By
Leut Greg Keeley
AN AUSTRALIAN Army officer assigned to the US Army Intelligence
Centre at Fort Huachuca in Arizona staved off two near drownings
in a remarkable 362km journey to help her team win the 2002 US
Armed Forces Eco-Challenge in Alaska.
Teamed
with three US Army officers, Capt Fleur Keough went one better
than the second placing her team achieved in the 2001 event, a
grueling course featuring hiking, mountaineering, pack rafting
and mountainbike riding.
Twenty-three
teams representing US Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines and Coastguard
concentrated at Fort Greeley, about 160km from the Alaskan town
of North Pole.
The
Eco-Challenge tests a team’s coherence under pressure and
often in extreme and exhausting conditions.
Teams
are required to make their own decisions regarding route choice
and sleep, however, Capt Keough is no stranger to such dangers
and thrives in these types of races.
“Having
competed in numerous expedition-length adventure races, I made
it no secret that I
went to Alaska to win. My teammates were deliberately selected
to comprise a strong, cohesive and competitive team,” she
said.
But
her four-person Army team, named Allied Spirit, did get a little
help from their friends by joining with a US Air Force Special
Forces team to help get to the finish.
After
10 hours on a mountain bike and part way through the hike/raft
leg, the Allied Spirit team was in a two-way battle for the lead
with the USAF team, named Team Speedy Brat.
“They
were as strong as us – we both were determined to push each
other for the next 100 miles until someone couldn’t cope
with the pace,” she said.
The
two teams then joined resources for the next leg, perhaps the
most difficult of the challenge.
“A
few hours into the hike I felt the need to re-clarify our race
strategy. I proposed that we either finish the race as a team
of eight or regain that competitive mindset and push each other
to the end.
“Unanimously
the group voted to race together.”
“Once
this ‘alliance’ was made, the change in race for me
was overwhelming.
“Without
the pressure of racing, the expedition became a true adventure.
Together, as a bonded team of eight, we pushed to gain a lead
on the third team by over 17 hours.”
After
an incident-packed raft and hike leg, in which Capt Keogh nearly
drowned in the icy river twice, the final leg was a 40km pack
raft down the Tanana River.
“To
reach the river we trekked two miles through a knee-deep swamp.”
This
final pack raft was a cold six-hour float. The eight adventurers
crossed the finish line rafted up together, welcomed by a wonderful
group of volunteers, staff and families.
“The
espirit-de-corps formed within our group of eight was clear to
all the observers. “Together we had achieved a greater victory
than that of just placing first. We had become stronger and had
all experienced a wonderful physical and emotional journey.”
The
combined team finished the race 22 hours clear of the nearest
competitor and covered 362km in 85 hours. Of the 22 teams that
started the race, only seven completed the course within the six
allocated days. The event included four Air Force teams, two Army
teams and one Navy team.
