The Patagonian Expedition Race starts today. Not sure if there will be live GPS coverage but there will be some info. The only Attackpointer I recognize is Jackson5 (Alex Provost) racing with the YogaSlackers. Godzone, East Wind and Merrell will be there, and two teams are mostly Canadian so I'll have to cheer for them too. :)
So far I can't find any info on live coverage and GPS tracking.
Remember them biking in that region a few years ago: people knocked off their bikes in the wind, unable to ride downhill...thankfully they only have to ride for 270 km. Shouldn't take that long...
Quote: "The wind could be felt buffeting the bus and after pulling past the small lighthouse at journey’s end teams felt its full force when they stepped off the bus. The blast was a shock and very rapidly they reached for any extra windproofs, hats, gloves, buffs and face coverings they had!"
I've just added a chart with Merrell's estimates for the different course stages in the first entry in this thread. This includes distances and disciplines so we can refer back to it.
It's only moderately interesting to watch a race online if there isn't GPS tracking for everyone. I guess PER sells out so the organizers don't care about attracting teams but you'd think they would care about attracting sponsorship.
That's great news! It was hard to believe a race like this wouldn't use GPS trackers for safety.
From the SM article: Yogaslackers were 1st to finish the opening trek and head out on the 272 km bike leg. East Wind was close behind. Godzone was back some distance in 3rd. They claimed not to be concerned and expressed surprise that the teams in front were going so fast in those conditions. However, team member Chris Hope had a root canal in Punta Arenas and was vomiting for 24 hrs before the start, so they may have wanted to go faster too.
OMG, the wind (which the area is notorious for) and that bike ride sounds way too long and bleak to be enjoyable.. Hats off to these folks who have signed up for a tough slog.
From PER Facebook around 1 a.m. local time. Note Godzone's 8-minute CP time compared to everyone else's.
Race updates from PC2 (Villa Punta Delgada) [after the first 86 km of biking]:
1. #3 Team YogaSlackers (arrival at 20:28, exit at 20:48)
2. #2 East Wind (arrival at 21:09, exit at 21:48)
3. #1 GODZone (arrived at 22:23, exit at 22:31)
4. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrived at 22:25, exit at 23:06)
5. #19 MOB Mind Over Body (arrived at 22:36 and retired for the night (sleep)
6. #11 Norcal Odyssey arrived at 23:25 and retired for the night
Remaining teams are still on the course to PC2.
From my experience, more often than not, calmer weather in the mornings. Maybe the winds overnight were just too much. I remember seeing something from Godzone suggesting that they thought they MIGHT be out for two nights. If they were thinking that way, then I'm guessing they suspected having to hunker down.
Also, remind me: the "maps". The ones we see online are what they get? I know PER is notorious for general maps. Just wondering if I'm mistaken thinking they are navigating off the same maps we see.
So (from Mary's link above): Jason Magness of the 1st place Yogaslackers can't see out of his left eye (gack!) and it doesn't sound like he had a physical injury. Maybe frozen cornea? That has happened to one of my friends, who lost her vision for about 8 hours. You have to be pretty bad ass to keep on racing when you can only see from one eye.
And it sounds like Jackson5 needs some rest or electrolytes. Nice to see that our Canadian friend makes dental hygiene a high priority. ;)
Seems like decent time for the Yogaslackers to knock out the bike. Wonder if the wind wasn't as bad as it could have been? Is it possible they were far enough ahead last night to avoid rougher winds closer to the water? Interesting that 5th and 6th both slept considering Yoga's progress.
Hope Godzone's physical issues don't prevent them from running their race. Seems like this might be their strategy and they might creep up, but notable health issue too...Interesting start!
The top two teams had eye issues at CP5. Merrell arrived in 3rd, 8 hours behind Yogaslackers, followed shortly by Godzone. Chris (Godzone) is better now but Warren and Jari are sick. A stomach bug is going around the team. Nick is healthy so far. The teams left the CP together.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
Yogaslackers and East Wind have completed the long bike stage and started the 76 km trek. Yogaslackers had a large lead but made a nav error near the end of the ride, so it's closer now. According to the article, "Jason Magness of YogaSlackers confided in the Race Director that he felt they’d made some poor choices and pushed too hard early in the race."
Canadian Team Mind Over Body is in 5th. Two teams have already withdrawn during the long bike leg. U.S. team PRS Fit had a teammate who was badly dehydrated, and U.K. Team T.B.C. is out after a teammate injured her elbow in a bike fall.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
From PER Facebook: Team #18 The Green Sentinels arrived at PC5 at 21:12 but has retired from the race due to receiving external assistance on one of the bikes. They will rest for the night at PC5.
From PER Facebook:
Race updates from PC5 (Villa Tehuelches) at 1:15 a.m. local time:
Unofficial results:
1. #3 YogaSlackers (arrival at 10:25, exit at 10:40)
2. #2 East Wind (arrival at 13:50, exit at 14:10)
3. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 18:34, exit at 19:19)
4. #1 GODZone (arrived at 18:36, exit at 19:19)
5. #19 MOB Mind Over Body (arrived at 20:01, exit at 20:32)
6. #11 Norcal Odyssey (arrived at 17:25, exit at 22:04)
7. #20 Sherpa (arrival at 22:55, exit at 23:59)
8. #6 Mila Finland (arrival at 23:08, resting in camp)
9. #9 Team Patagonia Germany (arrival at 23:13, resting in camp)
Next SM article (not much news except for SM, unfortunately). CAMPZ Adventure dropped from the race during the long bike section. I feel for the 4 teams (>20% of the field!) who only got to experience the windy coastal trek and part of the long bike section, which sounded unpleasant and monotonous. The next trek is expected to be 1-2 days without much, if any, media access.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
According to PER Facebook, Jason of Yogaslackers is no longer blind in one eye. Good! It looked like Jackson5 was navigating on the bike. Good thing they have two navigators.
That last SM article makes this all sound just too unpleasant. This seems to be a common theme in the last several big races... or maybe the race reporters like to focus in on these stories and make it all even more dramatic. And maybe PER is no place for a rookie team to start out... Fingers crossed for team Mind Over Body. I think this is their first adventure race. It sounds like anyone who toughs it out to finish that first bike ride will likely want to get through the rest of the race.
I agree Carbon. I don't mean to say that people shouldn't try, and credit to those that do, but this race has a very clear history of wrecking the inexperienced and unprepared, often in the first 24-48 hours. Actually, this race has a very clear history of doing the same to most of the teams that are experienced, it just takes longer with some of those teams.
I guess I am always amazed that every year a handful of really green racers show up and are willing to commit so much in the way of resources. Again, credit to them for trying, but I personally wouldn't approach a race that requires that much time and money in that way when it has the reputation like PER does.
I also wonder about whether I as an RD for such a race would even accept such teams. We thought the same thing in Alaska this past year, feeling bad and concerned for some of the racers/teams that clearly were having a hard time and getting into perilous situations because of less experience. Heck, we were in over our heads at times and wondered if we should be out there!
Tough to balance the desire to just go for it with setting yourself up for real success.
Brent beat me to it. As crazy as it sounds the trekking legs will be much harder than riding into a headwind for 272km. They'll be much colder and much slower. 1km per hour is fast in the turbal.
Race updates from PC6 (Puesto Correa) - bike/trek TA:
17 Feb
1. #3 YogaSlackers (arrival at 14:55, exit at 15:58)
2. #2 East Wind (arrival at 16:57, exit at 18:07)
3. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 22:17, exit at 23:13)
4. #1 GODZone (arrived at 23:33, exit at 00:23)
18 Feb
5. #19 MOB Mind Over Body (arrived at 01:37, exit at 07:42)
6. #11 Norcal Odyssey (arrived at 08:07, exit at 09:00)
7. #6 Mila Finland (arrival at 08:10, exit at 08:57)
8. #9 Team Patagonia Germany (arrival at 09:41, exit at 10:50)
9. #4 Vaucluse Aventures Evasion (arrival at 12:10, exit at 12:40)
10. #20 Sherpa (arrival at 12:54, just arrived at 15:04)
11. #17 Patagonia 4 Barth (arrival at 14:15, exit at 15:05)
12. #7 Kaweskar (arrival at 15:04, exit 15:40)
Currently leading in the race is team #2 East Wind. They have trekked through intermediate checkpoint Paso Hambruna and dropped second position team #3 YogaSlackers behind them. At the rate they are going, they may reach PC7 Rio Primero in the early hours at 3am. Will they catch up on some sleep (they only slept for 2.5hours the night before) or continue with the transition to bike through the next 110km?
Team #16 Campz Adventure lost their way from PC3 to PC4 and got picked up by the race organiser.
Team #10 Osedea decided to not continue on and retired at PC4. No injuries reported.
News on the final teams to transition from bike to trek. Team Sherpa of the U.S. travelled 15 km along a fence because they thought it was illegal to cross fences, as it is where they come from. (Where are they from in the U.S.?)
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
The Merrell Facebook page is trying to match their GPS track to the race maps and their time estimates. That's the most detailed race coverage there is right now!
https://www.facebook.com/MerrellAdventureAddicts/?...
I know the MOB guys pretty well. They have put in SO MUCH training and are so completely physically prepared for this. Their challenge will come in the tricky nav and all the little details that you manage to iron out with experience. I hope for them that they have an amazing time and that they come back to Canmore in one piece! It was pretty ambitious of them to head down to this wild race!
Impressive race so far for East Wind. Considering the competition behind them, it's tempting to think they are going too hard and that Godzone will reel them in, Yoga will reclaim the lead, Merrell will move up a s they almost always do...but Godzone is hurting and seems to be a ways behind, and I don't know whether Merrell has the Patagonia experience to climb all the way up. And Yoga seems like they know they went too hard.
Feels like East Wind is really clicking. Would be great to see Yoga win, but I also think it would be amazing to see East Wind take it. I think Tanaka is an under-appreciated member of the AR community. He might not be an Adamson or Kloser or Fa'avae or Benincasa, but he's been around since the early Ecos when he and his team carried one of their teammates for the last trek in Australia. His team is so consistent and like Fa'avae he is the one constant. Hard to say, I'm rooting for them both, but I'm impressed with how EW has run the first half of this race!!
For those not on Facebook, here is this morning's update. Local time is 2 hours later than Toronto/NY.
DAY 4 race updates on 19 Feb, 10:40am.
As previously reported, all teams have arrived at PC6, the Bike/Trek transition point and are now en route to PC7. Last team to arrive at PC6 is #12 Spirit of Poland. The next 76km trekking section from PC6 to PC7 is filled with forests, mountain climbing and peat bogs, so progress of the teams is expected to be slow. Some of them would probably have caught up on some sleep in the night. Cut off time for PC7 is 21 Feb, 7am.
However, leading team #2 East Wind remained unstoppable. After sleeping for 3 hours last night, they arrived at PC7 Rio Primero this morning (18 Feb) at 8:10am to finish the second trekking section, and had left for the second bike section at 9:22am, en route to Puerto Natales now.
Merrell estimated 10 hours for the MTB section that East Wind is doing now. Racers pass through Puerto Natales enroute so this is a chance to buy food.
Next up is a 6 km paddle across Ultima Esperanza Sound, which can be very rough. There is a dark zone from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. so East Wind will be hurrying. The race description says that teams cannot be on the water between those hours, which suggests there may be an earlier cut-off to start paddling.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rvVMI9sRorI/TRXob4z9VoI/...
So...if Merrell is correct: East Wind would finish the bike around 7:30 PM, give or take. Break down bikes, dry-suit up for the paddle. Probably out on the water between 830 and 9.
I'm not on FB, so don't know if Yoga has emerged or maybe they have anyway and no news? But it seems like EW has a massive opportunity to take a stranglehold on this one. They can afford to bank several hours of sleep and get several more hours ahead after the Sound. Of course,Yoga and maybe a couple of others might get a full night sleep, so they'll perhaps be fresher. But major chance for East Wind if they put enough time on Yoga.
And I can't see any other teams making up enough time on the trek to be in the mix for making the dark zone tonight.
No news except this: "The weather is worse today with very high winds which will make their [East Wind's] next cycle ride harder." This dark zone will make things interesting - although it would be much more interesting with GPS tracking!
Haha! For this race, I am doing Facebook and Sleepmonsters tracking. The Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge, which starts tomorrow, will hopefully be more interesting to watch, and lots of AP friends are there!
This race is notorious for cancelled water sections and/or nebulous application of rules surrounding water cut-offs/DZ's etc. I THINK that is driven by the relentless winds and heavy reliance on the coast guard (who may have other priorities) for water support. Teams that base their race strategy on water dark zones could be very disappointed... that is to say, you could very easily show up at 17:00 and find the water 'shut down' until 'sometime tomorrow' or you could show up at 03:00 and find out it's cancelled altogether ... 'carry-on'. It's unfortunate and frustrating.... but not as frustrating as the arbitrary application of time credits when these things occur. :-)
Despite the 'sound' of this post, I am a fan of both this race and the venue!
Earlier at 14:39 leading team #2 East Wind arrived at PC8 Puerto Natales after having completed 68km of the second bike section in 5hrs 17 min. Their stopover was only a quick 17 mins to fuel up and stretch the crying muscles. PER crew stole the opportunity to interview team member Michitomo Yamakita, who was still looking fresh even though the team only slept 1.5 hours in the first night and 3 hours yesterday.
Oh dear. Misfortune has befallen team East Wind. From Patagonia Expedition race facebook page:
DAY 4 race updates on 19 Feb, 19:17. It is with regrets to inform that captain of team #2 East Wind, Masato Tanaka, had unfortunately fell from his bike at around 18:10, 3hr 15 min after they left PC8, at a location about 17km from PC9 Estancia Perales. He incurred some injuries that rendered the team to call for help from the race organiser. Rescue team was immediately activated and Masato is now medically attended to. More information will be disclosed when the race organiser has the details. For now, all the best to Masato and team East Wind!
Oh boy...PLEASE don't tell EW that I pissed off the AR Gods...I'm so bummed for them...and it sounds like Jason might need that new hip in Puerto Natales...Merrell or Godzone? Or MOB? Or Norcal?
Google-translated from Japanese on East Wind's web page. Naturally, Tanaka apologizes for his nasty accident.
____________________________________________
Mountain bike section of the second time, CP8 to arrive in 5 hours 17 minutes at the 68km point. Take the rest of the 17 minutes, was aimed at CP9. 4.5 hours in total sleep time is up here.
However, the accident has occurred here.
At 17 km in front of the PC9, Masato Tanaka, because of a fall from the face, was a nasty blow to the right shoulder and nose. Apparently was whiplash neck, does not stop for a while is numbness of the thumb of both hands, bleeding many circumstances from the nose, but about 1 km is had continued to race caught a bike, is badly pain, call the medical team , I decided to go to the hospital.
As a result of shooting X-ray in the local disease, he was diagnosed with nose fracture. The pain will remain, but the other is that of a no abnormality at the moment.
Unfortunately, East Wind of the race came to the end here. A world powerhouse in the back, but was a victory stand that was about to grab barely, while this time unfortunately, did not stand there.
To everyone that he will cheer, and apologize for any concern, really sorry.
It has given us send warm cheer Yale, I thank from the bottom of my heart.
Not be meet the expectations, there was no excuse.
From PER Facebook. Sounds like Godzone has moved into 2nd.
Night of race day 4 has fallen. There are 12 remaining teams out there in the course. All but #1 GODZone Adventure team and #3 YogaSlackers are still in the trekking section to PC7. Teams still in race are (**not listed according to positions**):
1) #1 GODZone Adventure team
2) #3 YogaSlackers
3) #4 Vaucluse Aventures Evasion
4) #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts
5) #6 Mila Finland
6) #7 Kaweskar
7) #9 Team Patagonia Germany
8) #11 Norcal Odyssey
9) #12 Spirit of Poland
10) #17 Patagonia 4 Barth
11) #19 MOB Mind Over Body
12) #20 Sherpa
Retired teams:
1) #2 East Wind (en route PC9)
2) #10 Osedea (PC4)
3) #14 Team T.B.C. (PC2)
4) #15 PRS Fit (PC2)
5) #16 Campz Adventure (PC4)
6) #18 The Green Sentinels (en route PC3, picked up to PC5)
Looks like Merrell (only team with a GPS tracker) is sleeping at CP7, the TA between the 2-day trek and the 110 km bike ride. After 3.5 days of racing, they arrived half an hour before their time estimate. Someone screwed up. ;)
[Edit: Looks like their SPOT tracker is showing me times from my time zone - so they were actually 84 mins late. Still pretty amazing this far into the race.]
SM article: GODZone was trekking with Merrell for awhile. Jari is still a little under the weather but the team is doing much better than they were. They started riding before Merrell arrived at the TA.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
And another SM article, this time about East Wind. Masato Tanaka is out of the hospital now. He fell shortly before 18:00 on a downhill just 300 m from a good road.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
“Masato tried to call SOS but he couldn’t understand the Spanish so he sent a message to his wife Sue in Japan. Sue sent an e-mail that Trish sent to me and I called the ambulance and activated the insurance. Stjepan and Anthony went out to him and he is in the hospital in Puerto Natales where they are checking his injuries.”
Canadian team MOB is in 4th now (despite the way they've posted the rankings). GODzone slept well and was advancing on Yogaslackers until they were just 1 hour back - then the weather got too rough for kayaking.
From Facebook (where Broots and FB can't see it!):
DAY 5 race updates on 20 Feb, 10:08.
PC7 (Rio Primero)- Reference cut-off time is 21 Feb, 07:00
1. #2 East Wind (arrival at 08:10, exit at 09:22 on 19 Feb)
2. #3 YogaSlackers (arrival at 16:20, exit at 16:54 on 19 Feb)
3. #1 GODZone Adventure (arrived at 18:36, exit at 19:10 on 19 Feb)
4. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 21:54 on 19 Feb, exit at 06:57 on 20 Feb)
5. #19 MOB Mind Over Body (arrived at 22:03 on 19 Feb, exit at 06:06 on 20 Feb)
6. #11 Norcal Odyssey (arrived at 23:24 on 19 Feb, exit at 07:11 on 20 Feb)
Teams yet to arrive at PC7 are:
#4 Vaucluse Aventures Evasion
#6 Mila Finland
#7 Kaweskar
#9 Team Patagonia Germany
#12 Spirit of Poland
#17 Patagonia 4 Barth
#20 Sherpa
PC8 (Puerto Natales)- Official cut-off time is 21 Feb, 12:00
1. #2 East Wind (arrival at 14:39, exit at 14:55 on 19 Feb)
2. #3 YogaSlackers (arrival at 21:22, exit at 21:42 on 19 Feb)
3. #1 GODZone Adventure (arrival at 01:52, exit at 04:24 on 20 Feb)
Teams en route to PC8:
#5 Merrell Adventure Addicts
#19 MOB Mind Over Body
#11 NorCal Odyssey
PC9 (Estancia Perales)- Official cut-off time is 21 Feb, 18:00
2 teams (#3 YogaSlackers and #1 GODZone Adventure) have arrived at PC9 this morning on 20 Feb. At 07:12, YogaSlackers embarked on the first 6km kayak section to cross the Ultima Esperanza fiord. Second position team GODZone Adventure, however, was not so lucky. At 08:15 as they were ready to launch their kayaks at Estancia Perales, bad weather seized superiority and the team was forced to enter a neutralized time, where their race time would be paused until the Army and race organiser deem the situation safe enough for them to cross.
Wow, MOB is really in the thick of the excitement with some very experienced teams! Way to go MOB. So sad to hear about EastWind after their impressive lead.
Latest story from SM. Looks like GODzone may be waiting with neutralized time until tomorrow. The concern for most teams will be having enough time to finish the race, regardless of whether their wait time is neutralized. Weather is really bad. Most teams are still on Leg 3, the long trek. Turns out Yogaslackers were held up because they'd put necessary gear into bike boxes, which they'd been instructed not to do, so they had to wait before paddling. Not too long, since they were on the water at 7:12. Doesn't sound like they would get a time credit though.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
So, in addition to sleepmonsters, EW Facebook confirms they are restarting. Their post vaguely implies they might be official? Hard to say...can of worms there, but exciting! -broots masquerading as abiperk...
"At 12:55, PER crew spotted a phenomenon in the city of Puerto Natales that's pretty unusual of an adventure race. Team #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts didn't immediately check in at PC8, instead they checked in at a local laundry shop to have their sleeping bags machine dried! These bags were soaked from the wet ground so they thought it's worth the extra effort to have dry sleeping bags again! After loading the gear into the dryer, Captain Graham Bird said, "We're going to check in at PC8 now and return an hour later for the bags." That's pretty clever strategy too!"
DAY 5 race updates on 20 Feb, 13:41.
PC7 (Rio Primero)- Reference cut-off time is 21 Feb, 07:00
7th team to arrive is team #6 Mila Finland at 11:55. They are still resting up at the camp.
PC8 (Puerto Natales)- Official cut-off time is 21 Feb, 12:00
2 more teams arrived!
4. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 12:59, exit at 13:05)
5. #1 M.O.B. Mind Over Body (arrival at 13:07, currently in camp)
So, it seems like Yoga might be at a massive disadvantage here. Hard to tell exactly what time they all arrived and such, BUT: It doesn't seem like there was a big gap between Yoga and Godzone at PC9. Yoga gets through the dark zone, but they are wrecked and not much sleep. On the clock.
Godzone is now benefiting from almost 24 hours of rest. Sounds cold and wet maybe, but they get to do it off the clock. So, assuming they can restart and paddle in the AM, they will essentially only be a couple of hours or less behind Yoga but likely moving far, far better. Especially if the day of rest can help them get healthy. I wouldn't bet against Godzone if all they need to do is make up 1-2 hours and they are fresh. And I'm guessing Yoga won't be happy about that.
I would love to know what time East Wind arrived at the boats. If they can somehow resume their blistering pace from the first half, who knows how high they can still finish?
Now, what if they can't get on the paddle at all and effectively are on an alternate course? Yoga just needs to cross the line to win? Will Jason' hip allow for that?
Really exciting race. Imagine if we had trackers and more coverage;)
Team #2 East Wind is back in action. Yesterday it was reported that captain of leading team East Wind, Masato Tanaka, met with a bike accident on the way to PC9 Estancia Perales. He was brought to the hospital for evaluation and was concluded to incur a broken nose bone and some minor injuries. But he was discharged from the hospital this night.
Judging from the situation, the remaining team members speculated Masato could not continue with the competition and thought this was the end of their race. However, after rested for a night, Masato made a request to Race Director, Stjepan Pavicic, the next morning asking if they could return to race without violating any race rules.
According to rule article 39, if a team received assistance from the race organiser, they could be penalised or disqualified from the race. After Stjepan's evaluation of Masato's case (together with a doctor's approval that Masato can continue with the event), the Japanese team eventually received the green light to continue with the bike course today at where the accident occurred.
While the request was approved, the team’s race time did not stop since yesterday, which equates to a time penalty of 21hours 40mins (from 17:40, 19 Feb to 15:20, 20 Feb). The team understood the rules, and took their return with pride. Even though they could not be in the lead, they were happy to have the opportunity to continue with a race they are truly passionate for. True sportsmanship indeed!
East Wind back in the race, as we've discussed - restarted today (Saturday) at 15:21. "I have covered four of Stjepan’s races and this is the first time that I have seen the race director show an emotion. He choked up and looked down and the interview was over."
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
GODzone spent most of the day waiting by the ocean in a tin shed with no doors or windows. They would have made it onto the water in time but Jari was sick in the night and they had to stop for an hour. East Wind arrived in 3rd place, then Merrell, then MOB.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
Mila Finland is out and sleeping at CP7 (sorry, Sovijarvi!)
Sherpa is out too and didn't get to CP7.
CP8 (Puerto Natales) in/out times as of tonight:
East Wind in 14:34 out 14:51
YogaSlackers in 21:22 out 21:42
GODZone in 01:52 out 04:24
Merrell Adventure Addicts in 12:59 out 13:05
M.O.B in 13:07 out 13:33
NorCal in 13:33 out 13:50
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
From SM: The 2nd through 6th place teams started kayaking around 7 am. Teams will be held at a hostel at CP13 to correct for the neutralized time. This means Yogaslackers have a huge rest coming up. Also, the weather isn't great today but it will be worse tomorrow so the RD advised teams to hurry.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
Bash can you help me understand. They froze the time for the teams who were held up meaning the clock will restart once on the water... Some of those guys had almost a day rest right? So how does that work if they take less time to finish the race from the kayak to the end than the Yoga? Which would be expected since the yoga didn't rest... Are they gonna stop the yoga for a day to make them start again an hour before godzone? I'm very confused trying to follow this race (same with Maya Mountain knowing that two trackers aren't moving :/)
It IS confusing! Yoga will get a super long rest at CP13. Later teams will be released from CP13 at the same time intervals at which they arrived at the start of the kayak. At least that's how I understand it.
Note that there is another kayaking stage from CP12 to CP13. If bad weather continues it may be that the time neutralization puzzle gets muddier before the correction happens at the CP13 hostel.
Also, who knows where Yoga is now, BUT...looking at the crumbs, looks like Merrell has covered the same amount of distance in 10-11 hours less time than Yoga did before their tracker stopped. Doesn't bode well for Yoga?
Norcal isn't much slower than that. I'd have to guess that Godzone is about as fast as Merrell if not faster. MOB maybe running around Norcal?
East Wind? I guess we'll find out how severe Tanaka's injuries were. If he has bounced back well and they nav and move close to what they did on the first big trek, they might be leading the lot of them. Maybe not though, but I imagine they wouldn't be too far from Norcal if they are just moving forward instead of racing?
All said, considering the time Merrell and Norcal have made up, I worry about what's going on for Jason's hip.
Today's Facebook updates for anyone who isn't getting them:
DAY 6 race updates on 21 Feb, 11:27.
PC7 (Rio Primero)- Reference cut-off time is 21 Feb, 07:00
#17 Patagonia 4 Barth (arrival at 23:54 20 Feb, exit at 5:12 21 Feb)
#4 Vaucluse Aventures Evasion (arrival at 10:50 20 Feb)
PC8 (Puerto Natales)- Cut-off time is 21 Feb 12:00
#17 Patagonia 4 Barth (arrival at 11:25, resting in camp)
NEWS
Yesterday evening, team #20 Sherpa had asked race organiser for evacuation as they ran out of food and the tent was broken en route PC7. This morning, a helicopter from the Chilean Air Force was activated and the team's condition was evaluated at a local hospital. All team members were safe with no injuries reported.
3 teams- #7 Kaweskar, #9 Patagonia Germany, #12 Spirit of Poland remained out in the race course en route PC7. Race organiser has not received any calls from them in need of assistance.
DAY 6 race updates on 21 Feb, 19:54.
After 132 hours into the Patagonian Expedition Race 2016, only 7 teams remain in the race. Here is the preliminary race results and ranking of each team as of their arrival time at PC9 Estancia Perales:
1. #3 YogaSlackers (20 Feb, 00:55)- 88:55:00hrs
2. #1 GODZone Adventure (20 Feb, 8:20)- 96:20:00hrs
3. #2 East Wind (20 Feb, 17:10)- 105:10:00hrs (including 21hrs 40min post-accident lost time)
4. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (20 Feb, 17:40)- 105:40:00hrs
5. #19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body (20 Feb, 18:12)- 106:12:00hrs
6. #11 NorCal Odyssey (20 Feb, 18:50)- 106:50:00hrs
7. #17 Patagonia 4 Barth (21 Feb, 16:50)- 128:50:00
At PC7 (Rio Primero) - cut-off was Feb 21 at 7:00:
#9 Team Patagonia Germany arrived at 21 Feb, 14:24
#12 Spirit of Poland is still en route PC7
DAY 6 race updates on 21 Feb, 21:46.
Chilean team #7 Kaweskar was being evacuated earlier in the late evening at a location approximately 20km from PC7 (Rio Primero). Team captain, Abelardo Escalona reported to race organiser that female team member Dennis Alarcon had a medical condition and required assistance. The Chilean Air Force executed evacuation work and after being evaluated at the local hospital, Dennis was reported to be in a non serious condition.
It includes a photo of Masato Tamaka in a kayak, doubled over in pain from his injuries.
And it tells the harrowing story of Team Sherpa - cold, wet and out of food on the first long trek but unable to reach organizers by satellite phone. They called family members in Connecticut who were able to reach the race organization!
And it mentions that Jason of Yogaslackers phoned the race organization this morning to check on some logistics. Apparently, satellite technology makes this possible but you can't call for rescue in an emergency. ;)
YellowBrick message from Rob Howard 5 hours ago: "Waiting at PC12 - Last Hope Camp is set up in dense forest on the shore as protection from the wind. If visibility is good there are superb views across to Balmaceda glacier. Weather is now turning bad and winds rising. Expected bad weather all day tomorrow- hunkering down."
I don't know if East Wind are Mad or Stupid to continue but I'm impressed anyway! Indicative of the Japanese spirit. Team is everything. If I had found AR when I was living out there I might have been out there with them. This race is starting day 6 and there is still a way to go. Is this always the case for PER?
Was hoping that, by some miracle, we would see some reliable tracker action when I got up this morning....but no. Hopefully, there will be news today, as teams reach PC 12.
According to the PER facebook page, no teams have yet reached PC 11.
Team #17 Patagonia 4 Barth was the last team to arrive at PC8 yesterday noon, just 48mins before the official cut-off time at 12:00. SleepMonsters seized the opportunity to quickly catch up with them and check out their conditions, before the team was determined to continue their way to PC9 Estancia Perales. When Wilfrid Grossoeuvre was interviewed, he said, "This is the first time that I’ve oriented in a primary forest. The scenery was spectacular and it was also the first time I navigated using only azimuts. The distances were so long that sometimes in the middle of the night I wondered if I had it right and then we hit a gully and I knew that I was spot on. It was incredibly satisfying to leave the little blue race markings behind and get truly out in the wild. We rarely have a chance to do this, anyplace in the world. There are no paths out there, not a single one. I’ve been in Mongolia and I didn’t even have that experience there.” Patagonia 4 Barth is now the last team on the 3rd trekking section to PC11 Worsley. No team has yet arrived at Worsley at this time on Day 7, 22 Feb, 11:00. #PatagonianExpeditionRace2016 #Patagonia4Barth
Merrell is really moving well, and it looks like they slept for the night, so fresh. I'm wondering if we might see them or Godzone sneak into PC11 before Yoga (if they are able to report from PC11, I'm assuming we will hear). If not then, maybe they overtake Yoga by 12.
Indeed! Looks like they activated the tracker at the CP based on the breadcrumbs. Presumably this means we will see the same with MOB and East Wind when they arrive.
Maybe the same for Yoga unless their battery is dead and the staff can't fix at the CP.
Maybe we'll get an update soon too about CP 11 times?
Also, this really brings into question the idea of stopping people at CP 13. If Yoga is getting passed by a team (or 2 or 3 or 4) even with a 20+ hour headstart, what does this mean for the plans to stop teams at CP 13? Just don't see the logic here, and it seems to just add more complications to an already tough situation.
You cannot fix the reality that Yoga went out un-rested on this big trek. Between rest and injury, they clearly are moving so much slower than everyone else. If you stop everyone again you just add further questions about forced/timed/untimed rest. I really don't see the logic. Also, it seems that everyone is more or less in the order they came into CP 9: Godzone - Merrell - (Mob/East Wind somewhere in there) - Norcal - Barth...so why the need to stop them all again?
The only thing that made sense to me when this first came up yesterday: I did see the value in stopping Yoga off the clock and allowing them to get free rest everyone else did. But I think it would have made sense to stop Yoga on the other side of the water, let everyone else come across and restart everyone.
Now, I have to think Yoga is going to be really bummed when they find out they gave up so much time, and I imagine they will wonder about how fair it was to be allowed to move on without such free rest. At this point, I don't know that free rest at CP 13 will help them nearly as much considering what has happened in the last 36 hours.
Only done it once (2009). We went into it expecting some of these experiences based on feedback from previous races and we did in fact experience pretty much everything you have seen happen here, including the weather. (I have never been sooo cold for sooooo long!!). Talking to Helly Hansen after the 2010 race, they said it was much 'easier' with fewer 'hiccups', but I think that was largely a result of hitting an abnormally nice/warmer-drier weather window.
Being held off of water that was well within our ability to paddle was infuriating at the time, but in retrospect understandable.
The way some of the stoppages were accounted for/enforced was difficult to comprehend, but it looks like they have learned a few lessons there. It will never be perfect in a venue such as this.
The remoteness, ruggedness and 'lack of support' that is hard on the teams is something that is difficult to find anymore in AR and it is not' for everyone.' This is a tough place to organize a race and I recall thinking it was very low cost to enter. Sounds like they had money in this one for extra safety boats, so the cost may have gone up?
... I think the weather follows Jari (Godzone)... she was there in 2009 :-)
From Facebook half an hour ago (no mention of CP11, unfortunately):
DAY 7 race updates on 22 Feb, 12:19.
Team #12 Spirit of Poland has finally made their way to PC7 at 10:46 this morning, after having spent about 2 days out on the trekking course from PC6. No injuries have been reported. They will be transported back to Puerto Natales by the race organiser's vehicle.
At present, there is no more team left on the course before PC8. Only 7 out of 18 teams are still in the competition, equating to 61% DNF rate at this point. All of them are on the third trekking section between PC10 (Antonio Varas) to PC11 (Worsley). This section is one of the toughest parts of this year's race course and teams are given until 23 Feb, 21:00 to arrive at PC11.
Remaining competing teams (not listed according to ranking):
1. #3 YogaSlackers
2. #1 GODZone Adventure Team
3. #2 East Wind
4. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts
5. #19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body
6. #11 NorCal Odyssey
7. #17 Patagonia 4 Barth
GODZone seems to be moving really well. Sure, it's downhill, but if you're sore, that usually hurts more. I wonder if they got news of Yogaslackers' whereabouts - ahead or behind - when they passed through CP11.
Or maybe they're just in a rush to get to CP12 and start the 17 km kayak as soon as possible. The CP13 hostel is at the other end of the paddle and that is where Yogaslackers are supposed to be held to wait for GODzone and other teams. Agree with Broots - how can this possibly work? But I understand why organizers preferred teams to wait in a comfy hostel.
Weather info from Puerto Natales including wind. Looks like there will be enough wind today to trigger a small craft advisory back home. This is some distance from where they will be kayaking though.
http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/puerto_natales
And it's official... GODZone is in the lead but they will not be allowed to start kayaking from CP12. More neutralized time.
DAY 7 race updates on 22 Feb, 15:43.
PC12 (Last Hope)
Team #1 GODZone Adventure, champion of 2013 edition, who has been low profile but with constant progress over the past few days, finally overtook all its rivals and is back in the lead again! After reaching PC11, Worsley, at 12:46 this afternoon (22 Feb), the team rested for a short 7mins and cleared the next 10km to arrive at PC12, Last Hope, in a swift 2.5hours. Due to bad weather condition today, the team will once again be induced neutralised time where their race clock will stop until the weather is suitable for them to set off for the final kayak section. This photo shows the panoramic view of the Last Hope Fiord (Última Esperanza) where PC12 is located. The teams will cross this spectacular fiord in the final kayak section, towards PC13 Hosteria Balmaceda.
Organizers say that the teams' trackers will be checked at CP11 and repositioned if necessary, as apparently happened with GODZone. A Delorme Inreach tracker has an estimated 100-hr battery life while tracking so the Yogaslackers' tracker is probably positioned badly. It is possible (although not likely) that their tracker wasn't fully charged. Organizers would have had extra trackers available from DNF teams by that point so they wouldn't need to send a lead team out with an undercharged tracker.
Facebook: "The Polish team, Spirit of Poland, is the last team on PER to finish the 76km trek. They arrived at CP7 at 10:46. The team had missed the time cut-off yesterday at 12:00 but were determined to finish the section. They have been transported by car to Puerto Natales"
From the start of the 1st kayak section at CP9 to the start of the 2nd kayak section at CP12 took GODZone about 33.5 hours.
Yogaslackers left CP9 more than 60 hours ago. If they've made it to CP11, their tracker wasn't activated or repositioned properly. I hope they took enough food.
This is a 56 km trek that Merrell had estimated would take them 28 hrs moving time + 14 hrs of sleep. Wow - I assume some of that sleep was intended to be in the TA, although they also have 1.5 hrs of TA time in their estimate. See top of this thread for their chart.
Thinking about the neutralized time subject a bit has me wondering why this is being done? Bad weather is bad weather...if you miss the good weather window for a paddle or climb (darkness?) or coasteer (darkness or tides?) and others move fast enough to get through before the "bad" descends, your team pays the price for your slower pace, but you do get to sleep and rest, which is also a potential benefit.
It's a tough call on the neutralized time. The water can be so dangerous in any race and particularly this one due to the cold and the abrupt and drastic condition changes. Because of that I think they often err on the side of EXTREME caution when shutting down the water. So now you have a problem where you stop teams that are fully capable in the water under extreme conditions, because in all likelihood some teams are not. The safest AND fairest way to deal with it is to stop the clock, but I can assure you it is a tough pill to swallow when you're standing on the shore anxious to race.
If there was a specific criteria for water conditions then I think it becomes part of your race strategy and you do your best to monitor the conditions and adjust your plan. Unfortunately it's a judgment call and what you think is very moderate conditions may be deemed too dangerous to continue. In some years the coast guard gets called away for another priority, which could cause the water section to be shut down (lack of safety boats) under perfectly reasonable paddling conditions.... so is it fair to penalize teams for that.. or reward chasing teams?
This race is unique and all you can do is pay very close attention during pre-race briefings and ask very detailed questions. The more experience you have in remote expedition races the better 'clarifying questions' you will ask. Never assume what is common in other races will automatically apply here. (EG. I will never understand stopping the clock if a team shows up during a dark zone... I can accept that once the dark zone ends the clock could be stopped if teams are held up)
One way RD's can minimize the issues being experienced here is to have potentially dangerous water sections at the beginning or end of the race. Not always conducive to putting the 'best' course together tho...
SM article - GODZONE saw the Yogaslackers on the trek!!
'We passed them earlier,' said Bates, 'and they looked really beat up. We were surprised how under-equipped they were with no floor to their tent and not even a stove for any hot food or drinks. They were low on food too so are having a hard time.'
...
"Nick got the ice axe out at one point as we were slipping about like dogs on roller skates."
...
"CP12, called the Camp of Last Hope, isn't the most comfortable place to stop as tent spaces are hacked out of the forest and they are very small and on ground which is littered with forest debris. However, the team managed to get the tent up among the trees and fallen logs and are now resting and waiting to see who else will arrive at camp tonight and if the weather will allow them to continue with the second kayaking stage in the morning."
Apparently GODZone reported to CP11 that Jason's hip was bad so that continues to be an issue. According to Yoga Facebook: "Their tracking device is still not working even with new batteries. They will receive a new one at CP13." So we won't see them for awhile.
Team Patagonia 4 Barth started the trek from CP10 early this morning but turned around at 1:30 p.m. and retreated down to the treeline. They got there at 2:45 and didn't continue to CP10, which is only 5K away downhill through forest. I guess they're just camping and waiting out the bad weather with the hope of continuing.
Also from Yoga Facebook: "The weather last night was extremely intense. I cannot imagine all teams on the mountain can do much more than hunker down inside their tents and wait for the weather to clear."
New update from PER Facebook page... MOB has finally appeared!
DAY 7 race updates on 22 Feb 23:58. PC11 (Worsley) 1. #1 GODZone Adventure (arrival at 12:46, exit at 12:53) 2. #3 YogaSlackers (arrival at 19:09, exit at 19:15) 3. #2 East Wind (arrival at 19:17, exit at 19:20) 4. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 19:34, exit at 19:36) 5. #19 M.O.B. (arrival at 22:05, exit at 22:10)
PC12 (Last Hope) 1. #1 GODZone Adventure (arrival at 15:25) 2. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 22:15) 3. #2 East Wind (arrival at 22:31)
All teams that arrived at PC12 will stay in camp tonight as the weather earlier was unfavourable for GODZone Adventure to kayak and the time now currently overlaps with the Dark Zone (no kayaking allowed from 22:00 - 6:00). Weather will be further assessed tomorrow.
YogaSlackers' and M.O.B.'s tracking devices are not picking up signals due to unknown reason. Their units will be replaced upon arrival at PC13 (Hosteria Balmaceda).
Teams en route PC11 are #11 NorCal Odyssey and #17 Patagonia 4 Barth. #PatagonianExpeditionRace2016 #TheLastWildRace
From sleepmonster's Facebook "Team TogaSlackers have finally made it to CP12, the Camp of Last Hope. They have truly had to grit their teeth, Jason Magness in particular: "Sometimes the pain is so bad I just have to stop and rest for a bit, and that’s why we took so long on this trek".
The clock just ticked on 8:03, exactly 168 hours into the 11th summer edition of the Patagonian Expedition Race. This time last week, the race started at Faro Dungenes, the connection point of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Within a week, teams trekked, cycled east to west for over 450km to cross the 2 oceans. 4 exceptionally strong teams made their way to PC12 Last Hope, a name that probably best describes the current sentiments of the battled racers. Jason Magness from YogaSlackers is having alot of pain in his hip he needed to trek aided in the last 10km. Masato Tanaka from East Wind, is enduring a significant amount of discomfort from the injuries incurred in his earlier bike accident, the team is considering to retire when they reached PC12. Each team captain has his dilemma and needs to seriously assess their own situation to make the best and wisest decision for their teams. At least one good news is, the weather remains unstable today for the teams to set off in their final kayak section, meaning they will potentially have another 24hours of rest at PC12. This precious, yet critical, 24hour will determine how much recuperation, both physically and mentally, the teams can make to decide if they continue on or retire from the Last Wild Race!
PC12 (Last Hope) arrival times: 1) GODZone Adventure (arrival at 15:25, 22 Feb) 2) Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 22:15, 22 Feb) 3) East Wind (arrival at 22:31, 22 Feb) 4) YogaSlackers (arrival at 00:48, 23 Feb)
Teams #11 NorCal Odyssey and #17 Patagonia 4 Barth remain on the course between PC10 and PC11. Team #19 M.O.B. is still en route PC12. #TheLastWildRace
It is disappointing to have the race down to only 6 teams, two of which fighting against major injuries, that are either doing nothing for a full day+ or are not tracking (Norcal & MOB).
From Facebook: DAY 8 race updates on 23 Feb 12:27.
Yesterday, the weather out in the third trekking section after PC10 was not pretty, as racers faced snow and strong winds along the course. This particularly took a toll on the french team #17 Patagonia 4 Barth, who had trekked for about 3.6km from PC10 and spent 20hours on the race course (information gathered from DeLorme MapShare) before deciding to return back to PC10 and retire from the race. No injuries were reported. The team will be evacuated back to PC9 Estancia Perales by Turismo 21 de Mayo and then transported to Puerto Natales later in the day.
And SM reports that M.O.B. arrived at CP12 around 11 a.m. They stopped and camped for 6 hours between CP11 and CP12 because the weather was so bad. "l didn’t really expect it to be so extreme in an organised race as they are usually so safety conscious, but we are all experienced mountaineers so are used to similar country in Canada." They are said to be in good shape.
http://www.sleepmonsters.com/v2_races.php?article_...
DAY 8 race updates on 23 Feb 23:26.
From Facebook:
Last team to arrive at PC12 (Last Hope) is team #11 NorCal Odyssey at 22:16. All racers are now recuperating in camp to re-charge for tomorrow's final 17km kayak section at 8:00, followed by the last trekking stage of 41km. Final race cut-off is 14:00 on 26 Feb at Estancia Perales.
Teams' overall timing as of PC12 [Looks like they've given up on neutralized time and have just done the math.]:
1. #1 GODZone Adventure (128hr 45min)
2. #2 East Wind (144hr 41min)
3. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (144hr 55min)
4. #3 YogaSlackers (154hr 43min)
5. #19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body (157hr 51min)
6. #11 NorCal Odyssey (170hr 06min)
__________________________________
This video was posted earlier today on PER Facebook but it's well worth seeing if you missed it - the Yogaslackers trekking through nasty weather on Sunday morning about 2 km past CP10. Brrrr!!!
https://www.facebook.com/PatagonianExpeditionRace/...
If the date is correct, the Yogaslackers paddled from CP9 to CP10 on Saturday morning, then spent about 24 hrs resting at CP10. Is it possible they weren't told about the neutralized time? Or was the weather just that bad?
Very exciting start to the morning, as we see trackers moving between CPs 12 and 13. Here are two new Facebook posts from SleepMonsters:
Latest news from Rob Howard in Patagonia: "Weather calm for kayak launch after very wet night. NorCal arrived 11.15 pm & have withdrawn, too tired to go on. Start may be late - waiting on safety boat. Both YogaSlackers and East Wind are getting ready to paddle"
The current paddling positions of the remaining teams. NorCal is still in CP12 (retired). YogaSlackers have reached CP13. East Wind is not tracking but set out at a similar time to YogaSlackers. Merrell and Godzone are behind but have a good buffer zone from their early arrivals at CP12, so are in 1st and 2nd place.
MOB is not mentioned but their tracker is visible, along with Yogaslackers', at PC 13.
DAY 9 race updates, 24 Feb, 09:23. This morning at PC12 (Last Hope), 5 teams set off for the final 17km kayak section at 8:00. Team #11 NorCal Odyssey has decided to pull out from the race due to exhaustion, as they were the last team to arrive at the PC last evening. #2 East Wind, despite earlier consideration to also retire after captain Masato Tanaka had a difficult time in the trek section due to his earlier bike accident injuries, had once again created miracles to continue on with the fight! #3 YogaSlackers, though with lots of pain in the hip of captain Jason Magness, knew giving up is not in their plans. At this moment with less than 5km to PC13 (Hosteria Balmaceda), #1 GODZone Adventure and #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts are in for a hard chase as they race shoulder to shoulder with each other. #PatagonianExpeditionRace2016 #PER2016 #TheLastWildRace
New comment by PER on SleepMonsters' Facebook page just now:
"Patagonian Expedition Race This is race organiser of PER. Sorry for the confusion on the system. YogaSlackers probably has not reached PC13 as what the mapshare shows. Their unit was faulty over the past 2 days and we are getting it replaced at PC13. It is switched on prematurely in order for HQ to see that the signal of the new unit is working. Same for MOB."
I haven't seen anything posted about it but with a 41 km trek remaining and two days to the finish cut-off, it's hard to imagine the organizers stopping teams again, especially after they've just stopped. Last night they posted cumulative times for the teams that credited neutralized time. I'm guessing they'll just do it that way. So there is a tight race for 2nd place. Merrell needs to gain 15 minutes to move ahead of East Wind. MOB is 3 hours behind Yogaslackers, which is not an impossible move if Jason is hurting. As long as GODZone finishes, their 16 hr lead should be secure.
They're not holding teams at CP13. Merrell, GODZone and MOB are already shown trekking and they wouldn't have been sent out at the same time if neutralized time was going to be managed during the race. East Wind's tracker isn't working. Yogaslackers' tracker is at CP13 so maybe they are too, although they started their day without it so it could have been forgotten.
I think they finish at Estancia Perales, which was CP 9.
A new post on PER Facebook page, indicating YogaSlackers have retired. :(
DAY 9 race updates, 24 Feb, 11:37. PC13 (Hosteria Balmaceda) All 5 teams have cleared the final kayak section this morning. However, team #3 YogaSlackers has finally succumbed to retirement from the race due to team captains, Jason Magness's preceding hip injury that had given him pain since Day 1, which intensified tremendously over the past few days of trekking. Here are the teams' overall timings as of PC13: 1. #1 GODZone Adventure (130:50hrs) 2. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (146:55hrs) 3. #2 East Wind (147:07hrs) 4. #19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body (160:08hrs)
Retired team: #3 YogaSlackers (156:58hrs - retired at PC13) #11 NorCal Odyssey (170hr 06min - retired at PC12)
this is going to take all the fun out of telling Alex that his Habs continued to suck while he was on the course.
... maybe i'll just keep it to myself...
Merrell and GODZone seem to be trekking to CP14 together. With their 16 hour deficit, Merrell has no chance to beat GODZone if both teams make it to the finish line so I guess they may as well enjoy the company of friends. Too bad we don't have a tracker for East Wind!!! I assume Merrell can make up the 15 minutes easily, given East Wind's injury. MOB is some distance back of the (presumed) leaders on the trek.
Actually, scratch that comment about Merrell. They already *did* make up the 15 minutes on East Wind during the paddle this morning. They started the trek in 2nd place, 12 minutes ahead of East Wind based on their cumulative race time including credits for neutralized time.
Looking more closely at the dots, Merrell is now leading GODZone on the trek by about 10 minutes. All teams are taking the same route to Paso Byron, CP14. Check it out on the Aerial view on the tracking map. It looks impressive! Given the snow we saw at lower elevations in the video, it could be an "interesting" trek. For what it's worth, the weather forecast at Puerto Natales is pretty good today (for Patagonia) but it's going to be a rainy night, which will mean snow higher up.
Not surprised to see this on PER Facebook. My own DeLorme unit has been reliable so far but I've never been in a blizzard at the south end of the planet:
PER2016 Partnership with DeLorme:
Over the past few days since PC9, teams have been carrying with them one of DeLorme's latest GPS tracking devices, inReach SE with inbuilt lithium batteries that can last for 22-26 days with Extended Tracking feature.
Patagonian Expedition Race is happy to be in partnership with DeLorme this year. This collaboration comes naturally with the fact that DeLorme is one of world's leading manufacturers for GPS devices, and the Patagonian Expedition Race provides one of the most ideal environments to test the robustness, accuracy and durability of these devices. We have faced some challenges over the past few days with dropped signals due to unknown reasons. These feedback, however, have helped DeLorme better understand how their system works under the harsh weather condition and remote geography of Patagonia, which provide valuable data to the company to improve on the current system.
Kim Stiver, DeLorme's Vice President of Marketing remarked, "DeLorme is excited to provide our award-winning inReach technology for the race. The Patagonian Adventure Race is an ideal event for us to showcase the power and utility of inReach as a critical backcountry device.”
We hope to establise a continued partnership with DeLorme to further improve the system for better tracking of the teams in our future races.
Another SM article. It contains an error; the race times given for the "start of the paddle" were actually the times at the end of today's paddle.
NorCal retired because Wendy Welling's hip has been too painful.
Masato Tanaka, still in his neck brace, couldn't paddle properly and was leaning sideways, paddling determinedly on one side, his face contorted in pain with each stroke. They finished the paddle last.
Upon retiring from the race, Jason Magness of Yogaslackers said: "I've had 10 moments of joy in the race but it's worth it, and the rest was pain. That's the amazing thing about this sport, you have to be willing to suffer to even start." The team thanked the Race Director for giving them the opportunity to push their limits, way past anything they'd experienced before.
Looks like Merrell and GODZone hit CP14 at the same time and are descending the upper part of the pass together. MOB still ascending. Yay, Canadians! No tracker on East Wind but they started the trek last. MOB is 13 hrs behind East Wind based on cumulative race time and it doesn't look like this trek is long enough for them to make the podium - but you never know. It's hard to cheer against East Wind under the circumstances.
Very unfortunate for YS and NorCal. I think YS did the right thing by paddling out and retiring. This race makes no apologies for not 'coddling' anyone. I would not be surprised if NorCal has a long wait for a boat ride and when it comes, odds are it will not be a pleasant 'touristy' ride.
Not saying NorCal wants or needs coddling. Just info for potential future racers. If you think that retiring will bring reprieve from your suffering, best to retire when you are in a warm dry place with easy road access... and there are typically not many of these on the course :-)
Here's hoping the rest of the teams enjoy the trek to the finish!!
I'm surprised we have not heard anything from Urthbuoy in this thread. I know he has (had) some very strong opinions about this race. :-)
In the latest update from PER Facebook, they don't seem to know what they're talking about! The organization has published cumulative race times at CP12 and CP13, both of which show GODZone with a 16-hour lead over 2nd place. Perhaps not all members of the PER social media team are on the same page.
However, there really IS a good race between Merrell and East Wind. Naturally, we can't watch it because only Merrell's tracker is working. Way to go, Tanaka! This probably explains why Merrell is rushing to cross the finish line ahead of GODZone. In other circumstances, they might consider it good form to let the winning team finish first.
__________________________________________
DAY 9 race updates, 24 Feb, 16:49.
PC14 (Paso Byron- LAST CHECKPOINT)
All 4 teams have now passed the final checkpoint of the Patagonian Expedition Race 2016, crossing the last 31km into the finish line at Estancia Perales. Here are the timings:
1. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts (arrival at 13:47, exit at 13:49)
2. #1 GODZone Adventure (arrival at 13:55, exit at 13:56)
3. #2 East Wind (arrival at 14:10, exit at 14:10)
4. #19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body (arrival at 15:43, exit at 15:45)
The competition is now very intense among the top 3 teams. #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts from South Africa seems to be the dark horse of this race, putting on an amazing performance considering it is the first time for all 4 members. #1 GODZone Adventure has been keeping its progress constant since Day 1, always staying close behind the leading teams. #2 East Wind, who was exchanging leads with #3 YogaSlackers throughout the first half of the race, fell behind after captain Masato Tanaka met with a bike accident towards PC9. But their fortitude kept them going not once but twice (they were considering to retire for the second time yesterday) and emerge strong once again towards this final end. #19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body though currently at last position, has preached what their name describes. Also first timers for all members, this Canadian/Polish contingent has certainly made an outstanding performance over the past 9 days of the race.
Will GODZone Adventure win back the trophy they earlier relinquished? Or will dark horse Merrell Adventure Addicts create another ending to this epic event? Champion or not, to pull through the Last Wild Race is a life's award itself. We look forward to seeing the 4 teams at the finish line!
It's about 2 hours before sunset and Merrell leads GODZone by a couple of kms. They're within 20 km of the finish, with a river valley to follow all the way.
As Pyeinthesky and I were discussing, it is wonderful to read Facebook comments written by fans of East Wind, e.g.:
'As for the PER, the bottom of heart realized that "it was the splendid teacher" who condensed the life itself that transcended far the level of the simple adventure race this time. I hope that PER continues forever heartily!'
How could anyone describe the appeal of AR any better than that? :)
Love it! I will edit my comment to add that team East Wind has the best Facebook page ever! They cheer hard for their team and for every other team as well.
MOB is near the north end of the river valley almost 4 hours behind Merrell. It's amazing how fast experienced adventure racers can move in the mountains. It's exciting that this "rookie" Canadian team is going to finish PER!
Huge congratulations to East Wind - first team across the finish line! Post from SleepMonsters Facebook page:
Teams are crossing the line now: Despite their injuries and struggles, Team East Wind were first across! They were a few minutes ahead of Merrell Adventure Addicts, meaning East Wind take second by 27 minutes!
Oops, I had it wrong. The relevant time difference was the one at CP12 this morning when the race restarted. At that point, East Wind was 14 minutes ahead of Merrell. So it makes sense that East Wind is 2nd! :)
PER Facebook: Day 10 race updates, 25 Feb, 10:53.
#19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body was the last team to cross the finish line at Estancia Perales early this morning at 04:13. They are in the overall 4th position. Congratulations, once again, to all finisher teams on their super human power in this outstanding performance to pull through 9 days, over 612km in the wilderness of Patagonia. Well done!
Also on Facebook, they apologized for the confusion caused by their post that implied GODZone was in a tight race for the win. It was written by someone who was still thinking about the original plan to restart teams at CP13 at the appropriate time intervals. In that case, the first team across the line would have won.
May as well add this earlier Facebook post so we have all the times here.
DAY 9 race updates, 25 Feb, 3:02.
The crew of Patagonian Expedition Race were at the finish line at Estancia Perales last evening to witness another historical moment of the Last Wild Race. At 20:47, team #2 East Wind was the first team to cross the finish line after taking 6hr 37min to trek the final 31km. 11 mins later (20:58), team #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts also crossed the finish line to be termed an official finisher of the race. #1 GODZone Adventure came through at 21:40, with the biggest glow on their faces as they were crowned the champion of the Patagonian Expedition Race 2016!
Here are the finisher teams' official race time and ranking:
1st position: #1 GODZone Adventure with 142hr 25min
2nd position: #2 East Wind with 157hr 26min
3rd position: #5 Merrell Adventure Addicts with 157hr 52min
Team #19 M.O.B. Mind Over Body is currently still out in the course en route to the finish line.
Congratulations to all finishers of the Patagonian Expedition Race 2016, especially to GODZone Adventure Team for their 6th consecutive championship in one of the toughest adventure races in the world.
Video of the RD announcing finish rankings to the captains of East Wind and Merrell at the finish line. Mostly interesting because we get a good look at Masato Tanaka's huge neck brace.
https://www.facebook.com/PatagonianExpeditionRace/...
As one of the East Wind fans commented on this video, 'I was impressed to thank you for its service with the hot embrace with Masato and the “friend”. The order does not already matter!' (East Wind fans are the best!)