The Race Director Introduces the CourseThe waiting is almost over and the racers are currently gathering in the central square of Punta Arenas before heading off on buses towards Torres del Paine National Park – and the intense whirlwind that is the last wild race is spinning wilder than ever.<br />
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The logistics required to put on this race, which runs to such remote places that the glaciers and valleys through which it passes have not yet been named, are gigantic, with more than 150 people involved in putting together maps, bus plans, kayak transport, team organisation, communications, you name it.<br />
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Meanwhile, the racers also faced their own logistical challenges ahead of the event, putting together kit and training without even knowing what the race would entail. <br />
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There were gasps at the opening ceremony when it was revealed the course this year will include the longest ever single section of trekking since the race began back in 2004, and there is a heavy bias towards the trekking – which many competitors admitted could test their feet to the limits. <br />
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The British team, which finished last year’s race as winners in just over five days, expect to be racing for seven days at least on a course that will take them from the well known regions of Torres del Paine through to the volcano crater of Pale Aike – if they may it all the way. <br /><br>
(For a map of the course and a full list of checkpoint descriptions go: <a href="#" onClick="javascript:newsitewindow('http://www.patagonianexpeditionrace.com/en/news_detail.php?news=62')" class="main">here</a>.)<br />
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The teams were full of confidence at the opening ceremony, which was hosted at the shimmering Dreams Casino on the shores of Punta Arenas, where earlier in the day the kayak testing had taken place. Now, the teams head off on buses and up into the National Park to begin final preparations for the race, which begins tomorrow.<br />
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So now we go into the wilderness and hope that our communications logistics work well enough to send reports from the field. The race organisers, all being well, will be ‘tweeting’ and ‘facebooking’ with the latest updates which you can find on the race website.<br />
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And, if the logistics fall into place, I think my ride up there is leaving soon. So, all being well, we’ll keep in touch ...
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