The Wilderness ARC
Few Team Changes Before the Start
Rob Howard / 18.08.2005
Injuries, other commitments, finances (or lack of them), can cause the best laid team plans to fall apart before even getting to the race, but for the first Wilderness ARC there have been remarkably few changes and withdrawals. With only a few days to go to the start (on Monday 22nd) there are 29 teams expected, with racers of 14 different nationalities, and with most teams keeping their planned line up.
International teams from the USA, France, the Netherlands and a Danish/Swedish teams are all now travelling to the race venue at Fort William, preparing to race British teams who have the advantage of familiarity with the testing Scottish terrain. There is also strong Irish entry, with 3 teams crossing the Irish Sea to take part, and like many of the British teams they are new to multi-day racing.
Of the more experienced British teams SleepMonsters.com, who have been on the podium for almost all UK races this year, have kept their regular line up. Dave Hooper and Chris McSweeny have experience of past Adrenalin Rush’s in Scotland, and are joined by Marco Ponteri of Italy and Sue Mitchell, who has just returned from climbing several 4000m peaks in the Alps. (Ponteri’s participation means they are not eligible for the British Championship.)
Two of the most consistent British performers on the international scene, The North Face and Aberdeen Asset Management, have had to make team changes. The North Face were most observers pre-race favourites given their track record, but an ITB injury to Astrid Wheatcroft left them looking for a female racer just a week before the start. Andrea Davison now joins the formidable line up of Keith Byrne, Ski Sharp and Tom Gibbs, though she has not raced with any of them before. Davison was due to race with the Scottish all-female team, SALTy Ladies, but they were the only significant withdrawal before the race (due to injury to others in the team).
SleepMonsters
