The Final Stages of the Course

Rob Howard / 16.11.2016

We are now into the final stages of ARWC 2016 in Shoalhaven, and there are still 27 teams battling their way to the finish line, with the course closing at 13.00 Friday.  

There is still a lot to race for as finishing a full World Champs course is a badge of honour and pride for any AR team and those still out on the course also know that any teams ‘not likely to reach the finish line in time will be collected in vehicles from 06.00 Friday’. These are the teams who endured the longest, and suffered the most, and they won’t be taking it easy now – they want to reach the finish line under their steam.

The teams I saw today will be safe from the pick-up wagon, though they may still be out much of tonight.

I met up with the PNG Reunion team at CP44 on the final bike ride through the Morton National Park – a route which followed rocky fire roads through the forest for 99km. This is an all male team, so they are unranked, but that does not matter in the least, they are here for the expedition and the experience and want to get to the finish as much as any other team.

I asked about the team name and they told me they all had a connection to or lived in Papua New Guinea and were getting together after a long break from racing. I’d last seen them at the start of the kayaking on the Lower Shoalhaven River and they said, “You should have seen us coming in at the end of that kayak. We were close to hypothermic, and so were other several teams. It was a long time on the water and cold at night.  Thank heavens there were hot showers in the clubhouse at the end of the stage!” 

They added, “The race has been good like that, with showers in a couple of places and hot water at transitions. It makes sense as most of us are here for the experience and it means we are less likely to get exhausted or need rescuing.”

They were followed to the checkpoint, set up at an impressive cliff top viewpoint looking out over the forest and coast, by the US team REV3 USMES.  It wasn’t a smooth arrival however, 3 of the team rode up towards the look-out and realised they lost Jesse Tubb!  They turned round and went back to find him, discovering he’d opted to leave the big fire road and take a small footpath down the cliff side!

As he had the master control card he rode up to the safety fencing on the look-out, where red and white marker tape located the control punch, looked at it, and rode away into the bush, still searching.  His team called him back and Glen Gibson said to me; “He really needs a sleep now.”  That’s an understatement, all the teams still out on the course do, and by this stage just making forward progress and simple decisions is painfully slow.  

I’d witnessed this earlier in the day with the Chinese X-Trail team. They’d arrived at Narawallee Inlet where they needed to cross the coastal lagoon to get to the next checkpoint and it is a daunting trek across a wide expanse of water, starting with a swim in fast flowing channel.

The sat for a while, walked up and down the beach, sat, walked ... and this went on for an hour. They clearly didn’t want to set off swimming and it was only when nearby surfers and paddle boarders came to their aid that were able to start the crossing.  On the far side I asked a relieved and weary looking Wei Jun if he was looking forward to the finish and he replied, “Oh yes, yes.  It’s been so tough.”

All those still out on the course will echo that sentiment and as they struggle through the final stages they are longing for that finish line just as much as the Chinese team were earlier today.

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