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Race For the Podium Places

Rob Howard / 18.11.2005

At TA8 this morning it was busy. Port Nelson and Nike Balance Bar came in 4 minutes apart and then, after a half hour gap, the next 5 teams came in within 10 minutes. They set off down the Buller river and by the time they emerged under the road bridge at the junction with the Ohikanui River they had spread out a little more.

First to paddle into a small beach below the TA were Port Nelson, maintaining their second place and gaining 30 minutes over Nike Balance Bar on the paddle. “That was good, but it wasn’t long enough,� said Lisa Savage, “now we have to go bloody trekking again!� The team had a quick transition and set off in good spirits with Lisa clutching a large plastic bag of food for the long trek and despite heading into the bush they were all wearing shorts.

Nike Balance Bar took longer in transition, but didn’t stop to sleep this time. John Howard advised them to take small lights and batteries. “There is a good track on the far side,� he said, “and you won’t need sunscreen as you’ll be in the bush.� (By this time it was a hot, sunny day.) Then he added, “It’s going to be hard.� (He didn’t know that leaders Balance Vector took over 10 hours.)

“We need 2 water bottles,� said Ian Adamson. “There may not be any on the route.� Then he fired questions at John Howard about the route before the team set off, having their gear checked at the same time as Sierra International who’d come in behind them. Sierra needed to spend much more time binding their feet and Mark Minehan’s legs looked raw and scratched. Rachel Barton just said, “I want to get home. I want to get some sleep!� As they set off one of their support crew shouted, “It’s just a multi-sport race now mate!�

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