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Stats, wraps and thanks

Lisa de Speville / 05.07.2005

Teams, volunteers and all others involved with The Bull are making their way home. Away from the action I’ve now got a moment to reflect.

On our side we\'ve had long days and very, very late nights following the race from start to finish. Communications were often difficult, despite countless radio repeater systems scattered on mountaintops, because of the vastness of the Richtersveld region. At times news coming through was very sketchy but overall the main stories and tales of adventure squeezed through.

From the feedback already received, we\'ve had a successful race exposure. Here on SleepMonsters.com, the official online media support for The Bull of Africa, 102,765 Bull of Africa specific pages (in English) and 2,833 for SleepMonsters.com.br (in Portuguese) - up to midnight, 1 July 2005 – were served. From the English rankings alone, Bull of Africa has been their most viewed event this year and we are their 3rd most viewed event of all time! In addition, 693 messages were posted to teams (also up to midnight, Friday, 1 July). Wow!

From a media perspective, we send out volumes of work – articles and photographs – seldom receiving responses. It is like posting to a black hole. This is why we appreciate your support and interest – as is evident from these fabulous statistics. Our thanks to you for following The Bull online.

Work of this volume cannot be handled alone and thus I was proud to have onboard an enthusiastic, experienced and committed team. My personal thanks to my team, without whom one of this would have been possible; Alex di Suvero (photographer, USA), Craig Dutton (photographer, South Africa), Peder Sundtrom (photographer, Sweden), Mark Gray (journalist) with valuable assistance from Sean Frachets, Mark van den Bergh, Gawie Niewoudt and Richard Trou.

This has been an interesting and exciting event and plans are already underway for the 2006 event. Rumour has it that The Bull will be staged in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. Encounters with wildlife are guaranteed – but don’t worry, you’ll be kept far from the claws of ferocious predators.

Again, thank you and we look forward to The Bull 2006.

Lisa de Speville
Media Director: The Bull of Africa 2005

BULL OF AFRICA 2005 RESULTS

OFFICIAL POSITIONS

1. Merrell/Wigwam Adventure
   (US/NZ), 4-days 05:05
   
2. Mazda Salomon (South Africa), 4-days 09:04
   
3. Cross Sportswear (Sweden), 4-days 20:50
   
4. The North Face (UK), 5-days 15:54
   
5. Halti (Sweden), 5-days 16:43
   
6. DueSouth, (South Africa), 5-days 17:30
   
7. Martin & Scheepers / Pinegold
   (South Africa), 5-days 22:33
   
8. Nike ACG Endure (UK/Finland), 5-days 23:52
   
9. 180° Adventures (South Africa), 6-days 12:25
   
10. Speleo Explorer Salomon (Poland), 6-days 12:50
    
11. Energy (South Africa), 6-days, 22:44
    

UNRANKED

• Balance Vector (NZ), 5-days 04:30
  
• Cyanosis Powerade (South Africa), 5-days 11:15
  
• Jeep SA (South Africa), 6-days 14:16
  
• Tension Structures (South Africa), 6-days 14:16
  
• 8848 (South Africa), 7-days 00:13 on short course & unranked
  

WITHDRAWN

• FAAP Nokia Adventure (Brazil)
  
• Lagoon Bay / Century 2000 / Saucony (South Africa)
  
• Olympus (South Africa)
  
• Osiguranje Zagreb (Croatia)
  
• Sandown Mitsubishi Red Ants (South Africa)
  
• Sofrana Unilines (New Caledonia)
  
• Sterling Hilfiger (South Africa)
  
• Subaru USA (USA)
  
• The Thales Matadors (South Africa)
  

INTERESTING STATS (ranked teams only)

Fastest Overall Trekking/Hiking

1. Merrell/Wigwam Adventure (US/NZ), 38h03
   
2. Mazda Salomon (South Africa), 47h35
   
3. The North Face (UK), 57h25
   

Fastest Overall Mountain Biking

1. Mazda Salomon (South Africa), 22h40
   
2. Merrell/Wigwam Adventure (US/NZ), 24h50
   
3. Cross Sportswear (Sweden), 30h52
   

Fastest Overall Paddle

1. Cross Sportswear (Sweden), 07h20
   
2. Merrell/Wigwam Adventure (US/NZ), 07h38
   
3. Energy (South Africa), 07h41
   

Note: Many teams were caught on the river in the darkzone so we have no record of their actual time on the water

Fastest Transition Times

1. Mazda Salomon (South Africa), 06h20
   
2. Merrell/Wigwam Adventure (US/NZ), 07h58
   

Stats prepared by Mark van den Bergh

* Photograph by Alex di Suvero

ENDS

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