Team Avaya leads after flying start

Team Avaya got off to a flying start at Godzone at the weekend, but several other athletes had to be choppered off the alpine course with illness or injuries.

Among the heli-evacuees were former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and his iSport team-mates, Rob Nichol, Jo Williams and Tim Sikma, after Nichol became ill as the team navigated through the Southern Alps main divide in the Fiordland National Park.

"Everyone is fine. Rob Nichol is the team member who has the medical issue. It is not life-threatening," Godzone media spokeswoman Margo Berryman said yesterday afternoon.

Team iSport was retrieved from the Olivine Hut, above the Pyke River, and flown to Glenorchy yesterday afternoon.

Three other evacuations were made for injuries — all competitors on the gruelling 710 long course — and two teams were walking out to the Hollyford shelter to meet support crews there.

By 4pm yesterday there were nine unranked teams, meaning they were permitted to keep going but no longer in the race.

The 10-day adventure started on Friday at Haast (710km course) and Milford Sound (643km course) and finishes at Brighton Beach, near Dunedin.

The leading teams were due in Glenorchy last night and should be approaching Kingston today.

Race director Warren Bates said the terrain was tough and challenging.

"Day two and three have been particularly arduous for some teams, and when you're load-bearing and carrying a lot of weight with food, pack rafts and other essentials, it can be a shock to the body.

"We are seeing quite a few ankle, leg and knee injuries in this very steep and gnarly country.”

Teams Avaya with Nathan Fa’avae, Sophie Hart, Stu Lynch and Chris Forne, charged ahead early on Friday to establish a solid lead, and had taken just four to five hours’ sleep during the weekend.

The world champions took more than 48 hours to complete a 155km stage packraft and trek over the Main Divide and were expected to be at Glenorchy around 7pm last night.

Bates said the field had split with teams Tiki Tour, TopSports and Ataraxia Macpac racing closely together and about 5km behind the leaders.

Long-course teams had a choice of routes on Saturday, with about three-quarters of the field following Team Avaya up the Cascade Saddle (above 1200 vertical meters) and on to the Pyke River, while others chose a coastal track from Jackson’s Bay to Big Bay.

Of those that took the Big Bay route, team Highland Events proved that route was just as fast and joined the chasing bunch, but were then hampered on Lake Alabaster by a broken paddle.

Many shorter-course teams had navigational issues over Park Pass in the Mt Aspiring National Park on Friday, which delayed their progress over the weekend.