With one racer suffering a broken rib on Day One, and persistent heavy rains and difficult river crossings soaking the team and putting them on the verge of hypothermia, Japan’s East Wind came close to quitting the 2011 Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race on two occasions.
But determined to improve of last year’s last position finish, the team wasn’t going to be beaten by Patagonia and pushed hard for nine days to finish in fifth place, two positions better than last year’s result.
Kaori Waki, who was competing in Patagonia for her first time, talks about some of the best and worst moments for the team…
What were the highs and lows?
“By highs you mean good. Definitely reaching the goal (of the end). All the pain and suffering that I went through, it was worth it. The guys are definitely feeling great too. They are also really glad that they were able to cross the finish line, because actually there were two times when we thought we were going to have to drop out but we are really glad that we pushed ourselves and that we came here to the finish line.”
Your team mates came here last year and were last, which is commendable in itself, but this year they went one better, actually two better position-wise. Were they pleased with that?
“They are very pleased. We aimed to be within the first five teams to finish, which we did so we are happy about that. They are also glad they came back here for a second challenge and also because this year’s challenge was even tougher than last year.”
You mentioned two moments when you thought you wouldn’t be able to finish. What were those two moments?
“On the first day, I broke my rib and by the third day it was starting to get a little worse so I was starting to have breathing problems. I fell on a tree and hit my chest. I didn’t realise my rib was broken, but two days later I started to feel more pain and have breathing problems. That was between PC9 and PC10, at the reference point at kilometre 289. Actually I was starting to have a problem before that, but that’s when my breathing got really bad and we decided I needed to see a doctor right away just to be sure it was nothing critical and that it was ok for me to continue.
“So I saw a doctor and she told me it seems like my rib is broken, but it’s not an emergency and it was up to me whether to continue or not. But at the same time, I was also getting hypothermia.
“So those bad things were starting to add up little by little. First my broken rib and then having to cross the river so many times. We were all soaking wet and it was rainy, it was windy and it was just really, really cold. When we finally got to the really big river before PC10, we decided it was not going to be possible for us to cross the river because everyone was going to get hypothermia – and I was already getting it.
“So we decided to stop and wait for the weather to get better. We waited with the Danish team (Roadrunners Adventure) and the American/UK team (Perdido en el Turbal) which finished 6th today. We all camped there together and each team had somebody starting to get hypothermia with no dry clothes. So that was the second moment we thought we were going to have to drop out.
You were evacuated by helicopter. What state were you in?
“We were brought to PC10 on a helicopter and then the next day we walked to the lake and took a boat from there. We weren’t as bad as the Denmark team – they really needed help. They had no dry clothes and had to be completely naked to stay warm. But we still had dry clothes so we were Ok. We were waiting for the weather to recover and maybe if the weather recovered, we were getting ready to cross the river – insane but whatever it takes.
“But when we heard that the helicopter was coming to rescue the Danish team and they said they could help us cross the river, we figured that sounds good. But it turns out the helicopter took us to PC10 so that was definitely helpful.
“We didn’t want to stop. We thought that if we took the helicopter, we might have to drop out, but that was not the case. (The race organisers) still let us keep going which was awesome because that was exactly what we needed.”
It was your first time to Patagonia – what do you think of the region?
“The nature of Patagonia is absolutely stunning. It is so, so beautiful. The weather conditions can be very, very tough for humans, but that’s the way it is. I started to realise that because it is so hard for people to get there, they get to keep it so natural and the way it is. It was all really beautiful, everything I saw.”
