The end of an amazing journey and the first AR World Series ever to take place in Ireland, The Turas had its first winners on Friday in the form of Kiwi team, Orion Health. Comprised of Stuart Lynch, Brent Edwards, Ana Berthelsen and Wayne Oxenham, Orion Health had been in the lead or thereabouts for the majority of the race and are ecstatic with their result. This isn’t the first World Series they have won this year, they also won the Australian XPD earlier in the year. As they have already gained their entry to the World Championships in Brazil with their win at XPD, their spot will now be passed on to French Team Wilsa Helly Hansen of which Irish ultra runner Eoin Keith is a member. Keith is the only Irish competitor to finish the course and was delighted to reach the finish line. “This is my highest finish position in a big race by a long way,” he said. “This is a world class team and I was delighted but very nervous when I got Marcel’s call. I didn’t know if I would be able to race with them, but I mostly did. I held my own on the bike and on foot, but wasn’t so good on the kayaking and swimming!The best thing by far was the team work – I’d never even met any of the team but we got on great and had no arguments. Jacob (Robertson) was a revelation, his is so strong and Karine seemed to get stronger as the race went on. Up until early this morning we thought we might catch Orion. We saw them at the jumar and shone our lights up, hoping seeing us so close would spook them – but it didn’t!”
Friday night wasn’t without drama, as top teams neared the Play At Height tyrolean zipline in Bealach Beama, three of the five lead teams actually missed their checkpoint. According to Deanna Blegg of Team Peak Adventure teammate “Jarad (Kohlar) was just so whacked and was lacking sleep so much, that he just wasn’t thinking straight”. For a team to miss a checkpoint at such a late stage in the race is devastating. New Zealand Adventure Sport was another team who missed the checkpoint, they were also forced to retire from the race due to medical reasons, all on the day of team leader and endurance sport legend Richard Ussher’s birthday.
Competitors and followers of the race alike, have been absolutely gob smacked with the scenery and beautiful landscape they have seen in the last week. Many of them are already keen to return for training and adventure holidays. The Turas has served as a mechanism for promoting adventure sports in Ireland. According to Fiona Buckley, General Manager of Failte Ireland Southwest “The World Adventure Series has the capacity to launch Ireland, and in particular the South West region, on a global stage as an outdoor activities destination of world class status. “The introduction of The Turas shows what can be delivered in the Region when industry and agencies such as Fáilte Ireland work to a common goal. We envisage that the success of The Turas will heighten awareness of this fantastic product in the Cork and Kerry region and progress the success of initiatives such as the Failte Ireland South West Adventure Hub Programme.”
End