Team Four Continents<i>Andre Vogel from Australia is part of the Team Four Continents and has spent the last month training in Chile ahead of the Patagonian Expedition Race. Here he introduces his team and talks about their expectations and ambitions.</i><br />
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Thanks to the generous support of Ay-Up Lighting, Team Four Continents will be confidently navigating their way through the cold nights of Southern Patagonia next week during Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race.<br />
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Team Four Continents has the unusual distinction of having all four team members living and training on different continents. Tas Lawrie, an Australian expat living in Kazakstan put the team together (finally) in late 2010 to include Andre Vogel from Australia, Paulette Kirby from USA and Pavel Paloncy from Czech Republic. Though collectively the team has a wide range of experience in Adventure Racing across the globe, the first time they will meet will be in Punta Arenas, Chile, just a few days before the race kicks off.<br />
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The race is a true expedition. Racers receive no assistance as they traverse through pristine southern Patagonia by means of trekking, climbing and related rope work, kayaking, mountain biking, and backcountry navigation. They often cover hundreds of kilometers without seeing a soul.<br />
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Every edition features a unique route with competitors advance over plains, mountains, glaciers, native forests, swampland, rivers, lakes and channels; guided only by mind and spirit, but driven on by physical stamina and experience. Past racers have found themselves in the Southern Continental Ice Field, the Strait of Magellan, Torres del Paine, Tierra del Fuego, the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn. The land is diverse, the challenge real, the adventure untamed.<br />
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This year, athletes from Australia, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Japan, Denmark, Croatia, France, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Kazakstan, Brazil, Argentina and Chile will be taking part in the ninth edition of the race, which till now has explored over 5000 kilometres of Patagonian wilderness.<br />
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But for the members of Team Four Continents though, this race is about more than just going the distance. The opportunity to explore one of the most untouched, isolated and inspiring places in the world is what initially drew them to this race. But in the lead up to the event, the concept of challenging themselves and pushing the limits of their endurance in this extreme environment has become a strong focus for the team.<br />
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For Paulette, who competed in last year’s race, the drive to finish the race is stronger than ever. For a race that often sees less than half the field reach the finish line, the goal to make each checkpoint ahead of the cut off times is a race within itself and Team Four Continents team goal is to remain focused on maintaining a pace that allows them to finish.<br />
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For Andre, who is new to expedition adventure racing, simply spending as much time as possible in the wilds of Patagonia is the goal, “Maintaining our bodies to go the distance and avoid injury will potentially be the biggest challenge but with a positive team dynamic and focus on completing each stage at a measured pace, we believe we can complete the race.�<br />
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Pavel, who has a long list of wins at major AR events in Europe, agrees, “Why burn out trying to finish the race in 5-6 days, only to drop out after three? I am here to experience Patagonia and we have 8 days to do so. Last year there was over 90 hours separating the first and last teams to cross the finish line!�<br />
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And for team captain Tas, who has been the driving force in getting this unlikely team to the start line, “this race is the ultimate adventure race in the world! We have to do it!�<br />
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And so, after months of emails, frenzied gear checks and days and nights training on four different continents, Team Four Continents will finally meet on a fifth continent, at the southern tip of South America ready to take on the last wild race at the end of the world. [Ed. The team have now arrived in Punta Arenas for the race.]
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