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Day four of The Turas was a day of enormous drama for the leading five
teams as they interchanged positions, at some points so close to each
other they were within touching. Starting with a boat row across Kenmare
Bay at 5am, the first team off the water was Orion Health NZ, followed
by Wilsa HellyHansen and New Zealand Adventure Sport. After grabbing a
quick bite on the go, teams sped out of Sneem Hotel's transition area
onto bikes and the road towards the Cum Sathairn horseshoe.
Irishman Eoin Keith gave a breathlessly brief comment on how he felt on
top of Cum Sathairn as he and team-mates Wilsa Helly Hansen checked in,
"I'm pretty sore now, but I'm doing ok" he commented. Eoin has put in a
tremendous amount of training for what could be the race of his life; he
was offered a place on the Wilsa Helly Hansen team as they sought an
Irish navigator who was familiar with the Irish terrain. Eoin is fondly
known as 'Nav-Man' for his expertise and precise navigational skills and
boy, have they paid off. With a chance to win his first World Series on
home ground this undoubtedly is the race of his life.
Wilsa Helly Hansen are currently in the lead after a most dramatic turn
of events. After the spectacular Play At Height zipline across Bealach
Beama, lead team Sport 2000-Vibram-La Fuma had a 40 minute lead
approaching the Black Valley when they catastrophically missed a
checkpoint, forcing them to regress 30 kilometres and check in,
completely diminishing their chances of maintaining their punishingly
hard-earned lead. Five days of punishingly tough racing, elation as they
maintained the lead and pure desperation as they pay the price for a
simple navigational mistake which highlights the excitement that
captures what adventure racing is all about. However, not only LaFuma
succumbed to this fate, but New Zealand Adventure Sport also suffered
the same mistake and both teams are now devastated, having relinquished
their leads. This leaves Orion Health and Wilsa Helly Hansen with a huge
advantage as they near the end of their moon-lit kayak and transfer onto
the trekking stage and last leg of the gruelling 5-day race finishing in
the MacGillicuddy Reeks.
While the action continued for the eight teams still in the race and
completing the full course of The Turas. A number of teams were still at
Portmagee as they awaited the mass start of the 'short course'. Teams
who have not made the cut-off times at certain stages of the race have
been diverted onto a shorter course in order to finish the race at the
same time as the leading teams. They were re-routed to Moll's Gap on
bikes and will join the rest of the race at the kayak transition at the
Black Valley.
Leading teams are expected to finish the race on Friday morning almost
20 hours ahead of schedule, a result of the fierce competitiveness
within the top adventure racing teams in the world.
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