Southern Traverse
Changes Overnight
Victoria Warman/Southern Traverse / 10.11.2003
Icebreaker Bridgedale made up a lot of ground and have overtaken Team Omnigraphics during the mountain biking section. Both are currently about half way through the gruelling mountain bike section up and around Mount Allan.
First in at Transition Area 3 in Whare Flat just before midnight last night, Team Omnigraphics were in good spirits as they transferred from foot to mountain bike. They had predicted they'd complete the trekking section in about 12 hours but managed a very respectable 9.25 hours.
During the changeover scientists conducting the experiments to see how the human body reacts to endurance racing took blood and saliva samples and fitted heart rate monitors to the team.
As they attached GPS units to their packs, team member Eric Billoud joked, "Do you guys have anything else you'd like to add? I need a forklift to lift this pack!"
In the rest of the field, back markers Team Auto Point New Caledonia lost their way during the night but managed to find Checkpoint 8 at dawn. Team Southern Land Rover slipped down the field from third to ninth (and subsequently withdrew), while Team Ruahine Kayaks rose from thirteenth to seventh.
The night also claimed two victims - Team Sierra International have had to withdraw as Rob Harrow has a severe stomach bug. Adrian LaSalle-Low has aggravated an old hamstring injury and is unable to walk plus he's suffering from stomach trouble so has had to withdraw but his team will carry on without him to finish unranked. Both athletes were helicoptered out of checkpoint 8 on Tuesday morning.
Southern Traverse director, Pascale Lorre, said she was very happy with the way the race was running. "We weren't surprised to see Omnigraphics coming through first at Transition 3. They were looking good although Rachel's suspected broken fingers were obviously bothering her but she's a very strong racer and will go on regardless of her discomfort."
Day two will see the teams complete their tough mountain biking stage and transfer to kayaks at Outram by the end of the day.
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