Endurance Racing - the madness of the very wise

Endurance Racing  - the madness of the very wise
             By Jane Cox
                                       1st printed in the Otago Daily Times
                                               Weds Nov 19, 1997
       'Is your husband out there burning his underwear too?"  asked a
friend. She knew that, like the Brazilian team who were in the news
recently for their unusual way of keeping warm, my husband was competing in
the Southern Traverse, an annual endurance race round the mountains near
Queenstown.

       "Are they all mad?" she added brightly.

Well, the Southern Traverse is not for your average person. The race
involves teams of three or five jogging the equivalent of two or three
Routeburn tramps, mountain-biking three or four Milford Tracks and kayaking
at least twice the length of Lake Wakatipu; all in the space of a working
week. For the past few years, competitors have been allowed to travel
through the nights as well, picking their way by torches worn on a strap
round the head.

For the first 35 hours, continuous traveling is no problem for the very
fit, provided the weather and terrain are not too rugged. After that,
however, when lack of sleep is combined with extreme physical exertion, the
mind starts playing tricks. Stories of athletes waving and chatting to the
tussock and falling off their mountain bikes fast asleep, are common. My
husband once tiptoed up a pass in the Nevis, distressed that his
shoes were dirtying the Persian carpet beneath his feet.

There is no set route apart from checkpoint co-ordinates issued at each
stage along with a map. Sometimes tracks point the way, but mostly there is
simply a lake or mountain in front of the teams which has to be got over,
somehow.

The ability to read the terrain becomes crucial: merely proceeding as the
crow flies can lead over a bluff or through a dozen matagouri bushes.

One year, competitors were sobered to see a pale beam of light far below in
the dark as they inched along a narrow ledge. Someone's headlamp had been
knocked off by a rocky overhang: one false step and it could have been more
than a headlamp in the ravine.



Mountain weather can also be treacherous. Last year, an exhausted Japanese
team went to sleep on the road in the Von Valley They were fortunate there
was a team still on the move two hours behind. For in that time a storm
blew up and the Japanese athletes were discovered, still fast asleep, under
a couple of inches of snow.

As well as extremes of cold and heat, hunger dogs the endurance
racer. The need to refuel the body is counteracted by the difficulty of
digesting food when under physical pressure.

More than one athlete has been violently ill after earnestly shovelling in
pasta and rice pudding and soup and filled rolls at a transition. They then
have to face carrying a heavy pack on a 12 to 20 hour journey on an empty
stomach with only a few endurance bars and drinks and, a banana or two. to
sustain them.

So why do they do it? A strong affinity with wild places would be one
reason. These are people at home in the bush and the mountains. They know
the spine-tingling experience of a moonrise on a still night in the
mountains and they have real joy in feeling their physical freedom as they
glide through beech forest or over tussock ridges.

But there is more to it than that. Curiosity drives many endurance racers -
curiosity to test their inner resources under pressure. How long can a
person stay focused as the hours of darkness drag on and the shorts round
their sweat-chafed legs feel like sandpaper?

What psychological strength can a team bring to a member who has fallen out
of a kayak on a wind-tossed lake several times and is frozen, frightened
and seasick?

For in the end, endurance racing is about encouragement and the camaraderie
of shared effort. The emphasis is no longer on who can get there fastest,
but on helping everyone to get through.




This is particular true of the five person teams in the Southern Traverse
which must have at least one woman. Though women are strong on endurance,
they can go beyond their limits trying to compensate for their lesser
physical strength. Wise teams take great care of their women athletes,
sheltering them from the wind in cycle legs and carrying some of their
gear. On the other hand, more than one highly fancied team has broken down
because their best athlete has set an impossible pace.

Endurance racing is ultimately about finishing against the odds. It often
works on the hare and tortoise principle. The young bloods and the
professional athletes are hours ahead after half the race and often finish
impressively.

But a surprising number of grey heads and recreational runners are high up
in the placings year after year. The longer the race, the more the balance
shifts from physical prowess to mental toughness.

The older ones tend to sleep more and use their experience better; they
don't get lost so often, take fewer risks, look to prevent blisters and
chafing, and set great store on careful preparation and organisation.

They tend to have big, well-equipped support crews who follow them
faithfully through dust and snow ready to provide clean dry clothes, hot
food and lots of encouragement.

The result is that at the race's end some teams - athletes and support crew
- have become a palpably close unit. They treat each other with marked
gentleness and almost telepathic understanding.

On the other hand, some teams grow to find some members so insufferable
that they will not even sit with them at the prize-giving, and their effort
is tainted with rumours of stupid risks and damaged egos.

There is say the sports experts, a need in all of us for controlled danger
- that is, activity that puts us on the edge of life and which makes us
live more intensely and thoughtfully. For the majority of us, that won't
mean going up and down mountains. But those who do find ways of extending
their horizons would understand that the survivors of the Southern Traverse
are mad in a very wise way.



Entries Are Now Open for the Traverse - We can only Take the first 50.

Qtn to Alexandra - just a couple small mountains in the way.

Qtn to Alexandra - just a couple small mountains in the way.

High in the country behind the Gibston ridge line I'm ridng down a series of rutted tracks at 30kms/hr heading for a deep ditch. Suddenly a figure looms in my peripheral vision and the elbow and shoulder pushing hard against my side is Dallas forcing his way through - not apologies no excuse me - just Dallas coming through.

While I am well used to that with Wayne, Dallas pushing so hard was a surprise but we both survived the shallow water crossing - in the same deep rut - somehow!! Setting the tone for the rest of the day were you Dallas.!

As we roll around the shoulders into the Nevis the average speed increases but the 4hrs have already taken their toll on the bodies. 3 of the team had already decided to take a short cut home after climbing out of the Nevis valley. Back down to Bannockburn and home. (Barry, Charlie, Jeff and reluctantly Mary)

That left Lindsay, Geoff, Dave Cartman, Wayne, Al, Dave Drew and Dallas heading to Alex.

Away in the distance is the Oblisk - the boys can't believe that we are even going anywhere near it let alone past it. Up and up - but gentle angles but 15kms along and up and up before the downs start. Riding in big wild country with large snow patches and rough 4 by 4 trails. Past numerous gold mining ruins, climb back out again, and then roll along before finally we get to a turn point. Down is appealing now - 10hrs or more has past but the trail goes back to the right and up and now the Oblisk looms high above us and behind. Finally the dye of the world - with Alex a long way down.

We are at 1357 meters and Alex at 200 meters - that is a long way. The down tracks are overgrown tussock cover4ed 4*4 - rocks and ruts hidden from view, so slow going but and hard work on the brakes which are smoking. The pace increases as the tracks open up and soon (well 35 mins later) we are woopering and hollering through open paddocks at 5okms.

5kms to Alex on tar (time trail mode) and as we roll into Montieths the elapsed time reads 11.35mins

The other stats
Distance 84kms / Average Speed 8.3kms/h  / Ave moving Speed 12.2km/h  /  Ma Speed  48.9km/h
The big one  Elevation Gain 3,193m  (with a elevation loss of 3,453m)

The weather - perfect still sunny day.  Here is the connection to Dallas's Garmin

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/407938484#



Not a bad test for a new Trek - thanks R & R.