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The Course – “Only 30% may finish�

Rob Howard / 12.11.2005

While a 3D fly through of the course was displayed on a large screen Geoff Hunt talked through the World Championship course this morning. He described one bush trek he said was ‘hell, and I couldn’t do it, but I wish the teams luck and they’ll have to find a way�, a dark zone which could bunch up the leading teams on Thursday evening and a caving section where the problems will be “not physical, but in their heads�.

Then towards the end of the race on Friday there is a cut-off where it’s likely any teams not within 24 hours of the leaders will be taken out of the race. “As this is a World Championship there is no short course option there,� Hunt said, “so some teams are going to be very disappointed ... but in Southern Traverse we’d normally only expect 30% to get that far. Maybe more will make it as this is the World Championship and the standard is higher.�

Despite this he said it wasn’t the toughest course he’s ever set but it will take longer than a regular Southern Traverse and he expects the winners to finish around 2.30pm on Friday afternoon.

The full course runs for 428km, starting and finishing in Westport, with 15 stages, two cut-offs and two dark zones. It starts at 09.30 Monday morning, but quite how it will start will be determined by the sea conditions. In plan A teams will bike from the clock tower in town to Tauranga Bay and pick up their kayaks, but if the weather is too rough offshore they’ll have to run to another location and take a line closer inshore, or run all the way along the beach. That decision will only be made in the morning shortly before the start.

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