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Punctuated by rumors, giddy conversations and plenty of waiting around, Eco-Challenge registration Thursday allowed teams their first long look at the rest of the field. Decked out in their officially numbered and labeled uniforms, foursomes of anxious competitors lugged packs, paddles and heaps of gear from station to station on the luxurious grounds of the Magellan Sutera Hotel in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo.
In addition to stringent equipment and supply inspections, teams passed through a series of skill and fitness tests, including a swimming exam, caving and fixed ropes tests and rescue equipment reviews.
"This is always my least favorite part," said Team Earthlink's Michael Trisler, 32, as he waited to have his mandatory safety equipment checked. The hulking lifeguard and stuntman from Sunset Beach, Hawaii, is competing in his fourth Eco-Challenge; he knows the routine.
Other veterans, like five-time Eco-Challenger Louise Cooper-Lovelace of Team oobe, took the opportunity to catch up with old friends. "A lot of this stuff stays the same from year to year," said the 46-year-old teacher, strapping a required knife-blade to her orange life vest. "These are for when your teammate pisses you off," she quipped.
Meanwhile, rumors began to spread that somebody had posted the race's supposedly secret starting place on the Internet. "Teams are going to Sabah Tourism to find out exactly where it is. Soon everybody will know," said race volunteer Joanne McCormick. The rumor was never confirmed, though several teams were overheard discussing the location. The starting time and place will be officially announced at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Beyond the medical check-in, Team Sabah 2000, one of two Malaysian teams, was having trouble sorting out their gear, which was spread out in heaps all over the floor. Team captain, Cowboy Miala, searched frantically for a missing Lycra bootie required on the canoeing leg. According to their team manager, finding all the required equipment has been quite an ordeal. Several critical items will have to be couriered at the last minute from Australia.
The swim test required competitors to complete 300 meters in under 10 minutes. "I'm really scared," joked Antonio de la Rosa, feisty captain of Spain's Team Red Bull-Playstation. "I've only been swimming for a year." The fast-talking 30-year-old then sported a sleek full-body swimsuit and passed the test easily.
But for other competitors, the test proved surprisingly difficult. Marshall Ulrich, captain of Team Tactel Inspira, is an elite ultra-marathoner and one of few athletes to compete in every Eco-Challenge, failed twice. To show race director Mark Burnett that he is fit enough to handle the racecourse, he will attempt a one-kilometer ocean swim tomorrow.
Throughout the day and the night before, sheets of rain poured from ominous skies and gusty winds whipped noisily through palm trees on the hotel grounds, a not-so-subtle reminder of what competitors will face on the course. Said Team Vail's Billy Mattison, winner of Eco-Challenge 1998, "I just keep thinking, 'Oh, man, we gotta be out there in this.'�"
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