidly descended 1500 meters and ended up paddling at 300 meters. This was very hard for many teams, especially international teams, but all teams recovered while descending to warmer lands. <br /><br />Huairasinchi 2011 had 15 international teams, it crossed 23 rivers, completed 9 legs in 360km, went from 4300 meters to 300 meters, from below 0°C temperatures to over 30°C. It visited highland communities and Amazonian indigenous communities, and organized more than 500 people counting team members, staff, rescue team, paramedics and support crews.
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