Sunday, September 10, 2006

The Raid WC is On!

We're a little more than a day into the Raid World Championship, and a quick glance at the leaderboard shows there are some unexpected names at the top. Currently in first is Sport 2000 - Lafuma, followed by Team Spyder, and GoLite-Timberland coming close behind in third. Spyder and GoLite are veterans to the sport, and have raced well over the the past year. But as for the leaders, I have to say that I really don't know much about them at this point. You will notice that while they have a sizeable lead at the moment, they also have not banked any rest time yet, which means that lead will likely be erased when they do eventually stop.

One thing I like about the leaderboard for The Raid is that it actually shows how much rest time they teams have banked so far. The race requires the teams to take at least 27 hours of rest over the length of the course. Many of the expedition length races have started to require teams take rests in order to race smarter and safer. While some people complain that it takes away some of the "adventure" of the sport, I think it's a great rule, and ithelps tl keep the racers, and the sport itself, healthy and accident free.

At this point of the race, two teams have already withdrawn, and I'm sure a few more will follow. There are still six more days of racing to go, and I'm sure the leaderboard will change a number of times before we crown a champion. Pre-Race favorites Nike Powerblast are currently racing in 11th place, by the way.

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