The Irish are Out

Rob / 17.10.2002

Another 5 teams pulled out in the first half of day 6 and sadly Bridgedale Ireland Salomon were among them. As their last shown position was PC6 it’s most likely they were pulled out by helicopter after making radio contact, as so many others have been. This is not the sort of course you can easily escape from any other way.

It’s a desperate disappointment for the team and all their supporters, and the first time an Irish team lead by Noel Hanna have failed to finish an Eco-Challenge. However, getting so far was a brave effort - the majority of teams didn’t last so long, not in this brutal race. For Paul Murphy in particular it’s been a tough baptism in Eco-Challenge and he’s not going to achieve his ambition to finish the course. A few mountain marathons and 2 Adrenalin Rush’s could hardly prepare him for this race in Fiji – no one was prepared for this!

Just 12 hours ago Team A-Tek were in 28th position but now there are only 27 teams left - and they are ranked 23rd. The latest team to pull out are Smirnoff Ice Playboy X-treme, the high profile ‘bunnies’ who’ve once again shown how tough they are. They are marked on the race leaderboard as the only ‘unranked’ team now continuing, which means one team member is out injured, or just couldn’t go on – but there may not be much of a distinction any more. (Showing no unranked teams could either be an error, or indicate the organisers have pulled slower teams off the course.)

For those at the back (which now includes A-Tek), and even teams in the position of The North Face Kona (now 13th) the middle part of the course is taking so long there is a danger they may not have time to complete it. Few now competing will have been on their feet in a race for this length of time, (even the leaders who are used to finishing more quickly) and fatigue and hunger will be slowing them daily.

The winners will take a week and the final sea kayaking and islands stage is taking them a couple of days. The race hasn’t announced any hard information (at any time), but before starting Keith Byrne reported the course closure would be 10 am on Oct. 21st (10 days after the start), so there may be a cut-off when teams reach the coast. Another option would be for the kayaking to be shortened as CP’s12 & 17 are in the same place on Vomo island – they pass it on the way out and back. As with everything in this race we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

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