Kiwis Win World Championship

As night fell on New Zealand’s wild West Coast this evening, New Zealand’s Team Balance Vector closed the curtain on a wonderful career. After five days and 400k of racing they won the adventure racing world championships, a then announced that the team is disbanding.

Balance Vector, of Nathan Fa’avae (Nels), Kristin Anglem (ChCh), Richard Usher (Qtown) and Marcel Hagener (Taupo) crossed the finish line at Cape Foulwind near Westport at 10:22pm on Friday night. After leading from start to finish they have triumphed with an unprecedented domination. Behind them the 46 best adventure racing teams in the world either fell back or withdrew. Second place is not expected for more than 12 hours.

Today they came out a trek in the northern Paparoa Ranges looking exactly as you’d expect of a team that had taken only six hours of sleep in 109 hours of racing. They also came out of the Paparoas complaining of a course so challenging that it bordered on silly.

“That was a bitch of a trek,” said Richard Ussher. We spent hours just bashing our way through endless scrub. For a while we were going about 600m per hour. It was insane.”

The trek was followed by an underground caving section, which Balance/Vector enjoyed despite a small protest by local cavers unhappy that a race was allowed to utilise the caves. A short mountain bike bought them out of the Paparoa’s to Charleston for a spectacular climbing section on the coastal cliff faces and rock formations. Richard Ussher called it the highlight of the race for him.

A 3k trek followed next, bringing them along Ninety Mile Beach to the finish line at Cape Foulwind, close to Westport.

When Balance/Vector finished tonight at 10:22pm second placed Sierra International, also a Kiwi team, were on a section of the course that the winners had passed at daybreak this morning. Sierra have fought a close battle for the minor medals with defending world champions Nike/Balance Bar (USA), last year’s runner up, Cross Sportswear (Swe), surprise package Port Nelson and the NZ/USA contingent of GoLiteTimberland. But despite the competition behind, second place is not expected to finish until close to mid-day tomorrow. At deadline second place had changed to Nike Ballance Bar.

Winning the world title was a fitting finale for New Zealand’s only fully professional adventure racing team. Everyone in the team paid tribute to Nathan Fa’avae’s leadership. “He’s a very good navigator, but I think more importantly he’s very good at keeping the team together,” said Anglem.

Team work was the overriding memory that observers will be left with from Balance/Vectors world championship win. At all times during the last five days they have raced as a unit. Unfortunately the irony is that their incredible unity is about to be split. The world championship was perhaps the last for Fa’avae and Anglem.

Fa’avae has been the driving force behind the concept of a fully professional all-Kiwi adventure racing team. But after five years leading the team and a decade competing in international sport, the Nelsonian says it’s time to move on. Asked what he’ll be doing this summer and Fa’avae replied, “A bit of kite surfing maybe, but mostly spending time with family.”

For Anglem finally winning the world title was the best possible way to retire from the sport. The world title race was her last in adventure and multi sports. She now turns her attention to Olympic class kayaking where she hopes to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Asked if the team's world title win was the perfect race they had always been looking for and she answered, “Yeah, I guess you could call it the perfect race. We didn’t have any major problems or mistakes and the team spirit we had was awesome. That is one thing I’m going to miss; I really enjoy the format of adventure racing, with the mixed teams. It makes for a strong family feel.”

Anglem’s new focus on Olympic kayaking is part of a quest for new motivations and challenges. “Kayak racing is a completely different sport. It’s a power sport, whereas adventure racing is an endurance sport.”

For Ussher and Hagner, however, it’s going to be business as usual. After sharing in the world title win Ussher said, “I’m definitely keen for more, but next year I’ll be chosen my on team mates.

Right now 12 of the original 46 teams are left in the race. Teams have until tomorrow night to reach the Cape Foulwind finish line.

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