The Sting in Stirling
In a Hurry at Grandtully
Rob Howard / 24.08.2012
Overnight the last teams gradually made their way back to Grandtully where they needed to get back into their canoes and onto the River Tay between 06.00 and 08.00.
The leading teams and those who have managed the short course comfortably were away early but as 08.00 approached the hall was still buzzing with activity as teams rushed to get on the water in time. It was a traditional ‘rush hour’, with everyone in a hurry and on a deadline, and moving as fast as they could – which is not very fast when you are exhausted and have a carry a heavy canoe.
At the end of the trek yesterday a couple of the teams who were still on the long course were forced to admit defeat. Endurancelife were collected on the road into the trek/bike transition, by which time they’d been reduced to a slow hobble. Jack Morgan’s leg problems had not improved. “It just got worse and worse,” he said, “until we ended up in a very bad place where I could hardly move and we struggled on slowly.” He looked very dejected, and around the hall there were a few athletes who’d had to pull out with the same resigned and weary expression.
FGS Superberry has also ground to a halt on the trek with Simon Enderby having severe Achilles problems. “He was OK running,” said team mate Ian Hughes, “but couldn’t walk and had no choice but to pull out. “ He was carrying on with Fiona McBryde and they were joining up with Ian Bottomley and Gary Davies from endurancelife to finish the race together.
One team who are still on the full course are Moxie Racers of Ireland (and Denmark), and they had only just made it into Grandtully in time to eat and transition before the deadline. “We are still on the full course,” said Chris Caulfield, “but have not slept in a very long time! We are doing it for Ireland!”
The 3 remaining members of Raid 74 had completed the trek OK, though only two could paddle as solos are not practical. Others had found the trek just too long. A stressed looking Joe Faulkner of Team Nav4 shook his head and said, “That was a very, very long trek. We took the straightest route we could, and I think we only saw one checkpoint, but it was the right thing to do.” They are still on the course as a team of 4 and should make the finish now.
As 08.00 drew nearer the hustle and stress increased and there was a real rush hour hold up as a row of teams carrying canoes down the road held up the traffic briefly. It was only a 200m walk to the put-in, but by this time it took all 4 of the team to carry a single canoe and that was a struggle, so they had to make two trips before getting on the water.
Everyone made it and the last onto the water were teams from France and Belgium. Now all the teams are on the canoe/orienteering stage, after which they’ll have the last cycle from Perth to Stirling to get to the finish line.
SleepMonsters
