Bull of Africa
Cross Sportwear complete the Top 3, Balance Vector notch an unranked 4th
Lisa de Speville / 29.06.2005
Mazda and Cross Sportswear complete the podium, behind Merrell/Wigwam Adventure (US), in 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
Coming in this afternoon, Cross Sportswear looked well and were happy with their placing. Unlike many other teams, they didn’t sleep last night, slogging through the final hike to reach their bikes just before 10h00. Late this afternoon I saw Petri Forsman walking through to his chalet and asked how he felt. “Body is tired but mind is more tired.� Finnish Forsman was recruited by the Swedish Cross Sportswear team and has spent the past 5-days speaking, listening to and comprehending Swedish.
Unfortunately Balance Vector can’t claim 4th as they are an unranked team. They have been racing with only 3-people; Nathan Fa’avae, Lisa Savage and Richard Ussher. Team-mate George Christison withdrew early on, battling severe flu-like symptoms.
Balance Vector, arriving at 22h00, was originally expected in hours ago. The reason was clear. “I think we broke the record for the most amount of sleep we’ve had in a race,� announced Fa’avae.
Interested in their route choice from the top of Cornelskop down to the jeep track I enquired, “Nathan, profound thoughts on the terrain and your path down from the summit? How’d you find a decent route?�
“We slept below the summit and waited for morning,� he answered. The whole team laughed conspiratorially.
“I actually set my alarm for 5am so that we could continue under moonlight. But when we woke it was really dark so I re-set it for 7am. When woke again at 7 the light still wasn’t quite right so I re-set it for 7:15.� Their laughter continued. “We got another 6-and-a-half hours last night,� Fa’avae said grinning.
“We found some pretty good campsites all over,� added Lisa Savage. “Actually, we found a really nice one but it was too early in the evening so we didn’t stay there.� From the gathered crowd a suggestion was presented, “You guys could do a book on the campsites of the Richtersveld�. Laughter, laughter, laughter…
Again, we wait. News received 2-hours ago was that Cyanosis Salomon have left the last transition. We expect them to arrive shortly after midnight.
Further back news is sketchy as most teams are on the 70km trekking section. DueSouth (South Africa), Halti (Sweden) and The North Face (UK) – all ranked teams – were spotted between 15-18km from the last transition. If they don’t sleep we may see them anytime between 05h00 and 08h00 tomorrow (Thursday) morning.
Martin & Scheepers/Pinegold should follow. But, as they were caught by the darkzone on Tuesday night there is a sizeable gap.
No word on the other remainind ranked teams, Nike ACG Endure (UK), 180° Adventures (South Africa), Speleo Explorer Salomon (Poland), Energy (South Africa), Osiguranje Zagreb (Croatia) and Sterling Hilfiger (South Africa). As the saying goes… “No news is good news�.
Sandown Mitsubishi Red Ants have been unranked for days after two of their team-mates withdrew. The pair of Nicky Wolff and Gerrard Booyens are still out on course. The pair is staying with a team. They were with Sterling Hilfiger on Monday.
Jeep SA are also unranked. They have raced with 3-people from the start when team-mate Piers Pirow was struck by flu the day before the start of the race. They are now down to 2-people. Jeannie Bomford fell off her bike injuring her left hand. A fracture is likely. She is now back here at base camp. Jeep had teamed up with Tension Structures who were also racing unranked with 3-people. At CP8, on Sunday, Evan Price withdrew. Also down with flu. When Bomford withdrew, Tension Structure’s Andre Gie also opted out. The Jeep and Tension Structures’ pairs will remain united until the end.
8848 are unranked and are also on the short course. After Carla Germishuys withdrew with knee problems they kept going. Like 8848, Lagoon Bay/Century 2000/Saucony (they can lay claim to having the longest team name) are also unranked and are on the short course. They too have 3 remaining team members.
This sums up Wednesday. We’ve now rolled over into the 6th day of the race; five 24-hour periods are behind us and now less than 48-hours remain until race cut-off at 18h00 on Friday night.
ENDS
SleepMonsters
