Raid The North - Sun Peaks
At the finish line with teams Banff Lodging Co dot com and DART/Nunn
Doug Doyle / 06.08.2006
The lead team, Banff Lodging Co dot com arrived at an unofficial time of eighteen hours and 52 minutes with DART/Nuun close on their heels at nineteen hours and five minutes.
The teams were in close contention from the moment the race began and the intensity of the race for the lead was clearly evident at the first transition when DART/Nuun ran into the TA and the first concern on their mind was how far Banff Lodging Co dot com was ahead of them.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, friends and family and crew, I was able to grab a few moments with Banff Lodging Co dot com and DART/Nuun underneath the finish line banner.
Banff Lodging Co dot com:
SM: Did you think you could race the course this fast?
Banff Lodging Co dot com: “We were shooting for twenty-four hours but things came together better than we expected. I think a main contribution was we made some fantastic route choices and when we need to put our heads down and get through a major grunting section, we just did it. We did what we had to do and we didn’t complain about it. We didn’t stop and think about possibly a better route, we just put our head down and did it.�
SM: Which ones were the grunt sections?
Banff Lodging Co dot com: “The big freakin’ uphill on the bike section.� “The hard part was going twenty-two kilometres uphill from the lake…especially in the end we did a lot of towing….but also, when somebody was hurting, we usually work together really well, we didn’t take off on them, we towed them through it, especially at the end we did a lot of towing.�
SM: I noticed during your transition your team worked well together with your support crew and there was a tangible sense of calmness but also a sense of urgency.
Banff Lodging Co dot com: “Yeah, it was a goal of ours to have good transitions and it’s a real killer (when you have a slow transition) when this happens, especially over a short race (well, relatively short race.)�
SM: So, what’s next?
Banff Lodging Co dot com: “Beer? Dinner?�
Thirteen minutes later, DART/Nuun crossed the covered walkway leading to the finish line and sprinted to the end of their race, arms raised and holding hands in celebration of nineteen hours and five minutes of hard racing for a second place victory.
SM: How was your race?
DART/Nuun: “It was the hardest 36 hour race that we’ve ever done in less than 24 hours….and there was a lot of devils club (during the trek) everywhere.�
We liked the first coasteering part, the water was actually warm too…we actually thought about swimming that part of the race.�
Banff Lodging Co dot com were there to greet DART/Nuun as they finished and joined in their celebration with congratulations and sharing of a cold beer to cool them down in the evening heat. The teams then turned their attention to the lure of a hot shower and change of clothes, secure in the knowledge they completed a hard, fast race on this warm Saturday evening.
SleepMonsters
