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MacPac Hold on For the Win

Richard Ussher (Thule Adventure Team) / 30.04.2010

It was the last day and we tried all we could to get away from Macpac on the first ride but they were able to stay close. The ride was either up or down and rather different than the profile we’d seen but it was a lot of fun riding a 16km downhill. The 10 km uphill was somewhat harder though.

Onto the run we stayed together until about 5 km from the rest station where they made a small gap on us. We chased hard all the way but they just were a bit quicker on foot. The 15 minute rest station was a welcome relief before a mad dash 5km further to the kayaks.

The river was really low and took some navigating to avoid rocks. The river is full of limestone features and very pretty but it was fast becoming clear that Macpac were going to hold on for the win.

We still tried to keep the motivation up to keep things close. It was great to finally see the massive arch near the finish and there was a quick climb up some bamboo poles as the last adventure skill for the race. It was a relief that we wouldn’t be having to thrash our bodies again tomorrow.

Macpac raced flawlessly for a well deserved win. We had our opportunities but weren’t able to make it count when we needed to. Karl hung tough the whole race despite only being given 2 days notice.

[More to follow once have time to write. We are off in the bus now for the airport – yay 7 hours on another bus!]

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