Two thirds of the podium are full at the Adventure Racing World Championship with Team Nike taking the top spot for the second year in a row, and Wilsa Helly Hansen coming in a few hours back to claim second place. Three other teams, Buff Coolmax, OrionHealth.com, and Bjurfors Adventure Racing, remain on the course in contention for third place, although at this point it looks like Buff Coolmax will come home with the last podium spot.
This years race, held in Lockaber, Scotland will be remembered for it's beautiful but tough environments, but also for the cold, wet weather as well. A number of teams struggled with staying dry and warm, and most of them ended up missing cut-off points and were relegated to running the short course. 49 teams started the event on Saturday, but only 5 of those teams were able to continue on full course. That's a testament to how challenging this race was.
Nike, as usual, was the team to beat, and they managed to complete the 500km course in a little less than 130 hours. Along the way they slept about five total hours since Saturday. The top adventure team in the World served notice that they are still at the top of their game, and aren't ready to concede that spot to anyone else just yet.
I have to say that I'm quite impressed with Wilsa Helly Hansen who raced a great race from the get go. They were in the top two or three for the entire event, and demonstrated why they are amongst the best teams in the World as well. A second place finish for them is quite impressive.
I'll update this post as more information comes in throughout the day.
Update: Third place goes to OrionHealth.com who came from behind to nip Buff Coolmax and take their place on the podium. This is a good show out of Orion as well, as they've been in the top two or three teams for most of the race as well, and it seemed like they were going to be denied a podium position.
It seems like the sun has finally come out in Lochaber, and things are warmer and dryier today. It doesn't help the teams that have already crossed the finishline, but you can bet that those still out on the course are happy and more comfortable. The race will continue into tomorrow with teams still straggling in.
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