AR World Championship 2005
Nike Balance Bar Takes Second Place
Susan McKenzie / 18.11.2005
After racing flat out for more than five days, Nike Balance Bar wasn’t going to run down Nine Mile Beach to the finish line.
“We’re a little bit tired,� Michael Tobin said as he strode down the beach, using a long piece of driftwood as a walking stick. The Americans also took advantage of the wind to sail down the beach – literally.
Mike Kloser was philosophical about his team’s second place finish at this year’s race.
“If we couldn’t win it, then there was no other team I’d rather see win than Balance Vector,� he said. “Really, my hat’s off to them.�
Plates of Eggs Benedict, bacon and hash browns were abandoned and lattes were left to grow cold as word spread that the team was approaching the finish line at the Bayhouse Café and Restaurant in Tauranga Bay.
“There were different levels of suffering on this race,� Ian Adamson told race director Geoff Hunt. “Thanks for that, Geoff.�
“And thanks for the weather,� added Mike Kloser, acknowledging the fact that compared to what might have been, the weather at this race wasn’t too bad at all.
“The weather last year was really hard,� said Monique Merrill, who raced as part of GoLite Timberland in last year’s Southern Traverse, which took place further south on the West Coast near Hokitika. “But this year was a lot harder in terms of navigation.�
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