It's not just the rank stench of sweat, dirt and blood....sniff again! It's the finish line.
Yes, folks, they're darn close to it - my sources estimate that Team Shasta/Core Concepts will cross the line around 4-5am MT tomorrow morning. They are more than halfway finished with the FINAL and somewhat brutal 38-mile trek. (Do I hear the sound of cheering?) The support crew is already at the last TA /CP30-Ennis Lake waiting for the team, where they will get some quick refreshment, load up on some sandwiches and take off on the bikes for the home stretch of the race, a fairly easy 27-mile bike ride to the finish line at Big Sky ski resort. Woohoo!
If you are wondering why it looks like they are bringing up the rear on the leaderboard, it is because some teams behind them were "short-coursed," meaning that they were in danger of missing the time cutoffs and finishing the course before the deadline on Weds., so race officials sent them directly to the finish line. Other teams opted to skip the "O" course (orienteering - plotting & finding checkpoints for "extra credit") and the ropes course. It's hard for me to imagine any team voluntarily skipping the ropes course since that is usually the racers' favorite part!
It may take some time for the leaderboard to display correctly, but Team Shasta has not been short-coursed and the reason that some of the teams behind them have already crossed the finish line or are ahead of them is that they skipped the whole Storm Castle loop (including the O course and ropes).
Team Shasta/Core Concepts experienced some drama on the ropes section last night. It rained a little yesterday and just after they ascended to the top of the buttress and were ready to rappel down, it started to lightning. So they enjoyed a couple hours' rest after the arduous ascent and waited out the weather until they could rap down!
They hiked back to Storm Castle last night around 10pm and napped for a couple hours before hitting the trail. You'll notice that they are still fairly close to Xtreme Couture (#44) and Dancing Pandas (#78). It has taken most teams 20-24 hrs to reach the finish line from Storm Castle.
Health update: Scott's feet feel better; Chad has a pretty bad blister; both Tracey & Mark have swollen legs, undoubtedly from all the time they have spent on their feet. With that said, they are all in good spirits and are determined (read: stubborn) to complete the entire course.
Go team go! Oh, one more note - check out the PQ site for some good pics of Team Shasta "on the ropes": (Thanks, Robin!) http://www.ecoprimalquest.com/coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=lastup&cat=0
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3 comments:
Thank you Dana for your update, I couldn't go to bed without knowing why my little girl and the team had suddenly dropped right down the field in spite of their great progress so far. I thought they may have met the grizzly and started going the other way! Enjoy the celebrations!!
Woohoo - that is SO good to hear!!! The smell of the finish is SO sweet - go Shasta!!! Blisters? What Blisters?
It's 2am here in Utah... I was hoping to see one more update before heading to bed (can't believe your SPOT is still not working!). From Dana's earlier post and looking at where the teams are that you were close to at your last checkpoint, it looks like you guys should be finishing in the next couple / few hours. You probably won't get this until long after you've finished, but I hope you'll "feel" the support as you make the last push in the dark. Congrats on finishing and congrats on not getting short-coursed! Enjoy the sunrise after your finish!!
~ Super Freak ~
:-)
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