TNF - Heads, Hearts and Feet

Rob / 16.10.2002

There are only 48 teams still in the competition and they include 2 British teams and the only Irish entry. Apart from the Americans only Brazil and Australia have two teams left in, but any team out there is still up against incredible odds if they are to reach the finish line. After 6 days only 10 teams have made it to CP8, the end of the ‘packrafting’ and the start of the second mountain bike leg, and if the pace seems slow to those watching and it’s no doubt agonisingly slow for the teams.

Inevitably, the most likely cause of failure for those still struggling on is foot damage, as was illustrated yesterday by the mass retirement of Canadian teams. Dave Zietsma’s feet were reported as being “a mass of blood-filled, fungal blisters�, Bob Faulkner could hardly move forward and two members of ‘Running Free’ had feet so rotten they were given morphine.

How well the British teams have looked after their feet will be crucial, and The North Face Kona are experienced enough to know that. Keith Byrne finished the Eco-Challenge in Borneo in similar conditions a couple of years ago, and Anna McCormack finished the Raid Gauloises earlier this year despite the medics saying her feet were in the worst condition they’d ever seen. We can only hope they followed the advice of the most experienced British Eco-Challenge competitor, Sarah Odell, who sent this message before the start via the race web site: “Remember your feet!!�

Another team member who may be having a frustrating time is Pete James. He’s the navigator, a former international orienteer who can look at a map and conjure an advantage for his team – only this time teams are being given sketch maps and even drawing their own! But he’s resourceful and calculating and won’t let the situation get him down.

He is also a very experienced captain, but this time it’s Keith Byrne who has that title and the team dynamics are really untested, unless you count some romps around Ford Ranger courses. Anna hasn’t raced with the team this year, apart from with Pete in a disastrous attempt at the Primal Quest, and has often felt excluded from team decisions in big races. Norman Dunroy has raced with the other teams members all year, but this is his first Eco-Challenge and his reputation for keeping going when it gets really tough is being put to the ultimate test.

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