A great day of racing with the MARCH following the action from the wilds of the course! Here is the story as blooged on Facebook on real time – “Like” us on FB (see icon on home page) to get all the action and photos of the teams and course:
1. Result! Race headquarters doesn’t open until 1300 but sweet talked an organiser in to giving us some maps with the location of the checkpoints. Met two Finnish Racers from Team Omjakon. Elite guys – they won ARWC qualifier Endurance Quest – but have had to drop out with illness. They are MARCHing with us to find Seagate and the other teams! With the Omjakon team navigator on board we gotta find them!! Race organiser reported Seagate were still in the lead, looking strong and had just reached the latest check point. More soon…!
2. Just tracked down 2nd placed Team Thule in a small village way up in the hills 2 hrs drive north of the finish – but far longer than that by the course route. Looking calm and controlled and fueling up on food. Seagate long gone – they came through this checkpoint 5 hours ago!
3. Team Silva have just arrived at CP27. Everyone has sprinted in different directions looking for food, water and checking road signs. They look to be eager – they must know the other teams are hot on their tail. Thule left just over and hour ago so that’s the gap between 2nd and 3rd.
4. Team Quechua arrive in 4th place. Only 6 mins after Silva left! They have grabbed some rolls and sodas and are sitting down chomping hard!
5. The MARCH has leapfrogged to CP 31 and made it before Seagate. Their bike box and gear pick up is here ready so they must be expected. It is located at 2000m so swathed in cloud and without sun feels 10 degrees colder. Buckling in for the wait….
6. Nearly 5 hours at the high CP31 and no sign of Seagate yet. Completely dark, but windless. Cool but not super cold. Shouldn’t be long…!
7. Just spotted 4 lights at the top of the ridgeline…look to be moving fast and moving this way…!
8. It’s Seagate! Looking very much in control and without drama. Calmly assembling their bikes now following compulsory kit check. All looking very good! Thirsty and looking for water – there’s none at this CP – but nothing is an issue
9. Team Seagate have their bikes set up, clothes and food re-packed and route plan for the next stages nailed down. They’ve just agreed to put their head down for 60 mins sleep, aiming to pull out of this CP at 23:30. We’ve moved down the road to give them some peace but will camp out ready to cheer on their final MARCH to the finish!
10. And they’re off! The slick Seagate machine is on the road and on their bike!! Dropped below 10c so a cold awakening but with tough work still ahead of them they’ll warm up soon. Still in good spirits and co-operating seamlessly. The MARCH is now going to head back down to civilisation to check on race HQ.
