Tecnu Adventure Racing Win the Costa Rica Adventure Race

Bob Miller of Tecnu Adventure Racing / 08.05.2012

Round 4 of the Adventure Racing World Series/ 4-5 day expedition race 500+km's

Disciplines: Sea Kayak, Trek, Mountain Bike, Ropes/Canopy, Horseback Riding, Tubing

My second crack at a 2012 AR World Series event with Tecnu Adventure Racing.  I'd been asked to join the team at the end of last year and after many conversations with Captain Kyle Peter I decided to give it a go.  We'd be joined by Brazilian Marco Amselem and fellow Canadian Liza Pye.  We raced 8 weeks ago at the Huairasinchi event in Ecuador and although we achieved a respectable 2^nd place the result was mainly due to attrition of other teams in dealing with the effects of altitude and our ability to persevere.  We'd been thoroughly spanked by 1^st place Team Nissan-Ecuador who'd bested us by over 8 hours.

However, the biggest concern coming out of Ecuador was our team dynamics and cohesiveness, which weren't optimal.  We'd spent time between the events discussing roles within the team and different factors impacting motivation.  The talks seemed to help and coming into Costa Rica we appeared more in line, however there were still concerns as Marco and Liza weren't seeing eye-to-eye on pacing strategies, belief in each others commitment and our goal of winning the event.

I was a bit worried this might cause strife on the course and sap crucial energy.  Nevertheless, we agreed to a strategy of pushing hard to take the early lead and hopefully opening a significant gap in to mid-camp where there was a 4-hour mandatory stop.  From there we planned to maintain, or at least hold-on to the lead until the end.  We've noticed in past races a lot of major gaps are made early in the race while later most teams are so pounded they're simply hanging on to the finish.  It takes a very focused and determined team to come from behind and push hard in the later stages of a race when the body is rebelling against forward motion.

Day 1: Prologue 3k, Kayak: 8k, Island Trek: 8k, Kayak: 16k, Trek: 75k, Kayak: 40k

5am race morning arrives and the heat is oppressive as we hand in our gear bins and bikes.  After a short prologue the race begins with a run down a pier, jump into the ocean and swim back to awaiting kayaks.  The first paddle goes well and we pull into the beach tied for first with Team Buff from Spain (not the World Champion squad from 2010, but a younger, less experienced line-up).  We'd pegged Buff, Team Bones from the U.S. and perhaps one of the local Costa Rican teams (Toyota, or The North Face) as the stiffest competition.

The island trek goes smooth navigationally and we opt to coasteer much of the way as the tide is out and we find we can make swifter progress on the rocky beaches versus the jungle and overgrown/non-existent trails of the interior.  Most teams stick to the interior allowing us to open a 45 minute gap. The ensuing kayak proves uneventful with a slight following sea and before we know it we're running into the longest trek of the race in staggering heat.

Shortly thereafter Kyle begins to complain of an enormous urge to pee, but an inability to produce.  Puzzled, we figure it could be the result of dehydration so we ensure he's drinking as much as possible.  We'll stop many times on this trek to douse ourselves in streams to try and cool down. Roughly 14k in and Kyle is seriously suffering, I take some weight, Marco tows and Liza pushes, without the help Kyle would later comment he wouldn't have been able to continue forward progress.

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