Posted: November 18, 2004

Adventure Racing: Southern Traverse Moves Towards Final Stages

November 18 2004: Leading teams in the Southern Traverse are racing hard on the Alexander Range this morning heading for the Taramakau River in a bid to beat the dark zone and cross the finish line tonight.

"We have a real race on our hands," says race director Geoff Hunt. "All those front runners will have it in their mind that they want to get to the paddle section as fast as possible."

The stage 8 paddle is likely to take six to eight hours to the transition area at Whitcombe Flat. Teams have to be off the water by 9.00pm and cannot resume paddling until 6.00am tomorrow. The final leg is a 22km beach walk, including a swim across the Arahura River, to the finish at the Southland Hotel in Hokitika.

The race remains tight between Teams GoLite Timberland and Kathmandu who both passed through checkpoint 24 at Crooked River Hut at virtually the same time. GoLite Timberland checked in at 4.27am and Kathmandu at 4.30am. However while GoLIte Timberland only stopped for 12 minutes Kathmandu elected to take a quick nap and did not move on until 5.47am.

Kathmandu has a time credit of 57 minutes, awarded when the course was amended during stage four, removing the Ahaura River paddling section.

Sierra International and the Swedish team Lundhags Adventure are also running neck and neck. Both arrived at checkpoint 24 at 8.37 but Sierra International was the first to move on at 8.59am.

The weather has been cold overnight and teams report icy conditions on the tops.

The cut off time for the classic course was applied at 8.30am and of the 26 teams which started, 13 are now still racing on the main course.

The 2003 winner Bridgedale Socks, Outward Bound, Mainly Tramping and Greymouth Seaside Top 10 Holiday Park had all passed through checkpoint 23 by 7.49am.

Teams 4Extreme, Jamo Bus and Suunto Japan are now racing on the adventure course and five other teams are racing unranked. This includes the ING-NZ Army team which decided last night to continue on with three members after Rob Gathergood became ill.

Early this morning Australian team Hardtale.com withdrew at the end of the Paparoa Range section after one of their members was affected by the cold conditions.

For the latest information on the race, progress reports on the teams, with hourly updates, visit www.southerntraverse.com. Also check out our web partner's site www.sleepmonsters.com.

Southern Traverse is a premier international sports event management company operating elite events around the world, including the World Championship Adventure Race, the AR World Series and the Southern Traverse.