The AR World Championships - Costa Rica
A Big Day at the Finish
Rob Howard / 10.12.2013
It has been a busy and exciting day at the finish line of ARWC2013 in Sarapiqui. In the very early hours of the morning South African team Merrell Adventure Addicts crossed the finish line in 5th position. They had run a steady and consistent race, conserving more energy for the finish and making less mistakes than others, and it was a remarkable result for a team who had to draft in a last minute replacement the week before the race.
Later in the morning it was time for Brazil to celebrate. First BMS Multisport crossed the line to take 6th place, and they were followed by Quasar Lontra/Kailash in 7th. With 2 Brazilian racers on the second placed Columbia Vidaraid team these finishes ensured Brazil was the most successful nation at this World Championships.
Both Brazilian teams had overcome difficulties in the final stages. BMS Multisport has spent 5 hours looking for a checkpoint on the final biking stage and one of the team was very sick, while Quasar Lontra Kailash also got lost, slept to wait for daylight, and like adidas TERREX they had to borrow a bike to get to the finish line.
There was a long wait then, and there was mounting excitement as the next full course team due in, and the first from Costa Rica, was Aerodiva. First however, some the short course teams got to finish the race. These were the teams who had set off on the big ‘Chirippo Trek’, but had not made the cut-off at TA8 in time. They were bussed round to the canopy tour to complete this and the final raft, before running across the finish line.
These teams included two from the UK, Endurancelife GB and Great Langdale Bunkhouse. Dave Spence from for Great Langdale Bunkhouse had no regrets about the choice to take on the trek. “We never even considered not doing it,” he said. “If we’d not made such a mess of the Mangrove paddle I think we might have made the cut-off, but in any case I’d rather go as far as we could and then move to the finish. In the end I think it worked out pretty well, we’ve been pushed to do as much as we can, but not completely beasted. I’ve really enjoyed it - nearly all of it anyway!”
Other short course finishers at the same time were Motley Crew from The Netherlands and Walhalla Specialized from Paraguay.
After they’d finished the tension grew as Aerodiva approached the finish line. In fact they approached it twice as they rode past it on the way to the end of the cycling stage, taking a different route to every other team. It may well have been quicker as the team are locals, coming from the town of Turrialba.
There was no mistaking when they were coming into the finish as the crowds on the road grew and a large helicopter started circling overhead with the film crew on board. The traffic stopped (mostly because of the helicopter) and most of the townspeople were reaching for their camera phones. Inspired by the welcome the team ran up the road at a good pace, holding the Costa Rican flag between them and on the line they collapsed into a tearful group hug. When they came out of the Costa Rican media descended on them and they will be on the TV and in many pages of newsprint tomorrow.
The team, who are sponsored by a helicopter company, have never managed to finish a previous Costa Rica Adventure Race, recording a DNF on two occasions. When the World Championships was announced they told Race Director Pongo Baker that they were going to train hard all year and there was no way they would not finish for a third time. With a slightly changed team they achieved and probably exceeded their ambitions, finishing in 8th place in one of the hardest world championship races ever. It’s a fantastic achievement for a team that has never raced outside Costa Rica. They’ve done their country proud.
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