EMA 2000 - THE RACE

A The Expedition Mata Atlantica 2000 Adventure Race kicked off its third annual with tremendous success. Alexandre Freitas, Race director, once again promised a challenging and competitive 6 day, non-stop, 450K adventure race in the rugged terrain of the State of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo . The course was designed as an expedition race with no dark zones and time cutoffs throughout the course that rerouted racers to compete in either the Alternative or Adventure categories. This allows teams to continue racing towards the finish line and obtain a ranking in the other category races.
The grueling course, covering trails and roads of the Atlantic Forest, encompassing 222K of mountain biking, 131K of trekking, 84K canoeing, 1.5K of swimming, 18K white water rafting, 5K of coasteering and spectacular rope sections entailing ascending, Tyrolean traverse and rappelling. This year`s race was the most competitive field ever with 32 teams competing representing countries from around the world.
On October 23rd, the race began on the beautiful beach of Tarituba,in the town of Paraty in Rio de Janeiro state at 7AM in Canadian canoes, paddling 34K. The first team to finish this section was Team Epinephrine (US/Finland). The next leg of the race consisted of a 65K trekking leg with coasteering, swimming and a 90 m rappel. Throughout this leg Team Epinephrine, Team Brasil 500 Anos, Team Quasar Reebok Coolmax and Team Iancatu Bravox fought for first place.
Teams then transitioned to the next challenge at PC 10, an 80 K trekking mountain bike leg. Here teams were giving the option prior to race start to choose either to ride an additional 16K to their support team to rest and refuel or continue directly to PC 13. 19 teams opted for support assistance prior to race start. This section was a difficult orienteering section as well as challenging for teams due to the many hours of trekking with their bikes.
The mountain bike leg ended in the state of Sao Paulo and teams continued a 3K canoe leg followed by a 62 K trek reaching 1300 m of altitude through the State Park of Serra do Mar, that divides the State of Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro. Many teams got lost during this segment and as a result stopped due to mental and physical exhaustion. The first Time cutoff was here which determined the fate of many teams, which would continue in the Alternative Category in a shorter race towards the finsih line. Team Brasil 500 Anos in second place had problems in this section and decided to use their GPS given by the organization in order to arrive to the next Transition Area.
After the trekking mountain bike leg, support teams took part in a community project which entailed cleaning up a 500 m section of a highway near the Transition Area.
After this trekking leg, teams began the 18 K rafting discipline with level 3+ rapids. Approximately 20 teams took part in this section of the race rafting either during the day or night.
Upon completion of this section, remaining teams in the Expedition Race began the mountain bike/rope skills section PC20/TA5. At this time 5 teams still remained in the Expedition Race: Team Epinephrine, Timberland Lontra Radical Caloi, Quasar Reebok Coolmax, Adventure Gear and Team H.A.T.
At the end of the mountain biking leg, the teams will begin another canoe leg of approximately 44 K. A Time Cutoff was given here requiring teams to pass through PC 24/TA6 no later than 10PM on Oct 27. Teams unable to make the cutoff will continue in the Adventure category by mountain bike to PC 20/TA5. ONLY 4 teams made the cutoff to continue in the Expedition Race.
Teams in the Expedition race continued with a short 8.5K mountain bike leg followed by a 19K trek/rope skills - tyrolean traverse section at the Pico do Corcovado, in Ubatuba, in the state Sao Paulo. Teams in the Adventure Category that did not make the canoe time cutoff at PC24/TA6 continued by mountain bike
The first team to reach the finish line by canoe on the Rio Itamambuca in a total time of 115 hrs and 40 minutes was Team Epinephrine, Captain Paul Romero (US), Liro Kakko (Finland) and Alyson Denk (US). The second team to place, Timberland Lontra Radical Caloi (Brazilian) finished over 10 hours behind the first place team.

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