Day two of the Discovery Channel Southern Traverse Adventure Race, and race favorites Propeller-heads are still in the lead.
The New Zealand team of Propeller-heads, comprises of Coast-to-Coast stars Steve Gurney and Kathy Lynch, Nelson ironman Nathan Fa'avae, and endurance athlete Jeff Mitchell.
The team secured the first place spot just after 5.00pm last night, overtaking another New Zealand team - inthepacific.com, who had led the field for most of the race.
Making good time, on account of the fine weather and a gutsy effort, Propeller-heads reached Lake Coleridge transition area just before 12 o'clock last night (1153 hours), after a 19km mountain bike.
The Nokia team, from Finland, comprising of Petri Forsman, Jukka Pinola, Mikko Vehmas and Nicola Davies, reached the lake 47 minutes behind the Propeller-heads team.
The third team to arrive was The Science Team from the United States, 44 minutes behind Nokia, followed closely by inthepacific.com, three minutes later.
The earlier than expected arrival gave the lead teams plenty of opportunity to eat, sleep and tend to any problems that arose.
It was the first time the support crews were allowed contact with their teams, and they were utilized well.
The support crew for inthepacific.com gave their team members foot baths after expressing some concern about the amount of trekking in the course.
Although 15 teams arrived at the transition area before the restart - only five teams fronted to start the third leg of the race, (unable to start on the water due to a 9pm curfew).
The moon was still up, and the weather perfect. A beautiful setting for the competitors who set out in calm water conditions, refreshed and ready to tackle the 39km kayak through the Coleridge canals.
With only five teams making the official 6am re-start this morning the field is starting to spread out, and with the gruelling 47km mountain trek ahead - the field may only get thinner.
The race claimed its first casualty last night, when Boundary Quest Team member, Danny Suter suffered flu like symptoms, and mild hypothermia. He was airlifted off the course from the top of the abseil section to Lake Catherine transition, where the Southern Traverse medical crew was waiting for him. The rest of his team will continue unranked with 3 members.
Three more casualties have been reported this morning.
The Subaru Outback team, from Canada was struck with bad luck - with two team members sustaining injuries.
Nancy Dassie was treated with a sprained ankle at the Lake Coleridge transition area by the Southern Traverse medical crew, and teammate David Zietsma was treated for flu and asthma type symptoms.
The third casualty was Adrenaline Junkies team member, Jennifer Sunnerton, who had to be air lifted from the top of the abseil area, suffering from a knee injury.
She was air lifted to Christchurch hospital this morning.
The 19-year-old student from Canada was the youngest competitor.
Hard decisions will be made today, as the tail-end teams struggle to cope with the extreme conditions and challenging course, of the 2000 Discovery Channel Adventure Race.
– Southern Traverse Ltd
