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Kiwis survive Brasilia Multisport race |
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Thursday, 23 July 2009 |
 Kiwi's Sam Clark, Rachel Cashin and Jim Robinson all made it through the Brasilia Multisport - surviving more than a few wrong turns and a brutal 21km
run over the baking-hot savanna.
The multisport race in and around Brazil's capital of 1.5 million
people featured a 6km run from the city's heart to the edge of the
impressive Lake Paranoa; followed by a 15km lake paddle; an undulating
60km road ride; a rough 2km scramble down to the lake outlet; an 18km
river paddle; the 21km trail run; and an 11km road ride back to the
start.
Rachel Cashin (right) from Taumarunui placed second in the women's race, despite
suffering from illness that had dogged her over the previous days.
Robinson (Opotiki) took out the veterans' category, in about 9th
overall. Clark (Whakatane) still placed top 15 overall, after getting
to the river close to the race lead - and finding his borrowed boat
hadn't quite made it yet. After 35 minutes, the 19-year-old ended up
getting to use another boat.
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Right through the race, course knowledge - or more accurately, lack of
it - played a decisive part in the outcome. Cashin went off course on
the bike. Both Clark and Robinson did the same on the run.
"We were racing at a pretty big disadvantage really - in borrowed boats
and knowing virtually nothing of the course," assessed Clark. "But we
had a heap of fun. The experience of the trip overall was great."
"There were media people everywhere and we have come home with some
brilliant photos - although they can't really convey just how hard the
race was."
"We went up to a national park about 250km from Brasilia, and spent
four days doing stuff like abseiling, kayaking on plastic boats, and
going on a 100m high flying fox that went 55kph across a valley. The
best experience was rappelling down a 30m waterfall as part of a
canyoning trip," he reckoned.
The Brasilia Multisport run was a brutal affair, held in the hottest
part of the day, with the mercury hitting around 35O - and the altitude
hitting between 1100m and 1400m. The course had over a thousand metres
of climbing, pushing over a series of steep and stony ridgelines, with
virtually no shelter from the sun.
Robinson in the kayak >>
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"It was extremely difficult. I was starting to feel the effect of the
altitude. We were all walking a lot of the up hills," said Robinson.
"There was a water station at about the 14km mark but it seemed like
about twice that distance. There were patches where you went into
creeks, which was a reprieve from the heat but very slow going. Even
without the temperature, it would be a very difficult race," he said.
"It was hot, hard - and definitely worth doing," said Cashin. Around
240 competitors took part in the event's full and short course, in
individual and relay sections.
Alexandre Carrijo, the high energy organizer of Brasilia Multisport,
has established a connection with Robin Judkins - the idea being that
Brazilians will come to the Speight's Coast to Coast and kiwis will
travel to Brasilia Multisport. Judkins travelled to the Brazilian race
to check it out, and the big prize was travel and a free entry to C2C
2010.
The New Zealand contingent also brought free race entries and t-shirts
for their local events - the Baytrust Motu Challenge, the Whakatane
Great Outdoors Monty's Revenge, and the Clayton and Hayes Kururau
Krusher.
Sam Clark enjoying the run>>
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"It would be brilliant if we could have Brazilians come to other New
Zealand events as well as the Coast - they look at this country as the
leader of world multisport," said Robinson.
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