Competitor's diary, August 18

Winning Eco-Challenge an experience to remember
Robert Nagle
Finish line

Andrea Murray of Team Eco-Internet helps launch a kayak

But what an experience it was — one that I know I will treasure forever. Before listing the true highlights, let me tell you what happened on the last stages of the event.

The climb over Bartle Frere (the highest peak in Queensland) and the subsequent transition to the beach where we launched our kayaks proved to be the decisive moments of the race. We had a good ascent and a fast descent.

On arriving at the bottom of the mountain, we had a long trek to the beach.

Rumors abounded on who was chasing us and how far back they were. For the most part, we disregard what other teams are doing and set our own pace and course. But now the race was on the line. We are good paddlers, better than most of the teams here. But one of them (Pure Energy) is a true paddling powerhouse; two of them are former world marathon paddling champions and a third is a world record-holder (100-kilometer and 24-hour).

So we decided to put the pressure on everyone else. Through the canefields and then onto back roads, we mixed a brisk walk with a run and then went to an all-out run. Very few adventure racers enjoy running on pavement — and never like to do it with a pack. We opted to really make an effort — for the one time in the race — and pushed the pace hard.

It paid off. The others (we later learned) either couldn't or wouldn't attempt the same pace. So we gained time. More importantly, we increased pressure on the cluster of teams that were behind us. Now they felt they could rest less before or during the kayak, and without rest you make mistakes and can't sustain the same high level.

As for us, we rested for an hour and then set off on the first leg of the kayak. A following wind got brisker and brisker and we literally flew to the island. There, to our horror, we could not find our race passport — a document that is stamped at each checkpoint. In the past, this would have meant disqualification, but this year the rules were changed so that we had to wait at the checkpoint until the organizers sent us a replacement.

We were stunned at this turn of events — we try to minimize mistakes and this is one of the explicit items on our checklist process. But we had goofed and the race may not be ours anymore. Our next thought, however, was that it didn't matter. We had raced to the best of our ability, we had a strong lead and felt that was enough of a reward. If the race were lost on a technicality, that wouldn't be the end of the world.

We waited on the island for about three and a half hours before a replacement came. Of course, we took advantage of that to get even more rest. When we eventually launched, we were told that the other teams were just arriving at the beach and seemed to be in serious need of rest. Our tactical effort had paid off.

The next stretch was a long offshore paddle. There was a 3-meter swell and a couple of nasty squalls passed through. Not the best of conditions for a group of tired paddlers. But we were able to maintain a reasonable pace and hit the penultimate checkpoint (at Fitzroy Island) around 9 a.m. From there, we knew we wouldn't be caught and the final paddle into Cairns was much more pleasant. Not easy (with plenty of gusting winds), but relaxed and unhurried.

Beaching before the throngs, we carried our kayaks up to the finish line and embraced in happiness, for this event was a real pleasure for us. We had some truly marvelous experiences (rafting the Tully, riding the tropical rainforest with an Aussie cowboy, the magnificent climb up Blencoe Falls, the awesome Tyrolean traverse ... too many once in a lifetime experiences to list). We had also enjoyed three completely different ecosystems (the outback, the rainforest and the barrier reef). But most importantly, we had grown even closer as friends and shared something that very few can ever experience, let alone understand.

Robert Nagle is captain of Team Eco-Internet, and is filing regular dispatches from the course.