XPD 3rd Edition
You can't stop an injured adventure racer
Lysanne de Graaf / 29.08.2007
Many injuries surfaced within the first few days, often the most severe only serving to make teams more determined to push on and push through - usually defying medical recommendation to stop. The SAR teams had tough work convincing several of the worst injured to seek medical attention away from the race – it seems that team bonds and mental toughness can be almost impossible to break.
Within the second stage, a fractured collar bone, wrist and suspected ankle seemed to only further motivate three teams in carrying on, displaying remarkable heroics. Not all teams have relished the pain, probably highlighting those injured competitors with greater sanity.
There’s sanity and also a question of priorities at stake. Team 76 Touasazimut Team France suffered a knee injury before midcamp and weighing up the options and reality of their pace compared to their ambition, lost their knee casualty to enjoy a week at a friend’s beach house in Airlie!
The most exotic incident goes to team 20 Adrenalin Adventure TerraX. A kangaroo jumped into one of the bikes - the rider closely escaped a nasty injury by thinking quick and landing well.
While several teams lost a team member to injury and weakened motivation at midcamp, this also served as an opportunity for new alliances to form. Here the ‘French Connection’ saw five of the French competitors banding together to continue as well as a merge of teams Latitude 19 together with Fire, Ice, Dynamite and Holmesy.
Unofficial groupings have also developed along the way, where up to three teams have banded together for legs at a stretch. This demonstrates the intense camaraderie inherent in adventure racing frequently overrides the fierce competitiveness seen in other elite sports. Groups of teams are particularly useful in boosting morale and have been reported to be particularly beneficial on the bike legs – who’d pass up the offer to form an 11-strong peleton by day 6 or 7?
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