Eco-Challenge
The Irish Eco
Gary Robertson / 06.11.2002
Was the race what you expected?
Yes, pretty much. We had prepared for a 10ish day race, and that’s what it would have been had we been able to continue. It was a fast start, then the pace settled, par for a race of this length. The biggest surprise for us was the lack of paddling early in the race, we had expected a paddling race, punctuated with other disciplines. I\'m not big on paddling, but would have enjoyed the ocean legs after the rain and mud of the jungle. I guess after the 4 day winning time last year, teams on the circuit knew a change was coming.
Navigation proved difficult, with lots of choices, but we had made a pre race decision to not bushwhack in the jungle. That proved invaluable when the temptation arose.
Was the change to a longer expedition-style race a good move?
I feel this was a great move, what I and many others wanted from a race. Not only did we get 10 days, but also many tough navigation choices, due to the CP’s being so far apart. As well as this we were warned that we would be on our own in terms of safety, with rescue not guaranteed, especially on the jungle legs. If you came to a swollen river, would you ford it? or a crag, would you climb it? It was up to each team to make sound decisions. We all have a certain outdoor background, and with the skills testing greatly reduced, we knew from the outset that much of the responsibility lay with ourselves.
What was the best moment?
After many hours of jungle trekking, with a visual range of 10 - 15 metres, breaking out onto the river stretching up to Vuwa falls was spectacular. The falls were about 800 feet high, roped and ready for us to jumar. Below us the river dropped away from about 1000 metres elevation to sea level. There was of course the scramble through 2 kms of van sized boulders to reach the falls, but that only added to the awe inspiring scene. The falls were shrouded in mist and framed by dense jungle on both sides. A truly spectacular sight, no comparison to any rope section I had witnessed anywhere else. Just magnificent.
What was the worst moment?
Finally admitting that we had no option but to withdraw from the race. We had climbed Vuwa falls a day and a half previously, and had only travelled about 5 kms since. Paul had developed that virulent jungle foot rot that hit so many teams. We had rested and discussed it, but we had no treatment. I did the map work and our next trek was around 50 kms, before the possibility of a rest on the bike leg. We had about 52 hours before that cutoff. It all sounds do-able, but Paul could not physically stand up at this point, we had to carry him to the truck to withdraw, and he was in a wheelchair for 2 days afterwards, that maybe explains how bad this was
SleepMonsters
