North Shore
resident takes
Eco-Challenge

Jan-Christian Sorensen

News Reporter
orensen@nsnews.com

CARYS Evans lives life
at her own pace.

Tt just so happens that it's
“often at Mach 2,

Evans was one of a hardy
group of B.C. athletes who
‘travelled to Borneo this sum-

“mer to take part in the 2000
incarnation of the annual Eco-
, Challenge — a gruelling, two-

; Week cycling, boating, cimb-
ing and running race through
the best —and worst — that
* Mother Nature has to offer.
The 1996 Eco-Challenge event
was held in the Whistler area.

The rest of her team was
comprised of North Shore resi-'”
dent and team captain Bob
Faulkner, navigator Adrian
: Rothwell and Rob Hartvikson,
~a North Shore native who now
calls Ireland home.

Seventy-six teams began the
Eco-Challenge. Only 44 —

. including Evans’ squad, which
grabbed 22nd. — made it
across the finish line to arn a
ranking. +

: Evans doesn’t rue missing
the podium, she said. Just

to get there, the team is dis-
qualified. Every tears member
must also make it to the pass-
port station together to contin-
uc.

Evans said she learned a lor
of valuable lessons from her
Eco-Challenge experience “—
most importanty, the value of
teamwork.

[e's more than an item on
the checklist; it's the glue that
ultimately holds a successful
expedition together.

“The race taught me se
much about patience and
diplomacy, and I've never been
that type of person,” said
Evans. “Spending that much
time together... I mean, I
don't: spend that_ much time
with my boytriend, so it’s pret-
ty interesting. You've gotta get
the right mix and vou're always

* going to get tension, {t's just
how you deal with it.”

She said the most important

_ thing to remember to. bring
* along on the journey is com-
mon sense.

“It's detinitely a challenge
butit’s also as hard as you make
it,” she said. “Ifyou start racing
and you turn your brain off and
refuse to take care of your fer,

_ especially in a tropical climate,
your skin ‘falls off, vou get
trench foor and incredible blis-
ters.” ‘

“But if you use your brain

_ and decide ‘okay, Pm going to

NEWS photo Jutle iverson tape my feet ahead of time’,

“crossing the finish line was
reward enough.
— 2 “We were going in it basi-
veally for a great experience.
We're not Olympic-calibre ath-
“letes: We don’t do adventure
- racing fora living.”
Evans’ squad began the race

“on Aug. 20 and finished ten -

days “later, on Evans’ 27th
* birthday:
“It was the most satis ing
irthday I've had,” she said.
To: practise up for the: big

race, Evans and her teammates

NORTH Vancouver athlete Carys Evans took part in
the 2000 incarnation of the annual Eco-Challenge

Adventure Race held this summer in Borneo. |.

in the “Adrenaline Rush” — a
300-mile race over some of
that. country’s most rugged
and unforgiving cerrain.

The Eco-Challenge is held
in a different location each year.
In order to. keep the playing
field level, however, the exact
route is kept a well-guarded
seeret until: juse before the
teams arrive to compete.

“You pretty much guaran-

tee that you're going to be rid-
ing a bike, canoeing or kayak-
ing and trekking, You know
what you're going to be doing
but you're not exactly sure how
much of each and when,” she
said.

During the race, partici-
pants must check in at a num-
ber of passport stations to con-
tinue. [fa team misses a pass-

port station or the cutoff time

you can save yourself a lor oF
hell.”

“It’s taking care of yourself

and always thinking.”

They took every precaution
to ensure their survival and sue-
cess, but even the most planned
expeditions can hit snags.

“We treated our water but
sometimes sh** happens,” she
said.

Literally, in this case.

Harwikson contracted (a
serious case of leptosporosis, a
disease found in bat guano or
mouse and rat droppings. He

“travelled to Ireland ro compete

Residents fear vandals.

‘From pa se 1

“spring, the c committee looked at ‘peveral i issues including traffic,
cise, crime, vandalism and’ garbage. A traffic count by the dis-
“tice’s engineering department in September found that vehicle
‘traffic from 4 to 6:30 p.m. — when there were soccer practices on
the fields — made up an average of 14% of the total daily traffic in
the neighbourhoods around the schools. Decibel testing conduct-
‘ed: by the North Shore Health Region found noise levels during
‘soccer practices are within the municipal by-law levels and less than
during a typical lunch hour at the schools. Other consultations and
muidies: indicated ‘the lights weren’t likely to be an incentive for.

creased crime and vandalism, nor to harm nocturnal wildlife in

ie ‘area, since they'll be turned off by an automatic timer at 8:30

The “iain ts issue” for residents like: Robert Krag-Hansen, whose
homie backs onto the West Bay elementary school field, is the effect

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the lights wil have on their property value. Krag-Hansen said he
spoke t toa Realtor who told him the lights would devalue his prop-
erty. “These are properties worth millions of dollars, in some of the
most desirable real estate in Canada,” he said on Tuesday morning.
“(Council) forced this through. They don’t care what “the neigh-
bourhood thinks.” He said he plans to lobby the school board to
vote against the lights. I¢ could appear on the board’s agenda as
early as next Tuesday.
~~. Durman was one of these booed when he explained his position’
on the lights. He said sometimes it was necessary to do things for
the greater good of the municipality. “There’s something lacking
here and it’s called community ... Every! body has to give a little bit.”.
Soprovich, however, said installing the lights would be infring-
ing on the neighbours “with a brightness that they would not be
used to.” “Although he voted unanimously with Williams and ~
Durman to bring the recommendation for the lights before coun-
cil, he voted against the motion in front of the public at Monday's
meeting. Council voted four.to two in favour ‘of installing the
lighting with the approval of the school board. Coun. John Clark
and Saprovich voted against it..

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became violently ill and for a
while it looked like it would
knock him from the-race.

A norma! person, maybe.

Hartvikson, however, fixed
his sights on the finish Jine and
Plodded caward, knowing that
the team couldn't make it
through without him. His
dropping out would have
meant their disqualification.

“He got so unbelievably
sick and he’s the strongest
member of our team and | can-
not believe that he kept going.
He was just incredible.” she
said. :

Evans was born in Nanaimo
but moved to the Shore seven
years ago to take the outdoor
tee program at Cap College.

She quickly planted: roots
here.

“Tlove the North Shore for
the fact that f run out my door
and I'm running on. trails,
don't have to drive a car Ma a
trail head.”

She said while she enjoys

adventure racing, it isn’t some-
thing she sees herself’ doing
professionally.

“T wouldn't go out of my
way to do it,” she said. “I don’t
think IF could commit to doing

it full time because I can’t get
hurt. Whenever I get on my
bike there's a chance I'm going
to irreparably harm myself.
And ifvou have a team depend-
ing on vour body to be in good
shape you can’t du har.”

Her Eco-Challenge team
was sponsored by Advil
Canada, which helped lessen
the considerable financial bur-
den on the globetrotting team.
Evans and her compatriots will
be some of the athletes fea-
tured on a television special
entitled Canadians in the Low
World that will air on the |
Discovery Channel in Apa of
NENT year.

This summer she embarked
on a 16-day bicycling tour
from Nanaimo, pedalling down
the West Coast to Mexico and
logging up to 110 miles (177
km) a day.

Evans either cuns or bikes to ©
work cach day —a_/16-km,
hour-and-a-half commitment
she never balks at making, no -
matter what the weather.

“I'm training for life, basi-
cally. 1 plan on being fit the r rest
of ny life.” : Bt

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