What are the odds? Recruiting team members can happen in many ways. One of the more unusual ways of recruiting team members is when you find one while crossing the Greenland Ice Cap. Team Captain Amma Kleist of Arctic Ladies: Recently, when I was crossing the Ice Cap with three other women, we suddenly met a group of British people crossing the Ice Cap in the opposite direction. One of them was Anna McCormack who was helping a woman in a wheel chair [!] cross the Ice Cap. We hit it off really well up there on the ice and decided that if we were a member short for our Greenlandic ladies' team, we could just call Anna, and she'd show up. So we called and here she is!
Beaming Ladies
Girl teams are always popular at ATC and Arctic Ladies will not be an exception. Yesterday Anna McCormack was ill and throwing up but today she feels much better: We'll just take it easy and steady, she says. We're a stronger team this year, Pia Nielsen tells us, but seeing how strong the other teams appear to be we will probably race against our time from last year rather than race against the other teams. However, coming down from the mountain, the girls had new energy. I'm very pleased with our performance today. We did a lot better than last year, and I'm very proud of my team. We were very surprised that we passed the Icelandic team in the race to cross the fjord, says a beaming Team Captain Amma Kleist. The Ladies also participated in ATC last year, and Amma was very glad to be back up on the Polheim's Mountain once again, describing the feeling as one of the biggest rushes you can have. Polheim's Mountain is steep but they were not at anytime worried because they all felt they had the situation under control. The new girl Anna is a great asset to the team as she adds some hiking and mountain skills to the team - and the rest of the team could show her the terrain here in East Greenland.
It's been tougher for the Arctic girls. While going uphill, we had a chat with Pia Nielsen: It feels great to have such a strong team. The only disadvantage for me is that this makes me the weakest link on the bikes. However, going uphill Anna has been very strong and has pulled Pia on many stretches. When hearing of Ben's saddle, Anna's dry comment is: What good is a race without a challenge?
Two days down. One more stage day today and then will be out in Base camp on a beach for a night. Then the 'expedition stage' and this took the girls 39 hours last year, so I may be out of touch for a while. I had to tow on bike for four hours yesterday, someone who weighs about 20kg more than me (and then Amma for rest of day since we were split into pairs, but she is light, so not a worry). I am not very good at it! A little tired, sleep wise and muscles feel it but otherwise fine.A
FYI there are only 8 teams racing this race and most teams are not coed (we are) but there is one all girl team (the artic girls)... without sounding totally sexist we thought...OK an all girl team...this is "good news"...we show up and there are 3 Greenland woman racing with an AR friend of mine from the UK...a top race Anna McCormack...we chat to find out that she meet the Artic Girls totally by accident somewhere near the north pole. Anna was doing the first (i think) paraplegic crossing (45 dyas unsupported) of the arctic cirle (4 people on ski's with sleds plus a paraplegic friend in a wheelchair-sled) and the Artic girls were doing the first all girl unsupported artic crossing - OK...bottom line...I want to stick from Farmer and co about being "chicked" out here! ,) (Neal Radford, from the US)
Ace Race 12th August 2006
Soon after 11am the transition was busy with the first arrivals who wanted to spend more of their time running. The race medic was also busy when Finnish racer Pasi Ikonen (Buff Endure) came in with a badly gashed forearm, having tried to ride through a nearby ford and come off worse. It was a very deep, clean cut and the medic said, you could see right to the bone! Pasi had to go off to hospital for stitches and after 10 years of racing all over the world on the international circuit it was the first time hed had to pull out of a race!