Girl Power

Rob / 16.10.2003

There are a few adventure races and training camps which are for women only, and the biggest of them all, the Vittel Amazones, is taking place this week. (Oct. 15th – 20th.)

There are 70 teams of 3 taking part, and not a man among them to hog the map! The race is staged by ZBO (the wonderfully named, Ze Big Organisation) and seems to be touring all the delightful bits of the world France has managed to keep hold of since the days of empire. It took place in French Guyana in 2001, and on Reunion Island in 2002 and is now on another Indian Ocean island, Mauritius, with it’s “long beaches of white sand, stately cocoanut palms, turquoise blue lagoons and luxurious hotels …” You can see why this might be a popular race.

It’s not a tough expedition race in the classic AR mould, though it does take place over 6 days. ZBO say it’s not an ‘extreme sport’. It’s a stage race run from a base camp and as the stages are not too long teams have time each night to rest up, relax and socialise.

The race began with a colourful sail in local dug-out canoes and a 10km trail run through the jungle. Day two is a 35km cross country ride and run with some rope work, day 3 a 25km paddle, day 4 involves raft construction and archery, day 5 is a 15km trail run and the final day is a 12km canoe and finishing gala.

It all sounds like a lot of fun in the sun, though it’s very competitive at the front end of the rankings, and the race has an excellent web site with plenty of information (in English as well as French) and daily reports, photo galleries and maps so you can follow what’s happening.