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Posted by Grant on 24. January 2010 19:01
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The new year, 2010, is quietly gaining momentum. It's not really fair to call it "new" anymore -- as we're nearly a month in. Details for our event in Switzerland are piling up, including some key German translations for the web content. I need to see to that stuff pronto! We have some awesome Marmot base layers as our official race gear for Switzerland, and I need to figure out a way to get them embroidered here in Zurich. It's a trivial task in the USA, where I have plenty of connections for custom apparel etc, but in Switzerland it's a tougher. It'll be just another small "adventure" before the real adventure in April!
Here is my chance to run down a few other items that I'm behind on communicating about . . .
There is a team racing in Patagonia in a few days under the "Untamed New England" name; I meant to get an update on to our website a week or two back, but higher priorities got in the way. Andy Cameron, from the ATP/Salomon AR World Series team, has joined up with three of the Running Free bunch from Canada and they're going to take on Tierra del Fuego in February. The Running Free team finished 2nd at 2008 Untamed New England, while Andy's team won the 2009 edition in New England, so this is really a good fit to race under the "Untamed New England" name and represent North America well. There's a short write-up on SleepMonsters about the Untamed New England team gearing up for Patagonia. I *hope* to get some pics and other info together in advance of their Patagonia expedition. I know first-hand what they're in for down there, and it'll be fun to have a team to cheer for against that rugged course!
Another team to follow in Patagonia will be the AR World Champions Team Helly Hansen / Prunesco from the UK. They have a website worth tracking, and are detailing some of their preparations for Patagonia in February. They won this Patagonia race last year, so they must be the pre-race favorites.
Right now, south of the equator, is prime racing time since these are the warmest months of their year. Patagonia has a high-profile race in February, but so does Ecuador and -- you guessed it -- there is an Untamed New England team racing in Ecuador too. Led by Leanne Mueller, also of ATP/Salomon fame, an all-female team will race the 3-day Huairasinchi World Championship Qualifying race. Huairasinchi is the highest race in the world, with the Andes mountains as the backdrop, but I think Leanne and Co will rise to the occasion!
If you're piecing this together, we have made a broader arrangement with the ATP/Salomon team to sponsor some of their larger race efforts in 2010 and have them race under the "Untamed New England" name -- this is a smart move for us since they won our Untamed New England 2009 race and I've known Scott Pleban, their lead navigator, for years. At the post-race dinner after the World Championships in Portugal last November, while Scott Pleban dozed off and nearly dropped his head into his plate, an idea took shape to form this sponsorship/partnership and these two South American races in February are the first visible outcomes. Having two Untamed New England teams to follow in February will certainly entertain through this snowy winter and bring some good attention to our race brand. I think it's a great fit!
One last item to share: Team Kinetic, the team that raced to a 2nd place finish in New England in 2009 and did really well at the World Championships, has been divided by the Atlantic Ocean. Their teammate Stephanie Lajoie has moved to Paris, France and is posting her adventurous undertakings to a new website at www.stephanielajoie.com (the team also keeps a blog at http://teamkinetic.wordpress.com). Jason, our podcast engineer extraordinaire, has as our first new podcast for 2010 an interview with the Team Kinetic crew -- that should be posted very soon to ITunes or our Podcast page.
Finally, as I'm on the topic of Team Kinetic, let me close this post with a couple photos of them from the World Championships in Portugal last November:
This pic shows Team Kinetic emerging from the channel crossing/swim at sunrise on the final day. They were very near to the finish by this point.
Here is Team Kinetic celebrating at the finish line on the beach. Note the nice Untamed New England jersey on the racer with the champagne! They were calling him a sellout for wearing the shirt, but I think that helped power them to their 16th place finish (2nd only to Nike for teams from North America!).