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Friday 22nd August, 1997 Cairns: The twenty-ninth and final team to complete the grueling 538km Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge adventure race arrived in Cairns just before 10pm last night, declaring the Australian outback is tougher than life on the streets of New York. New York’s Finest, a team comprising NYPD and Nassau County police officers-team captain, Ray Nalpant; Christopher Ballou; John Cummings all with the NYPD, and Linda Brymer, said they were trained to cope with life and death on the streets of New York, but that the terrain encountered on the Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge course presented a whole new set of challenges to overcome. "Nobody has any idea how tough this race is. We do now," said Brymer, who had injured her knee during the event. She was helped across the final trekking stage over Mount Bartle Frere, Queensland’s highest mountain, by her team mates who fastened a safety line between them so she wouldn’t slip down the almost vertical drop. "My team mates were incredible and really helped me through this. We flipped the kayaks over twice on the last leg so we tied them together to form a raft until the conditions improved," she said. "We’ve been shivering for the past week," was Ray Nalpant’s comment. Two of this team’s members competed in the Utah ’95 event but didn’t complete the race due to injury. In British Columbia ’96 the team was scheduled to compete, but due to the crash of TWA flight 800, they were redirected to work on the recovery operation. Nineteen of the original 48 teams which lined up at the start line in Undara, Tropical North Queensland, on Monday 11 August, did not make it to the finish line. Most of these teams withdrew due to injury to a team member and nine were rescued on the sea kayaking leg. Some were just too slow and did not make it to the cut-off points along the course. The Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge medical team treated 184 of the original 192 competitors for foot problems mostly severe blisters-and saw affected team members at least four times each. Bio-medical injuries were among the worst experienced by the competitors. "We saw at least 12 ankle injuries and around 30 knee injuries- some so severe that the competitors had to withdraw from the event," Dr. Adrian Cohen, chief medical officer Immediate Assistants said. All 192 team members received some form of treatment for scrapes and scratches, while some of the teams rescued on the ocean kayaking leg suffered from mild to moderate hypothermia. One competitor dislocated his shoulder but reduced the injury himself, and 20 competitors required rehydration treatment on-course (IV-administered). Of those, 12 were severe cases. Only three people were treated from brushes with stinging trees and there were no snake bites. "There was only one hospitalization due to moderate hypothermia (Patrick Walthius, Team Anteverto) and no breaks or other severe injuries," Dr. Cohen said. "We were very surprised that there were no major injuries and none of the crew or media working on the event were involved in any accidents. They obviously took heed of pre-race briefings," Dr. Cohen added.
Final Results The 19 teams withdrew for the following reasons:
The top five placings will receive cash prizes and trophies from Discovery Channel Eco-Challenge:
Final standings:
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