PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Not only did two teams of Plettenberg Bay’s toughest athletes take on the gruelling multidiscipline endurance race Expedition Africa recently, but managed to cross the finish line after just over 100 hours of blood, sweat and tears in the top 10.
The event, which took place in the Baviaans Wilderness Area in the Kouga district, Eastern Cape, is part of the Adventure Racing World Series and sees teams of athletes navigating to control points in a number of disciplines including mountain biking, trekking, kayaking, rope work and orienteering.
This year they did so over five days and 514km, and came to a close on May 19 at Cape St Francis.
Plettenberg Bay’s teams – – the Buco Adventurers which included locals James Stewart, Jeanette Wylie, Andrew van Blommenstein and Steph le Roux, and the Plett Adventure Racing Team of Drew Scott, Kate Southey, Andrew Damp and Petrus Maree – did so in style crossing the finish line in ninth and 10th positions respectively, out of 39 teams, which included groups from as far afield as Australia, Japan and Ireland.
The Buco Adventurers finished in 103 hours and 38 minutes while the Plett Adventure Racing Team did so in in 105 hours.
The teams had an "unbelievable race", said team sponsor Plett Tourism's spokesperson Patty Butterworth.
“They were pushing exceptionally hard from the first day and powering through the Buffalo region of the Baviaanskloof, where teams were forbidden to travel at night. They managed to conquer this area during daylight hours to avoid the enforced 'dark zone' where participants were not allowed to move during the night and would be forced to remain on the spot, while others outside of the dark zone could continue to race,” she said.
The locals kept up a good pace, completing more than 65km of paddling, 160km of trekking and 300km of cycling during the five days of their race.
Scott, the Plett Adventure Racing team navigator, said they were focused and prepared going into the race. “We raced harder and kept the mistakes to a minimum. Navigation was always going to be key in staying ahead and we managed to keep it down to small errors. The team surprised themselves with the results,” he said.
Teams are only given information about their next leg of the route at the transition and must navigate to checkpoints along the route. Scott added that this task becomes a challenge when combined with physical exhaustion and lack of sleep.
Expedition Africa was a highly engaging event as all the teams were wearing tracking devices that allowed spectators from all over the world to track their progress live. Spectators, called “dot watchers”, spend hours watching their team’s progress and viewing photos and videos from the race on social media. “As always, our wonderful supporters and media kept us going. Knowing that they were following us, my motivation for the team was, 'Come on guys, let’s make our dot-watchers proud',” said Scott.
“Plett Tourism is proud to sponsor our Plett Adventure icons as a symbol of the adventurous nature of our beautiful town, and we congratulate the Plett Adventure Racing Team on their completion and placing in Expedition Africa 2017,” Butterworth said.
ARTICLE: YOLANDE STANDER, KNYSNA-PLETT HERALD CORRESPONDENT
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