Come Hell or High Water?

Adam Rose / 05.12.2013

The rear of the field is going through tough times. With the first 4 stages proving so brutal, there have to be serious doubts running through the minds of those teams still stuck in the mangroves, let alone those who are just entering them. So far, only a handful have actually pulled out, which is a credit to the fitness of the teams. The question is, if you were stuck in the swamp, literally going around in circles, with no water sources to resupply, would you drop a checkpoint?

We are now into the fourth day, and those tail-end teams have not completed a third of the course - that happens when they reach the Superman zipline. If it were me, I'd take the long view: better to see as much of the course as possible than get bogged down over mangroves. Pun intended. 

There were 67 teams at the start. The current optimistic expectation is for 10 teams to hit every CP. Looking at the mangroves 70 hours in, there remain 28 teams still pushing against the tides. 

Team Dark Horse made that decision early, dropping CPs 15, 16, 17 & 18, taking the shortest route to T4. They've now made good headway to reach the Superman zipline, leaving their pack members many hours behind. They'll be fresher when tackling the mega climbs, and more likely to finish the huge trek.

Team Ducati dropped even more CPs, skipping from T2 directly to T4, avoiding the swamp entirely. A  wise decision, not only to enjoy the emotional benefit of being mid pack, but also to enable the staff to close down CPs that would otherwise stretch resources unnecessarily. We don't know if Ducati were encouraged to short course, or if it was their own decision entirely, but there was no way they would complete the entire course in time.

Team La Ruta lost a boat while sleeping on the first paddle stage, which meant officially they were disqualified, since each team has a specific set of kayaks - no spares. They were shuttled to T4. Then one team member was injured on the zipline, and had to retire. The rest of the team is continuing.

This brings up the real question: should a team continue when no longer in contention? It's a hot tamale, and obviously each team has to decide for themselves.

In the recent Bimbache Extrem, two top teams pulled out early, at the end of the second stage. One due to a missed CP, the other due to team injury, which meant no podium place was possible. Pascal Bahaud, RD of Raid in France, recently brought up this issue in conversation with our own Rob Howard and it came down to the spirit of adventure racing. Why do you race? If it's simply to get the podium, that's ultimately one's own business, but time and again, such a motivation risks missing the beauty of our sport, and in Pascal's opinion, limits its potential for growth. 

Adventure racing is almost unique in endurance sports in that it involves Relationship; the core is about sharing the joys and suffering of extreme challenges. This is what raises it above triathlon, xterra, ultra running and whatever else falls into the endurance category. If we can get to tick all the CPs, so much the better, and beat our competition, icing on the cake; but what is more important for many, is to enjoy fantastic experiences with some of your best friends. Competition is the petrol for the engine, but not the reason to drive.

I, for one, hope as many teams as possible do the full course, but over and above, that many more share the richness that Costa Rica has to offer, in a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Ranked or unranked.

Teams La Ruta, Ducatti and Dark Horse are doing just that. 

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