It was an alliance that transcended international boundaries � and Eco-Challenge official rules. But the pairing of two Brits from Team The North Face and two Yanks from Team Go turned out to be one of the bright spots in the back half of this year's race. The feel-good story of Eco-Challenge Sabah 2000, if you will.
And tonight, the Anglo-American Eco-alliance, widely known as "USUK," or "You suck," finished off their union � and the race � with a bang. Emerging from the silent darkness, the team shot emergency flares and set off smoke alerts, spewing orange fog into the night sky.
"You suck! You suck! You suck!" shouted a crowd of onlookers, race officials and camera crews as the team approached. Beaming beneath their scruffy beards and race-weary faces, the foursome finally put down their paddles.
"We're the first all-male foursome to finish, the first Anglo-American team to finish, and, according to the guy at PC 27, the smelliest team on the trail," said Steve Watkins, formerly of Team The North Face, stepping from his Perahu onto the dock. "So we're quite pleased, really."
Joking aside, the team really was quite pleased. Though they laughed and mugged for the cameras, the USUK team also exchanged heartfelt hugs, slapping each others' filthy and soaking wet jerseys.
Eyes bloodshot red, American Dave Christian, formerly of Team Go, was ecstatic, if a bit sarcastic. "Mike (Eck) and I just started adventure racing, and I think it's a tremendous honor to be allowed to participate in the world championships," he said. "Now we're ranked 59th in the world."
Actually, the reconstructed team finished unranked; members of both The North Face and Go required medical assistance during the race, warranting automatic disqualification. But after joining together at PC 14, the new team was allowed to continue. Unofficially, they were the 57th team to cross the line.
"It was a bad situation that turned out well," said Trish Middleton, who made the call to allow the two teams to form their trans-Atlantic Malaysian union.
Watkins, a photographer and writer when not racing, admitted that after teammate Naomi Spina snapped her ACL during the second day of the race, he didn't expect to ever cross the finish line. "I would've said there's no chance whatsoever," he said.
But after Spina was airlifted to safety and teammate Steve Duffy twisted his ankle, Watkins and teammate Keith Byrne decided to continue the race with Christian and Mike Eck of Team Go. The two Americans had also lost two teammates to medical problems.
"Our next project is to set up an adventure racing school," said Watkins, 34. "John Howard has already signed up and we're hoping to get Jane Hall and some other big names."
Go to News // Index
Go to Day 11 // Home
