In the USA, competition for the much coveted Checkpoint Tracker slot is understandably intense as the Checkpointtracker National Champs approaches at the end of October. A number of teams are in contention for the ADTA Award slot with current table leaders, Wedali from Minneapolis, looking like firm favourites. Competition remains fierce and any of the five leading teams could catch them and steal top spot as the series reaches its climax.
For the first time the Australian arm of Sleepmonsters has been chosen to select a team from among its very highly competitive stable. A short list of five teams from the 16 registered for the award will be drawn up the first week of October with final selection being made by jury.
In her third year running as an ADTA Award ambassador, Lisa de Speville is throwing caution to the wind by introducing a team of South African rookies to the arcane arts of adventure racing. “This time my focus was on a 'girls' team, going with three females and one guy format,” said Lisa. “I'm the only one with trekking and running distance experience. …I really have got myself a novice team!”
A strong runner, experienced orienteer and expert paddler, Lisa’s one potential weakness, biking, is more than offset by the complementary skills of her chosen teammates. Adri van der Westhuyzen only ran her first 24-hour plus race in August but brings powerful mountain biking to the mix while Steven Erasmus has some adventure racing experience behind him. “Steven is a strong runner and biker and over the past three months has developed into a very decent paddler,” Lisa enthused. Completing the team is 22-year-old AR newbie Lizelle Smit, who managed a victory racing in a pair team at the recent Swazi Xtreme - a tough multiday non-stop adventure race in Swaziland. Her strengths are in running and cycling but with almost no paddling experience, she will find the sea-kayaking legs very challenging.
The other team with a bib to its name is Statkraft Adventure Team from Sweden, which boats adventure racing kingpin and expert tactician Arvid Björkroth at the helm of an eclectic group of experienced AR athletes. Arvid, a self-confessed multisports “failure”, was a little surprised in July when he led his team to 4th place in the 950 km Explore Sweden Monster race. He was even more surprised when they presented the team with a pair of socks… and the ADTA Award!
Pernilla Lagergren has been an endurance athlete for some years now and is recognised as one of Sweden’s top AR females. With a penchant for the saddle, she is accomplished on both bikes and horses, and has a keen eye for fatigue levels when the team begins to flag. She is the team’s governor, deciding when to rest and when to go. Team navigator Peter Hagglund is an effective all-rounder and ice hockey player whose engineering streak has landed him with the task of designing the team’s all-important gaiters for the desert trek. Another team member with an air of flair about him is Henrik Enberg. An excellent biker, he was a member of the junior national team and his physical strength and constant high spirits will come in handy for keeping the morale of the team at its peak when the going gets really tough.
What the team lacks in international racing experience, it more than makes up for in determination.
“We would like to beat some of the other Swedish teams but we have no experience in desert racing so we will just train harder,” assures Arvid.
Though the race conditions will be foreign to them the stage format has added appeal: “I like these stage races and it will be great to meet the other teams in night-camps,” he concluded.
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