Conquering the Atacama Crossing (Chile)

climbing, trudging, descending, helping …

… and preparing for Stage 6… 

Stéphane has completed Stage 5 in 14:00:09 for an overall time of 41:24:36 putting him in 18th place out of the 63 left in the race…!

Jocelyn got through Stage five in 17:50:05 for an overall time of 56:55:29 moving her up into 44th place!!

Rob James has come in as second place holder behind Dean Karnazes of the US with no way to make up the more than 1/2 hour difference in the 15k that is left to run!

New video was posted of Stage 4 - part 2 -  Click here to view it.

Stage 6: 10.4km: The final leg of the of the race is a short ’sprint’ through the foothills and through the charming town of San Pedro de Atacama to end in the Town Square. 

Donate Donate Donate to show ‘our team’ how much their effort meant to us and to Sunbeam! 

Race results have not been posted yet - but a summary has:

From RacingThePlanet

Daily Update: Stage Five

It’s an infamous slog through the night for all but the fastest competitors in Stage Five, otherwise known as The Long Day, a double-length stage that stretches 73 kilometers through the Atacama and many different parts of its varied terrain. As midnight approaches in the Atacama, about two-thirds of the competitors are still on the course, guided through the pitch-black darkness by glowsticks that light the way. For those who walk past midnight, the rising moon may give them an slight boost of light – but it’s only a sliver tonight, so most will be relying on their mandatory headlamps to light their way.

Today’s stage began with another pass through the salt flats, which were described in this morning’s course briefing as “blindingly-white granola bits” that cover the ground. (Race photographer Wouter Kingma described it as “like walking on cauliflower.”) The runners moved on to sandy desert, through narrow winding canyons, up a tall sand dune on the side of a ridge, across a plateau covered with strange rock formations, down another steep dune into a sweeping valley, down the valley, up through the Valley of the Moon, whose alien-like rock formations are one of this region’s primary tourist attractions, and finally down through a winding canyon whose walls are covered in salt.

Camp for tonight and tomorrow night is set just below a small, windy ridge just a few kilometers from the town ofSan Pedro. Competitors will spend a rest day there tomorrow before the last short run to the finish line on Saturday morning. Today’s results are expected to determine the race’s winner.

Chilean Juan Encina easily won the stage in a stunning 8 hours and 24 minutes. Encina had been running as a member of the Chilean Brunton/Gerber/Andesgear team until last night, when the team decided to compete instead as individuals. American Dean Karnazes claimed second place for the stage, coming in 9 hours and 14 minutes after he started. Welshman Rob James took third place in 10 hours 24 minutes.

There were two separate starts this morning, in order to give slower competitors time to complete more of the course while it was still light. The quicker group overtook them over the first and second segments of the course. As of 7 pm, the course medical team reported only one significant medical intervention, for a nauseous and dehydrated competitor who needed an IV at a checkpoint. Dr. Brandee Waite reports that his condition improved rapidly and he was allowed to continue, carrying extra water.

Stay tuned for more breaking news updates through tomorrow on competitors as they cross the finish line, and for the full stage results in tomorrow’s stage update. 

Stage 4 Part 1 video has been posted: Jocelyn is at the very end of it.

Main Video page link click here

For the Official Atacama Crossing Photo Gallery which is constantly being updated: click here

For Sunbeam Photo Gallery click here. 

Breaking news on Stage 5 - below the pictures…..

  Stéphane on the salt flats….. 

Jocelyn in the base camp 

Jocelyn: Yesterday from Stage 4:

Stage 5 : Breaking News 

Breaking News Archive: Time:  April 4th 2008 03:36:00 AM9:35 pm, 3 April, Stage Five Finish Line: Twelve hours after the start, twelve runners have crossed the finish line for Stage Five. 

Time:  April 4th 2008 02:49:28 AM8:12 pm, 3 April, Stage Five Finish Line: A group of four headlamps are in sight just up the course from the finish line. Volunteers on the course report problems with glowsticks along a portion of the course, where some competitors have been unable to find the route in the dark. Racing the Planet staff set out immediately from camp with more glowsticks to fix the problem. 

Time:  April 4th 2008 02:46:53 AM7:54 pm, 3 April, Stage Three Finish Line: Welshman Rob James takes third place in the long stage, crossing the line one hour and ten minutes after Karnazes. The usually optimistic James’s first words as he walked slowly across the finish line in the darkness: “That was hard.” 

Time:  April 4th 2008 02:44:47 AM6:44 pm, 3 April, Stage Five Finish Line: American Dean Karnazes has finished the long stage in second place, coming in just before dark. The campsite is now lit and awaiting competitors, who will be arriving throughout the night, guided by glowsticks along the course route. 

Time:  April 4th 2008 02:42:59 AM5:54 pm, 3 April, Stage Five Finish Line: Juan Encina of Chile has won today’s 73-km stage in a stunning 8 hours 24 minutes. Encina had been running as part of Team Brunton/Gerber/Andesgear until last night, when the team decided to compete as individuals. 

Time:  April 3rd 2008 11:32:21 AM5:30 pm, 3 April, Moon Valley, Chile: There is an upset in the making with Juan Encina of Chile leading the field going into the final checkpoint of Stage 5. No other competitors were in sight. Fellow teammate Matias Anguita, also of Chile, had to withdraw due to severe foot problems. 

Time:  April 3rd 2008 07:08:19 AM1:06 pm, 3 April, Stage 5: Briton Mimi Anderson leads the women’s field on Stage 5. All competitors have now passed through the first checkpoint, with five more checkpoints to go. Blind competitor, Kyoung Tae Song, being led by his 21-year-old son, Won, is looking very strong. 

Time:  April 3rd 2008 05:50:38 AM11:48 am, 3 April, Stage 5: American Dean Karnazes came through the first checkpoint in first place, followed by Rob James just two minutes behind. Chilean Pablo Lambert came in third. New Zealander Jo Peterson followed in fourth place. There are five checkpoints to go. Stage 5 should determine the overall winner. 

Time:  April 3rd 2008 05:14:53 AM11:10 am, 3 April, Stage 5: The first group of competitors left at 8:30 am. Harold Roberts, Martyn Sawyer, Rossa O’Donnell, Chris Armitage and Juan Encina are the first through the checkpoint. The fast competitors left at 9:30 am. Hong Kong’s Rob James and American Dean Karnazes are battling to capture Stage 5 and the championship. 

Stéphane (bib#43) came in 07:33:02 with an overall 4 Stage time of 27:24:27 moving up to 11th place!!!!

Jocelyn (bib# 17) came through Stage 4 in 11:09:39 with an overall time of 39:05:24 as #55  (5 1/2 hours ahead of # 64)…. amazing!!!

Leader Rob James (bib# 35) flew through Stage 4 with 05:46:18

Today’s latest news is: 

11:10 am, 3 April, Stage 5: The first group of competitors left at 8:30 am. Harold Roberts, Martyn Sawyer, Rossa O’Donnell, Chris Armitage and Juan Encina are the first through the checkpoint. The fast competitors left at 9:30 am. Hong Kong’s Rob James and American Dean Karnazes are battling to capture Stage 5 and the championship. 

From RacingThePlanet Stage 4 – 42.8km days summary:

A violent storm blew through camp this afternoon just as the early finishers were getting settled, tearing apart six tents and sending several more tumbling into the salt lake next to the campsite. The campsite crew watched the storm approach from across the desert for more than an hour, anticipating its arrival but not its ferociousness. Strong wind gusts pounded the camp for half an hour or more, and rain wasn’t far behind; several competitors and staff reported seeing lightning bolts flash from the western sky.

Competitors, staff and volunteers all fought to hold down the tents that hadn’t yet spun off into the wind. Several unlucky competitors who stayed in their tents trying to anchor them were tossed around when the stakes holding them to the ground came loose. Luckily all escaped with only minor scrapes and bruises, which they insist are minor compared to other damage they’ve done to their bodies over the last few days. The group was a bit shaken but rebounded quickly, getting to work on repairing the damage and reconstructing the shelters. Competitors have reshuffled their tent groups to accommodate more people, and have bedded down for the night in anticipation of the long stage tomorrow.

Out in the field, Rob James took the lead today over DeanKarnazes.  James looked at ease coming out of the salt flats and across the finish line. He and Jo Petersen, who finished second, tackled the salt flats together, and both said that the company helped them endure the heat and the tough, unpredictable terrain. Many competitors coming out of the salt flats looked wiped out, although some said the experience wasn’t as awful as they had expected it would be.

The terrain was varied even before reaching the salt flats, running across more sand dunes, through a riverbed, up into a small Chilean town (where many competitors stopped to buy sodas and chocolate bars at a local market along the route), through a forest, and out into a rocky desert that turned into salt.

On the team side, Team Brunton/Gerber/Andesgear has withdrawn from the team race due to one of its members’ injuries. They will continue to compete as individuals. Team Trifecta completed an impressive comeback to overtake the Chilean team at the third checkpoint of the day, and finished well ahead of their rivals. With Brunton/Gerber/Andesgear’s withdrawal, Trifecta is the only group still in the running for the team title.

Stage 4 time and place results are not in due to a bad storm that knocked out communications: 

Stage 5 : 73.6km

Stage 5 takes competitors over the western end of the Salar before heading up and over a spectacular lunar plateau guarded by dunes. After the crossing the course winds its way through the night towards the Moon Valley where it guides competitors through a maze of slot canyons and steep drops before ending on the side of a large gorge.

Here are some photos from Stage 4 - I have posted even more of them on the Sunbeam Photo Gallery (you can go directly from enlargement to enlargement by clicking on the right or left side of the first image you enlarge - give the whole page time to load!)

Rob James of HK (bib# 35) - the winner of Stage 4 and probably the front runner overall when the results are posted…   

Looks as if Joselyn had a hard fight with a huge hill …

- but finally defeated it!  

fewer photos of Stéph this round (and this race!) but here he is going strong!

and of course the event: sheep and all:

The children are continuing at an amazing pace!

Below  is their scoring board (line 1) on 30 March | 67 Children | read 212 books!
You can work out the rest!

Many of the children have to go home or to family to worship tomorrow 4 April as it is the QingMing Festival.
Some are taking  books with them to continue the Read-athon!

Something else wonderful

- the children are following the Atacama Crossing on this blog and have posted print outs of the Event…

and of course our readers! 

Remember even more picture in our Photo Gallery - Click to view it!  A big thank you to Yanwei Deputy Director of The Village and the rest of the staff at Sunbeam who have been working so hard to make this happen and even taking photos to send to us! You can see their faces with their names and more pictures of the village and the children by clicking here.

Please scroll down for updates on yesterday’s Sunbeam Children’s Village Read-athon!

All 65 remaining competitors have crossed the finish line. No times posted yet on Jocelyn or Stéphane - but here are some race updates from the 4Deserts website - sign up for breaking news  to really keep in touch. 

All times listed below are posted from the 4Desert/Atacama site and are Chilean time - 12 hours behind HK time. 

1:46 pm, 2 April, Stage Four Finish Line: Rob James has won Stage Four, finishing in five hours forty-six minutes. Jo Petersen is in sight behind him about to finish. Dean Kaznares has just arrived at the day’s third checkpoint. 

4:20 pm, 2 April, Campsite Five: A violent storm blew in from the west, bringing heavy winds, rain, and even lightning. It tore apart the campsite before many of the competitors had arrived, sending tents flying into the salt lake nearby – with some competitors still inside as they tumbled. Six tents are now unusable and competitors are re-shuffling into the space that remains to sleep tonight. Staff and competitors all escaped with only minor cuts and bruises.

7:15 pm, 2 April, Stage Four Finish Line: Brian and Annette Herdman have brought up the rear shortly after dark to complete Stage Four despite the storm. Sixty-five competitors remain in the race and all are eagerly anticipating tomorrow’s long stage. (2 have dropped out one being Hong Kong’s Wing Hang Lin who had to withdraw this morning due to foot and ankle problems.) 

10:33 am, 2 April, Checkpoint One: Competitors in the middle of the field ran into a traffic jam of sorts when a local shepherd drove her flock of sheep into the narrow trail that the runners are following. So far all sheep and all competitors are still accounted for.

Looking forward to those pictures!