The
picture shown here is of the teams leaving for the first passport control before
starting the actual race the next morning. This is a great picture and makes an
awesome screen saver. Eco-Challenge 2000 Sabah
Team Alogent/Notice Now
Pre-Race - Day 1
A Message from Borneo: Sandy 8/19/00
Everything has been going smooth here, all the prerace skills tests and gear
checks. In a few minutes we go into our prerace meeting to find out more where
we start and get maps for our first section. Then we can do our final packing
and a few hours later they take us to where we camp out tonight to start the
race tomorrow. Last night they had a dinner for all the competitors and people
involved with the race. Today we did a service project of each team planting 2
trees with a school child who each won an essay contest. Got lots of photos. We
have been interviewed and will be followed by cameras during the race. If we
have drama and interest for them, I'm sure we'll make it on USA Network's airing
of Eco in a few months. They seem to be interested in our two team member's
military backgrounds.
8/20/00 - 11:30 PM
The main Eco-Challenge sites are starting to post lots of great
photos and information about the race. There are two links that are hosting the
official information.
Eco_Challenge and Eco-Challenge
2000. These sites have updated information on where Alogent/Notice Now are
on the course and what their current position is. Their official number is Team
#44.
The
picture shown here is of the teams leaving for the first passport control before
starting the actual race the next morning. This is a great picture and makes an
awesome screen saver.
8/21/00 - 10:19 PM EST.
Updates have been posting all day long from the race. The first
look at the leaderboard showed Alogent/NoticeNow in 45th place out of 76 teams.
There was a long break before more information was posted relating to their
position. However, as of 10:19 PM this evening, they had moved up from 45th to
34th place.
The race has so far seen tropical storms producing 40-knot winds and 1-2 feet swells during the initial outrigger canoe leg. Mark Burnett advised teams not to go out into the storm, but the lead teams pressed on into the night taking advantage of those who stayed behind.
There is a great interactive map at the that has recently deployed showing the positions of the first and last place teams. It gives you a great idea of how fast the lead team is moving.
8/21/00 - 11:33 PM EST.
The interactive map mentioned above is now working. It takes a while to load, so please be patient. It is worth the wait. Once you have it loaded, click an area shown in the map above. That will zoom in on certain sections. From there, click on any of the PC's and it will display a list of all the teams that have passed through the Passport Control. As of 11:33 PM, Team Alogent/NoticeNow had passed through PC 3 and had begun the 1.5k coasteering section. There appears to be a large number of teams in the same location between PC 3 and PC 4.
Here is the official team photo:
8/22/00 - Day 2
8/22/00 - 9:28 AM EST.
Alogent/NoticeNow moved through PC 9 and have entered another leg of the outrigger canoe section. They have dropped back a spot into 35th place but appear to be continuing to make up time. There are 38 teams in the same phase of the race at this time, however Alogent/NoticeNow was the fifth to pass through PC 9 in this group.
8/22/00 - 12:58 PM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow is on the move! At last check of the leaderboard, Team Alogent/NoticeNow had moved into 25th place. They have passed through PC 11 and have broken into a small group of teams. They are now travelling in a group with 24 teams and gaining on the groups in front of them.
Between PC 10 and PC 11, the team split into two groups. The first group set out in an outrigger while the second group swam and trekked to PC 11. Once the reunited at PC 11, the team regrouped and set sail in an outrigger for PC 12.
8/22/00 - 5:00 PM EST.
There appears to be conflicting data between the Eco-Challenge site and the Quokka site in the area of team standings. Team Alogent/Notice Now was listed in 40th place on the Eco-Challenge site and 25th on the Quokka site. Quokka has been revised and shows them in 41st place. Sorry about the confusion. There is also a feature online where you can encourage the team. They are delivering these messages to the team at certain PC's along the course.
8/22/00 - 8:20 PM EST.
Alogent/NoticeNow
has checked-out of PC 12 in 34th place. They are now well into the mountain
biking portion of the race. Stories from other teams indicate lots of rough
riding ahead with heavy packs on their backs.
The next leg is part one of the jungle trekking section. This should be a strength for the team and can move them up dramatically when they do well.
8/22/00 - 8:34 PM
EST.
Don't ask me how and don't ask me why, but it appears www.quokka.com has jumped
ship from their coverage of the race. Currently, all of their links for the
Eco-Challenge are redirecting to the BT Yachting Challenge. More to come....
8/22/00 - 10:30 PM
EST.
Quokka.com is back up and running. According to their site, Team Alogent/NoticeNow
is now in 39th place. They are still completing the mountain biking stage at
this time. Overall, Team Salomon/Eco-Internet (USA) is in the lead with Team
AussieSpirit.com close behind.
8/23/00 - Day 3
8/23/00 - 9:20 AM EST.
The
leading teams keep driving forward at an aggressive pace. Already through PC 17,
they have broken away far ahead of the pack.
The leaderboards have changed once again even though Team Alogent/NoticeNow has not passed through PC 13. It is possible that the tracking equipment at PC 13 is not working properly since very few teams have data posted from there. Quokka.com lists the team in 39th place while Eco-Challenge lists them in 36th place. PC 14 appears to be returning results. Hopefully, we will see them there soon.
8/23/00 - 9:40 AM EST.
Results from PC 13 are posted on the Eco-Challange site and Team Alogent/NoticeNow has once again moved up into 34th place. There is one more biking section between PC 13 and PC 14 with a distance of 20 Km. The distance from PC 12 to PC 13 was 60 Km!
8/23/00 - 11:00 PM EST.
176.5 kilometers have passed between PC 1 and PC 13. Once through PC 14, Team Alogent/NoticeNow will begin a difficult 56 kilometer trek through the jungle. Along the way, they will have to check-in at PC's 15 - 20. With the temperature averaging around 100 degree Fahrenheit, and a humidity level of 100%, this is no easy task.
8/23/00 - 11:40 PM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow sighting! We believe the picture below to be Team Alogent/NoticeNow during the mountain biking section. Unfortunately, you cannot see any team number, however someone might be able to confirm by the color of their bikes and helmets.
8/23/00 - 2:22 PM EST.
Still no word from the course as to updated positions. The last verified PC reached by Team Alogent/NoticeNow was PC 13. The mountain biking section has proven to be an extremely dangerous event. Earlier, Team Ernst & Young suffered a major setback when one of their members lost control and fell onto a protruding branch, puncturing his chest and collapsing his left lung. He was airlifted to the Eco-Challenge field hospital and later to Kota Kinabalu for further treatment.
Please visit the team's sponsors and show them your support. Without their support, Team Alogent/NoticeNow would not be possible.
8/23/00 - 7:25 PM EST.
Jungle Trekking has begun! Team Alogent/NoticeNow has moved to the front page of the leaderboard in 33rd place or both sites. They will have 10 km to trek through the jungle until they reach PC 15. CBS just aired a small profile piece on Mark Burnett which included the Eco-Challenge. He remained in Borneo to follow the race instead of being part of the Survivor finale.
8/24/00 - Day 4
8/24/00 - 9:00 AM EST.
As more and more teams are being disqualified from the race, Team Alogent/NoticeNow continues to climb the leaderboard. The latest results show them to have passed through PC 15 in 32nd place. The distance between the first place team and the last place team is now more than 144 kilometers. There's no place for monkey business out there!
The current trekking section from PC 15 to PC 16 is 14 Km. Hopefully, we will see some results later this morning when they arrive.
8/24/00 - 10:51 AM EST.
According
to the course map, Team Alogent/NoticeNow has broken away from the large pack
they had been wrapped up in. Leaving thirty-three teams behind them, they are
now in a group of fourteen moving toward PC 16. The groups in front of them who
have already passed through PC 16 are no larger than seven teams. Alogent/NoticeNow
is making their move!
8/24/00 - 11:37 AM EST.
Here is a little news from the team! They have posted it on the Eco-Challenge site. I believe they took time at PC 12 to send out a few words:
From Race Course:
There sure is a lot of stuff to do.Thanks for the emails, it was great.
ìTo Laurie monster. You make me want to be a better man. Thanks for the continued support. Youíre the best a friend could haveî.
ìHaving a great time, canít wait to tell you all about it. Chris, I got your message. Hello everyone, Love you Laurenî Sandy
8/24/00 - 2:33 PM EST.
Not much news from the race. The updates have slowed to a snail's pace, but here's the latest which might explain the delays:
"Heavy, heavy rains falling on the course. Many competitors remain camped at PC14. Leading competitors on river; not allowed to paddle at night. Must carry boat onshore to advance."
With the lead teams carrying their boats at night, Team Alogent/NoticeNow has a great opportunity to gain some ground. Muddy, slick ground, but ground nonetheless!
Here's a picture of what they have to look forward to:
8/24/00 - 4:00 PM EST.
Only the strong shall survive:
From Quokka.com:
"So they're dropping like flies out there," said Eco-Challenge medical director Adrian Cohen, during a brutal day of sweltering heat, competitor meltdown and controversial disqualifications.
Even without medical emergencies, some 20 teams, including Team Playboy Extreme, Team Uruguay Guatemala's Team Hombres de Maiz, were unable to make it to PC 14 in time. Race organizers have mandated that in addition to being disqualified, teams not making it to the cutoff would not be allowed to continue into the jungle trekking leg of the course unranked. Instead, they will have the option of either stopping outright or continuing on with the Sampan canoeing river leg.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow has long since passed PC 14's cutoff and should be pulling into PC 16 at any time.
8/24/00 - 8:19 PM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow has still not checked in at PC 16. That does not seem to be unusual since none of the team around them have checked in since early this morning. The sites have posted updates to the leaderboard, but nothing has changed. Team Alogent/NoticeNow is still in 32nd place.
Tomorrow weather looks like it might be shaping up to move forward. Partly cloudy, highs in the lower 90's. Unfortunately, it looks like Saturday will bring more rain to the region.
8/25/00 - Day 5
8/25/00 - 8:57 AM EST.
During
the past several hours, Team Alogent/NoticeNow has passed through PC 16 and PC
17 remaining in 32nd place. The distance to PC 18 is 12Km leaving only 16 Km of
jungle trekking from PC 18 before starting the SamPan Canoe section.
According to some of the captions on the photos posted on Quokka.com, it looks like they will be swimming the 5 Km stretch between PC 19 and PC 20.
8/25/00 - 11:11 AM EST.
Team
Alogent/NoticeNow should be approaching PC 18 within the next few hours. Located
at PC 18 is the Borneo Rainforest Lodge. Borneo Rainforest Lodge at Lahad Datu
is located in a magnificent setting beside the Danum River in Sabah's largest
protected lowland forest - Danum Valley Conservation Area. This is the
destination for visitors who yearn to see wildlife in a primeval Borneo
rainforest and to understand the conservation realities of our times. While I
doubt they will have a lot of time to do any site seeing around the lodge, they
should at least feel they are somewhat back in civilization.
8/25/00 - 5:08 PM EST.
Still no updates from the field. Team Alogent/NoticeNow is still listed in 32nd place. After roughly 400 kilometers and five long days, the three top teams are seperated by less than a mere hour. I have attached the elevation chart for the course that also shows the distances of each section.
8/25/00 - 7:10 PM EST.
The pack of teams travelling from PC 17 to PC 18 have still not checked in at this point. In the photo below is an adverturer's view of the jungle trekking section.
8/26/00 - Day 6
8/26/00 - 5:30 PM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow is rapidly advancing. The leaderboard now has them in 26th place overall. The team has passed in and out of PC 18 on their way to the SamPan Canoe section at PC 20.
8/26/00 - 6:26 PM EST
Apparently the heavy rains have given race officials reason to alter the course. Teams will no longer have to swim the Sagama River from PC 19 to PC 20. According to the latest race update, "The twisty river was full of branches and other debris, which was churned up by a heavy rainstorm. That 12 kilometer section was stricken from the race, and the teams going through now will travel from PC 18 to PC 20, to the start of the sampan canoe section.
8/26/00 - 10:30 PM EST.
"Shortly
after 7 a.m. on the morning of Day 6, Salomon Eco-Internet crossed the finish
line to become the Eco-Challenge Sabah 2000 champions. It took them only six
days to finish the 509.5 kilometer course. " (www.ecochallenge.com)
Team Alogent/NoticeNow departed PC 20 in 29th place. Travelling by SamPan canoe, they must travel 21 Km to PC 21.
8/27/00 - Day 7
8/27/00 - 10:50 AM EST.
Out of PC 21 in 35th place, Team Alogent/NoticeNow keeps moving forward. While this year's top ranked team, Team Fairydown Fleet CookieTime pulled out of the race just 5 Km from the end of the trekking section due to severe foot problems, Team Alogent/NoticeNow is somewhere between the 95 Km stretch of the Sagama River that flows from PC 21 to PC 22. There are 29 teams travelling the same stretch of river at this time. This is definitely a time for teams to make a move within the pack.
8/28/00 - Day 8
8/28/00 - 9:10 AM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow has departed PC 22 and are trekking the remaining 19 Km to PC 23 where they will once again board their outrigger and head toward the ropes section of the course. This year's decent is a 230 meter drop, the largest rappel in Eco-Challenge history.
8/28/00 - 1:06 PM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow is still in 34th place. Not much has changed since this morning. Here are a few messages from the team:
FROM PC14:
Ed ñ ìHi to my wife Carol, and I love you. To all my friends sending me emails, thanks for your support.î
Robie ñ ìTo the Laurie Monster ñ drink to me with thyne eyes. Malaysia is great, the race is great, my feet are great and I havenít had monkey feet yet. We saw elephant dung and I rode my bike through it, and Iím not washing it off!î
FROM PC18:
Ed ñ ìWeíre still in there hoping to finish soon.î
8/28/00 - 1:20 PM EST.
Relentless night-time storm. Heavy rain. Several teams in Perahus, including EastWind and Uruguay. Others being held at PC23. Ten teams have finished.
8/28/00 - 8:21 PM EST.
The race continues as Team Alogent/NoticeNow pulls out of PC 23 in 33rd place. Once again bound to an outrigger, they will sail and paddle for 25.5 Km until they reach PC 24. Only 9 PC's remaining!
8/28/00 - 10:50 PM EST.
"The parade of painfully hobbled competitors continues at PC23. Ireland's North/South approaching PC24. Two typhoons in vicinity, teams held at PC23. EastWind through PC29." - Quokka.com
8/29/00 - Day 9
8/29/00 - 10:00 AM EST.
Team
Alogent/NoticeNow has now entered one of the more technical sections of the race
having passed through PC 24 sometime late last night. The distance from PC 24 to
PC 25 is roughly 7.5 Km of trekking, caving and rock climbing.
Overall the team is now listed in 42nd place. The number of teams either disqualified or unranked has risen to 29 of the original 76.
8/29/00 - 10:10 PM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow has checked-out of PC 25 in 41st place. Currently they are spelunking their way through the caves of Borneo heading for the home-stretch of the race.
I just stumbled across this from Quokka.com. Most of you have probably already seen it, but here is a quote from Chris Brown on Day 6:
Fanned out around the temporary medical center at PC 18, a legion of Eco-Challenge competitors today created a makeshift refugee camp outside the lower level of the plush Borneo Rainforest Lodge. In agony after finally completing the demeaning 57-kilometer jungle trek, the rag-tag racers hobbled about, limping awkwardly on destroyed feet. Many had struggled through thick mud and relentless leeches for more than two days, sliding down sloppy mountainsides and slurping through stagnant muck. "I've got 13 blisters and cuts all over," said 31st-place Team Alogent/NoticeNow.com's Chris Brown, pointing at his swollen feet. "They're sort of like blister patches."
8/30/00 - Day 10
8/30/00 - 9:00 AM EST.
Team Alogent/NoticeNow is once again on the move. They have moved out of PC 26 in 42nd place and now face a 3 Km trek to PC 27. After PC 27, they will have one more 7.5 Km trek to PC 28 then it is back in the water the rest of the way!
8/30/00 - 1:20 PM EST.
Moving right along...Team Alogent/NoticeNow has cruised through PC's 27 and 28 and are back on the water for another 27 Km outrigger section. They have gained two places and moved into 40th place in the race. With a little luck and planning, they will hit the scuba section at the perfect time and be able to really enjoy the moment for a change.
8/30/00 - 10:30 PM EST.
Three more PC's then on a plane and home. Team Alogent/NoticeNow has pulled out of PC 29 in 42nd place. There are only twenty ranked teams still on the course. At this rate, they should be finishing up sometime tomorrow!
8/31/00 - Day 11
11:30 PM EST.
It's finally over! Team Alogent/NoticeNow has finished the race in 41st place! They will all be home before you know it! Being completely healed is another story.
Here are Sandy and Ed racing to the next PC somewhere along the course.
