XPD Expedition
S.A.R.T gunning for the money...
Nathan Burns / 02.03.2006
Concern had been mounting all day as the hours rolled on and still they had not reported in for the end of their longest kayak leg.
Members of the Red Trident team (also from Singapore) who had finished on Wednesday had been pacing the shoreline with officials for some time, willing the crew to make it in before dark.
Reports from other teams were sketchy at best, but the last sighting of the happy-go-lucky Singaporeans was somewhere around the Meadowbank Dam the night before. Then, just as the \'search\' van was gunning out of the TA carpark, along paddled the crew- smiling from ear-to-ear and laughing like they had not a care in the world.
The boys from Red Trident went ballistic, hugging and jeering them all in one. The officials breathed a sigh of relief and dutily marked down their TA time like they knew they were coming all along.
When asked where they\'d been all day, they simply replied, \"Oh, we slept in this morning.\"
And such is the fantastic attitude of Olivier, Fu, Ester and Yu from S.A.R.T.. Far from being cold, miserable and feeling the effects of running dead-last in the field, they spread their gear left, right and center, cooked up a leisurely hot meal and sat around chatting for a good two hours.
Gradually the conversation came around to their team name. Again, a simple response: \"Slow And Relaxed Team...with lots of emphasis on the relaxed!\"
It\'s refreshing and encouraging to see a team with such a fantastic attitude towards \'racing\'. Despite the fact that their race entry fee will be re-imbursed by sponsors IF they finish the race, still they hold not a care in the world with less than 22 hours to go and still a mammoth mountain ahead.
The true spirit of XPD lies with S.A.R.T- that is it\'s as much a fun and rewarding expedition, as a race.
SleepMonsters
