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07-Sep-2010 11:50:04 |
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Warren’s Bates account of winning the World |
| 16-Dec-2009 11:36:29 |
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This report published on sleepmonsters.
For full race coverage of the ARWC and other races.
Warren’s account of winning the World Championships « Team Helly Hansen UK
Tom and I shared a hearty handshake when we met at Heathrow’s Terminal 1 as we’d not seen each
other for a while. Despite the warmth of our embrace the sense of muted enthusiasm for the task ahead
was palpable. Expedition racing had unfortunately become a results based enterprise with every mishap,
non-finish, injury, and team mate debacle magnified by the pain of a million blistered footsteps. The
emotional upheaval of leaving a young family behind was not getting any easier.
Portugal marked my 5th World Championships but things had been going downhill for a while.
Newfoundland was fresh, exciting and wild and we were overjoyed at making the top 10 at the first
attempt. New Zealand followed a year later but an 11th place finish couldn’t lift the spirits as we raced
indifferently and the course was depressing, with endless bushwhacking and a near monopoly of
trekking.
Sweden followed in 2006 which was a triumph of course design, providing the benchmark to
which all other races should be measured. A top 5 finish seemed probable until a fridge-sized rock broke
Tom’s foot and our hearts.
Home advantage in Scotland 2007 was meant to be the year when everything came together but another
injury forced the teams retirement and it was at this point that I decided that I could no longer commit so
much to a sport that was giving me so little back in return.
Why build a years training around something
where variables outside of your control could dictate the outcome so heavily? It was time for a much
needed break.
It’s fair to say that Nick Gracie’s enthusiasm has not diminished one jot in the 10 years or so we’ve been
racing together. The man makes Forrest Gump look like a terminal slacker (and a male model, for that
matter) and his gentle goading was enough to ensure that I was on the plane to Portugal.
Things didn’t
seem too bad on reflection. The four of us has not raced together as a team before but we had a very
strong support crew and we looked tough, experienced and fit, on paper – with 3 of us just completing a
2000km road bike ride over 106 of the highest Alpine cols.
More importantly, however, the organisers were on time at the airport to transport us to the hotel. The
accommodation was stunning. There was a cake shop on site. Our last practice rollerblade involved no
broken bones and we even looked semi-competent compared to the lone Kiwi out practicing.
The
organisers, in a moment of far-sighted sanity, had decided to treat World Championship contenders as
adults, telling us that gear and skill checks were unnecessary. Woo hoo. No officious chap checking to
see if my whistle had a pea in it. No fascist river cop asking me demonstrate how to steer a kayak on a
pond – knowing full well in 48 hours I would be paddling the high seas with zero chance of a self rescue.
Such a relaxed and grown up approach to the start of the race was deeply heartening. Our high spirits
were to be slightly tempered at the pre-race briefing when the format was outlined and we were handed
64 maps. That’s a lot of paper and digesting the route in its entirety was simply not possible.
The grand
strategy would have to wait until later and we ceremoniously dumped the weighty pile into supportcrew-
strategist James’ lap, winked and said, “Let us know what we’re doing in the morning, there’s a
good chap”.
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