|
After having held the above event in the Namib Desert around
Swakopmund (in Namibia) for the past two years, the organisers
decided to move the race to the Augrabies National Park area
on the Orange River (in South Africa) this year. This turned
out to be a good decision as most of the top South African
teams were represented at the race this year. The Namibian
pair of Russell Paschke and Coenraad Pool were at this race
for the 3rd consecutive year. After their 2nd place finish
in last year's event (on home soil), they were out to prove
that this was not a one off result.
From the outset it was apparent that this was going to be
a closely fought race amongst the front runners. With temperatures
in excess of 42 degrees it was clear that those teams that
paced themselves properly and avoided dehydration, would be
the ones fighting for top positions at the end of the race.
The race briefing and registration took place at the Khamkirri
camp on the banks of the Orange River on Friday 20 September
2002 at 20:00. After the usual introduction of teams and explanation
of the rules for the event, the teams were all handed the
race instructions and maps required for the event. The next
two hours were taken up by the teams plotting the various
passport control (PC) points, as well as the transition (T)
points, and then deciding on the best route alternatives to
reach these points. By midnight, most teams had finished their
route preparations and packed their kit for the first leg.
This meant that they would be able to have the "luxury"
of a 5 hour sleep before getting up for the start of the 1st
leg. For the front  teams,
this would be the last meaningful sleep for the next 40 hours.
The race started on Saturday morning at 6:30 with a 25km
paddle on the Orange River, which included a 3km portage section
where the boats had to be carried around a weir which could
not be paddled on the river. With the Orange River level very
high and flowing fast, this 1st leg passed fairly quickly
with most of the top teams together at the front. Russell
Paschke unfortunately capsized in one of the early rapids
and this meant that he and Coenraad were about 20 minutes
back on the leading group coming into the 1st transition.
Tommy van Wyk, a doctor doing his internship in Windhoek at
the moment, was together with them at this stage but opted
to slow down and take the race easier as it was his first
event. This turned out to be a wise choice as he was one of
only 7 participants of the 21 that started the race to finish.
The next leg of the race was a 60km mountain bike section
that saw the competitors having to pass through PC1 and PC2
before reaching the next transition T2. The temperature was
well into the 40's at this stage and it was already obvious
what affect it was going to play during the course of the
race. Sonja and Hano Otto of team Mazda Drifter made a wrong
turn and ended up lost for 3 hrs in the heat. This effectively
left them out of the race and Hano decided to continue on
his own simply to complete the course. This left teams Kinetic
(Johannesburg) and Energy (Cape Town) out in front with Richard
Starr and Nicolas Mulder (two solo entries) about a half an
hour back on them. Russell and Coenraad followed in 5th place
at this stage about an hour behind. They had unfortunately
relied on some local advice in getting to PC1 and soon realised
it was not that reliable and that they had in fact gone past
the point. After turning back about 4km they found the PC
point. After a disappointing start to the race, they decided
that from there on they would rely only on the map and compass
and their own navigational skills. This was a decision that
would pay dividends as the race progressed.
Coming into T2, Russell & Coenraad were now 1,5hrs back
on the two leading teams of Kinetic and Energy. The two solo
entries of Richard and Nicolas were also still about 30min
ahead. Russell and Coenraad both resisted the urge to push
the pace any harder to try to catch up to the front teams
as they were both aware from past experience how such an early
pace up front could catch up to you later in the race. After
a 45 min rest and packing of kit at T2, it was off onto the
next two legs, a 15km paddle on the Orange River followed
by a 48km hike. This really turned out to be a decisive leg
that took almost 12 hours to complete and started to shape
the race. Teams Kinetic and Energy were still pushing the
pace hard up front, but Richard Starr had started to faulter
and eventually ended up withdrawing from the race on this
leg. Nicolas Mulder made a navigational error and missed PC
4 allowing Russell and Coenraad to move into 3rd position.
By the time they reached T4 at 01:00 on Sunday morning, Russell
and Coenraad were 3hrs back on the leading two teams. After
having been non stop on the go for 18,5
hours, they decided to sleep half and hour before setting
out on the next leg.
At exactly 02:00, Russell and Coenraad set off on the next
leg a 65km mountain bike leg. This turned out to be a really
tough leg with numerous sections of thick river sand which
meant that the bicycles had to be pushed a lot. On reaching
PC5, they were pleasantly surprised to find Team Energy sleeping.
The early pace had taken its toll on them and they were suffering
the effects of dehydration and exhaustion. After clipping
their passport, Russell and Coenraad set off on the last section
of this mountain bike leg with the knowledge that the only
team in front of them was that of Kinetic.
On reaching T5, Russell and Coenraad were amazed to find
out that they had closed the 3hr lead down to 2hrs. The remaining
leg of the race, a monster 56km hike in the heat of the day
and through hostile terrain, would be the one that decided
the winner of the Desert Challenge for 2002. Before the hike
started however, all teams had to complete a rope skills discipline
that entailed a 95m abseil followed by a 80m climb to the
top of the canyon again. On completing this section, Russell
and Coenraad set off in pursuit of team Kinetic, 2hrs ahead
of them. At this stage, Coenraad suggested taking a route
that was approximately 6km further than the obvious direct
route to the next PC point. The reasoning behind this was
that it was along a jeep track as opposed to the direct route
up the river bed. This would mean that although it was longer,
it could probably be covered in a shorter time if they could
run some of this distance on the road. After agreeing on this
choice, they set off running the downhills and flats and walking
the uphills. By midday it was way to hot to continue with
this strategy and they decided to settle into a fast walking
pace. After what seemed like a lifetime, they eventually reached
PC7 after 5,5hrs. On reaching this point they were informed
that they were now only 55min behind the leading team. This
meant that in the last 26km they had halved the lead and were
closing.
The final hike of about 30km was turning out to be an exciting
prospect for the organisers and supporters. It became a case
of two teams giving all they had and it was simply boiling
down to whether team Kinetic could hold out, or would Russell
and Coenraad be able to close down the lead. At this stage
both teams were physically worn out and it was simply the
minds that had taken over. With 6km left to go to the end
and the sun setting, Russell and Coenraad crossed over the
game fence and onto the gravel road leading back to the finish
at Khamkirri. At this stage they knew that they were close
to the leaders, but had now idea of exactly how close. Suddenly
they noticed the TV camera crew ahead and were informed that
team Kinetic was about 2km ahead of them. On hearing this,
the adrenaline simply kicked in and they broke into a steady
jog for the next 5km trying to close down the lead. Unfortunately
for them, the same TV crew had also made Kinetic aware that
they were being chased down and this prompted them to start
running as well. At the end of the day they had just enough
left in them to stay out front and eventually finished the
race a mere 7 minutes ahead of a fast finishing Russell and
Coenraad. At exactly 19:42 (37hrs 12min) Russell and Coenraad
crossed the finishing line to a standing ovation from all
the organisers and support crew. They had ensured a nail biting
finish and it is unreal to think that after 37 hours of racing
over a distance of 240km, only 7 minutes would separate the
top two teams.
The difficulty of this event became obvious when the results
were analysed and it was made known that only 6 of the 21
competitors who started the race managed to finish the whole
course. A further 4 managed to complete a shortened course
after they failed to make the cut off at T4. These results
once again highlighted the brutality of this race and made
one realise that finishing this race was in itself an achievement
that all the competitors could be proud of.
|
