Rss/XmlARWC: "The water will laugh your Gore-Tex socks"
Course designer Gary Tompsett has laid down the gauntlet, the racers and their feet will not be comfortable. He said, ironically, they might be dry, during the paddling section if they're careful getting into the boats, and its possible they could be dry during the biking section, but they will be soaked and saturated during the trekking section. This will be a factor for every team, Robyn had a bad experience in last year's world championships due to bad feet, and she's taken precautions to prevent any recurring problems.
It's shaping up to be a slog; the wet tussock here won't lend itself to running. There's even a mandatory hiking pole section, race officials will be handing out hiking poles at the beginning of the section and taking them back at the end. The course is going to be 500km with 25,000m of climbing, the weather is just what you expect from Scotland, wet, cold and wet and even wetter than that.
The race briefing went off and the maps were handed out, teams are now furiously calculating routes and making last equipment tweaks. All of the teams took part in a parade down High street, it was led off by the Lochaber high School Pipe Band and at the end teams were entertained by the Treacherous Orchestra. Most of the town of Ft William was quite surprised by the incredible show of pomp and ceremony.
Tomorrow starts early with a 5:30 AM bus departure to the island of Rum. Rum will be the sight of the prologue and the race start. More from there.
--Jeff Akens
