Raid Gallaecia Expedition Race 2017
Wet, Wild and Windy-Chasing Lead Teams
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 10.05.2017
The aptly named “I will survive” trek of 64 km leading up to the first time cut off lived up to pre-race expectations. If Felix of the Norwegian team USWE Adventure Team had said the
the section would be “groundbreaking”, it turned out to be a “team breaking” section. As well as having teams on their race worn feet for a long distance, the section also had racers carrying all of their gear for the abseil and canyoning. The wetsuits were heavy and the lifejackets bulky in their overloaded packs.
The three lead teams, Naturex, FMR and Estonian ACE Adventure raced closely together, playing leapfrog as they remained largely in eyesight of each other. Unfortunately the Swedish team SWECO had to withdraw from the race during this section. In the canyoning their lady racer slipped on a rock and fell badly. When we saw her afterwards in transition T4-T5 she was unable walk with her right leg and she said she suspected that she had torn a muscle in that leg. The French team Issy Absolu asked how she was doing, saying “She fell right in front of us and we heard a loud cry, it wasn’t cool and we wondered how they got out of the canyon.”
Racers also had two swims on this section and the first three teams entered the first swim together at around 16:25. As they exited the water, the French teams stopped to change and take off their life jackets but the Estonian left quickly. As the two teams were changing on the shore, they joked with each other and the mood was relaxed. Naturex is a well established team in France and FMR is a young team that stormed on to the international adventure racing stage at the ITTERA race in Ireland last year.
In late afternoon the weather changed and thunder storms rolled in. The Atlantic coast scenery was dramatic with the crashing waves, lightning overhead and thunder growling in the racers ears. The first lead team to finish the section, Naturex, arrived back to transition at 21:38 and after a quick round of applause, they were immediately directed to a corner of the gymnasium where the organization had set up a surprise gear check. All teams were subjected to this check and not all passed.
The organization had checked their gear at the start of this section and there were race referees at the beginning of the abseil as well to check the mandatory gear. Although the two French lead teams were gracious about the third gear check, the Estonian team balked and looked irritated; this team incurred a four hour penalty on this stage for missing gear.
Although the lead teams finished early in the evening, and chose to sleep in T5, those further back in the pack had a long, cold night racing through the storm. French team Issy Absolu said that they had raced at least 15km wearing their wetsuits in an attempt to keep warm and Jerome Cadhilac commented, “The gorse bushes completely ripped the legs of our wetsuits and it poured buckets all night, we weren’t dry once!”
Several teams either withdrew from the competition or short coursed if they missed the 22:00 time cutoff so the “I will survive” section was a make or break one for this race.
Teams are now quite spread out over the course as they push to reach the next time cut off on Thursday, May 11 at 01:00. All eyes are currently on the two French lead teams, Naturex and FMR, wondering if they will be able to maintain the pace as the pressure of racing so close together turns the game in to as much a mental as a physical one. The race is truly on.
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