ARWC 2015 Brazil - Pantanal
Thirsty But With An Unquenched Competitive Spirit
Wladimir Togumi / 17.11.2015
The heat had been one the main difficulties of ARWC Pantanal 2015 and the teams are suffering on each and every kilometer.
The race began with concerns about the long kayaking and pack raft stages in the vast waterways of Pantanal, but at present teams are struggling off the water, going into survival mode during the first trekking sections.
However, the difficulties started in the pack raft section. There were a lot of different raft types and those who made the right choice could get to the front of the pack quickly.
Rafael Campo (QuasarLontra) said he thought they could not finish the section because their maximum speed was about 1 km/h. They choose to go walking with the water in their chest, pulling the boats.
When asked about the animals underthe water, like stingrays, Marina Verdini said “At the time we really didn’t care about it”.
The beginning of the trekking section to CP7 was a sample of the Amolar ridge to come, and all the teams suffered, including Seagate. “The first day was very tough, the heat was so extreme it was hard to go on”, said Nathan Fa’avae. “We couldn’t race and we entered survival mode”.
“I'd never suffered so much in day one of racing before. I just hate the heat so much here. We are just taking one stage at time, looking after ourselves. It was a very tough day and hard to find good quality water.”
Some Brazilian teams got together to go up the mountain. “It was hard to find the path and we had to bushwalk using the machete”, said Thiago Bonini (Competition Aroeira).
His teammate said; “We felt a little insecure with the terrain and the animals.”
At CP8, after sleeping for about 1h30, Ruben Manduré (Uruguay Natural Ultra Sports) said they lost the bug spray and when they met another team, the first thing was to ask for some. Bug spray should be obligatory equipment, there are a lot of mosquitos.
Charles Triponez (R'Adys Team Switzerland) said they planned to cross the first trekking section in 8 hours, but they took about 28 hours. But this had not shaken his good spirit. “The race had been amazing so far. I used the machete for a long time and that was fun.
He had a big leaf attached to his backpack that he used to make shade and as a fan.
The most extreme situation happenend with Jose Elias (Kailash Brou Aventuras) who drank urine and asked for water when reaching CP7. “We ran out of water 5 hours ago and when I am in this situation, I pee in the bottle to use inthe last call", he said.
But he had another system to get water, too. “I put some leaves inside a plastic bag and attached it outside my bag. The leaf humidity turns into water with the heat.”
Curtlo Lobo Guará had two situations to have some water. The first one was not a good idea, said Rodolfo Portella. He had a buff in his wrist and tried to use the sweat to kill his thirst.
Them his teammate Pietro Carlo remembered the wet clothes from pack rafting that they put inside a dry bag. They twisted them to get some fresh water.
Despite all the problems the teams keep going. “This is the World Championship, is not for kids. Teams here know this is not a regular race so it has to be this way and a little more. It is a race for the best”, said Xikito (QuasarLontra).
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