Live Coverage 2011

#19 - Dark Horse - TA3 staff have them in sight; they are almost off the paddle. They've missed the 12 noon time cut-off, unfortunately, so will not do the final trek.

The remaining teams are in a close proximity (30 min - 1.5 hours) of the finish line. Which makes a Race Director very happy!

Sunday 12:10 p.m.

#27 - Lather, Rinse, Repeat - Yeah - Welcome Back

It has been raining on and off this morning but does not seem to bother anyone. Leaderboard is UP TO DATE!!! check it out.

Sunday 11:54 a.m.

Team #9 - Bugs in Teeth, Team #5- New Balance/Hark Events, Team #WTF-Reynold Cycle - Welcome back to the Community Centre

Sunday 11:11 a.m.

Team #38 - Angry Seagull - is off the paddle on to the trek - they are still ranked as a Full Course Team

Team #19-Dark Horse- has hit CP 9 and is paddling hard to make the 12:00 pm cut off at CP 11/CP3 to do the trek.

8,100 hits on our live sites so far. Thanks to all the online spectators keeping the energy of the racers up!

Sunday 10:58 a.m.

Team #33 - Team Spirit - welcome home!

Sunday 10:44 a.m.

Team #30 -Racedayrush.com is at the finish line. Full course! Some good stories for us including a canoe tip over...brrrrrrr...

Team #17 - Rocket Scientists Cannondale - at the finish

Big pot of coffee has just arrived from Tim Hortons at HQ - Thanks Deanna!

Sunday 10:16 a.m.

Two more teams in! #28 - Stray Cats - looks like they had a great trek gaining positions and the two members on #39-Team Random are also crossing the finish line.

Loving the attitude of the racers!

Sunday 9:27 a.m.

At the Finish Line - #40 - Running Free-Old School, #21 - Clinique du Pid Equilibre, #20 - NaturalSelectionAR.com - please check leaderboard to see who is finishing on what course.

CP11/TA3 - is a busy place right lots of teams getting ready to trek.

#38 - Angry Seagull - Just hit CP 10 - Still ranked a full course team. Well done.

Sunday 9:21 a.m.

Team #22 - Adrenaline Rush - In!

All teams out there all moving along on various short courses and we do have several full course teams out there. We are just waiting for them to flow in. Everyone is safe and sound and still in race mode!

Sunday 8:40 a.m.

Top 10 teams are starting to wake up from their naps and are chatting here in the community centre and looking at their routes online. Most tried to sleep in their cars or the basement of the Community Centre. It never is a really good sleep fresh off the course. I am sure they will bunk down again before the awards ceremony.

We are expecting a couple full course teams to come in shortly. Short-coursed teams will be flowing in I am sure and we will get pretty busy again at HQ.

Sunday 7:41 a.m.

Team #10 - Milton Basement Racers are in the Stanhope Community Centre! 11th place overall!

Sunday 7:00 a.m.

Don't forget to check the leaderboard we have been working hard to ensure it is up to date. Many teams have moved to a short course after CP8/TA2

Team #39 - has now been unranked - two teammates are moving forward on the paddle and two are keeping warm in the CP 10 staff car waiting for a pickup.

Big shout out to all of our voluteers who have camped at the CP's through the night (in the rain). Around 2:00 am, the skies cleared and you could see the moon. THANK YOU!!

All teams are at or through CP8/TA2 (off the bike leg!)

#10 - Milton Basement Racers - should be coming into soon!

#3 - Long Sault Longshots has arrived in the Top 10 Overall!

Sunday 6:01 a.m.

#34 - Team T.O.A.B - is in the house along with #8 - Shed Coffee Bar

Sunday 5:10 a.m.

Team 15 Kinetic finished 3rd; Team 7 STORM/Beowulf finished 4th.

Sunday 4:55 a.m.

Team 9 Bugs in Teeth has been racing as a team of three while Team 26 Enigma/Montrail has been reduced to one member, Andrew Reeder. They've joined up at TA2 for the paddle. The other members of Team 26 are fine, albeit a little worse for the wear.

Sunday 4:10 a.m.

Defending champions Team Salomon-Suunto have crossed the line in 2nd place. It's going to be busy here at the finish line for the next few hours! Photos are being loaded on Facebook. We'll post some links shortly.

Sunday 3:40 a.m.

Team 14 Pentathlondesneiges.com just crossed the finish line in 1st place. Felicitations! The infamous "Bob the Beaver" trophy will move to Quebec for the next year. They are changing into dry clothes at Race HQ and are in good spirits. Teams 1, 15 and 7 are in a tight race for the next few spots.

Sunday 3:11 a.m.

Race Director Bob Miller and photographer Luis Moreira have headed out to the finish line to get ready to greet finishing teams. Team 14 has a good lead but there is a good race between Teams 1 and 15 for 2nd place. Teams 7 and 25, both strong running teams, are not far behind.

Sunday 2:50 a.m.

Waiting at Race HQ for the lead teams to arrive. Four teams are on the trek now. We expect Team 14 here within the next half hour! Team 12 is here after biking back to base camp from CP5. Chetan from Team 9 is here after his bike lights failed. Everyone is sharing stories and laughs.

Sunday 1:52 a.m.

Team 14 has left TA3 and started the final trek. We're estimating that they'll be at the finish in about 1.5 hours.

Sunday 12:55 a.m.

Team 37 has withdrawn from the race. They had two flat tires between CP4 and CP5 and ended up walking to CP5 where they were picked up by friends. They're doing fine and are on their way back to base camp.

Sunday 12:50 a.m.

We're 17 hours into the race, and only 12 minutes separates the 2nd through 5th place teams. It's exciting on the water tonight!

Sunday 12:30 a.m.

CP 10 - #1 Salomon Suunto - only 40 minutes behind the leaders, 3rd place - #25 - 7 Systems (3 man category). All in a great mood.

Looks like #8 Shed Coffee Bar , #2 - Running Free and #3 - Long Sault Longshots have taken a more southern approach to CP10, interesting....

Sunday 12:14 a.m.

Team #35 - Team Lost & Found have withdrawn, all in good spirits and on their way back to HQ.

Team #13 - true! Liberty - They are back at HQ. They had a long trek; we were getting concerned as it looked like they did a very big swim at hour 15 on the trek. Turns out they found a camp, were served hot food by some lovely ladies and were escorted in a kayak across the lake. Now that is service!

Saturday 11:56 p.m.

Into CP 8/TA 1 - just arrived is Team #21 Clinique du Pied Equilibre and #33 - Team Spirit. I bet they are happy to get into those boats!

Into CP7 - #27, #31,#32, #40, #26, #38 and #25 have hit the manned CP7 on the bikes. Still some tough rough biking to get to the paddle.

CP 4/TA1 - CP staff wanted us to share how awesome Team #12 - Team Mountain Goat are, stopping for awhile to help another team with knee trouble in the TA!!! (Rumour has it that one of them is an Osteopath!)

Saturday 11:51 p.m.

Team #14 Pentathlondesneiges.com - passed through CP 10 on the paddle at 11:30pm.

Saturday 10:54 p.m. - BIG Shake Up on the Paddle!

Team #1- Salomon Suunto has moved into 4th place!

Team #14 - has a 1 hour lead but the other teams are all on top of each other.

Paddle CP 9 - they are moving fast to keep warm. Teams are in the following placing: #14, #7 - Storm Beowulf, #25 - 7 Systems, #1 - Salomon Suunto, #15 - Team Kinetic, #36- Team Outeractive, #34-Team T.O.A.B., #2-Running Free, #8-Shed Coffee Bar.

Saturday 10:30 pm - lots of updates...

Team #13 true! Liberty - has withdrawn from the race. They just missed CP3 and ended up heading north to Hwy 118 a few kilometers west of TA1.

Team #16- Control Point Junkies is the last team so far that has hit the first manned biked CP7 at 9:30 pm.

Team #24 - WTF - Reynold Cycle Coed - Just arrived at CP4/TA1!

Team #28 - Stray Cats, Team #20 NaturalSelectionAR.com and Team #30 - RaceDayRush.com are off the bikes

Team #27 - Lather,Rinse,Repeat - just hit CP7 on the bikes one more bike leg to go!

Saturday 10:00 p.m.

Luis Moreira is uploading his photos on the course today into Facebook - check out the Wilderness Traverse Facebook page.

Please see http://www.breathemag.ca/flashblog/?category_name=wilderness-traverse-2011 for "on the course" blog updates. They recently caught up with a couple of teams as they were transitioning onto the paddle.

Team #39 - Team Random - Race Director has informed us they will receive a 1 hour penalty for requesting new (dry) maps!

Saturday 9:23 p.m.

CP10 volunteers are in place ready for the tops teams to come through shortly on the paddle. They are reporting heavy rain. There are reports on the course of potential lightning, but none of the paddle CP staff have seen lightning where they are. PHEW!

Team #39 - Team Random, Team 3 - Long Sault Longshots and Team 22 - Adrenaline Rush are at CP8/TA2 getting ready to paddle.

Team #29 - FIBD - have withdrawn from the race everyone is healthy, Team # 26 - Enigma/Montrail - are moving forward with two teammates.

Saturday 8:52 p.m.

CP7 staff - staying out of the rain in their car watching movies! just updated us that Team #5-New Balance/Hark Events and #30 - Race Day Rush have passed through the CP.

Saturday 8:35 p.m.

Dark and rainy up here in Haliburton. This will make for a slow bike ride. All teams but 13 (leaderboard will be updated very soon with these teams who hit the paddle) are on the bike. Hmmm would you rather be on the bike or the paddle in the dark rain?

Team #11 - Cool Runnings have withdrawn from the race and heading back to HQ.

Saturday 7:54 p.m.

NOW through to the paddle - #7-Storm Beowulf, #2 Team Running Free, # 25 7 Systems!

Team #12 - Team Mountain Goat - at the bike transition. On the trek they have chosen to be on the short course but still going!

Saturday 7:34 p.m.

Leaderboard up-to-date, don't forget to check there! (results are based on manned CPs)

Team #14 Pentathlondesneiges.com - started to paddle 20 minutes ago.

Still some teams on the trek.

Saturday 7:08 p.m.

Team #14 - Pentathlondesneiges.com through CP8, tearing up this course.

Team #26 - Enigma/Montrail - has decided to drop down to a team of 3 - They are now racing in the "Open Category". The 4th teammate is healthy and is helping the TA staff out at CP4.

Team #10 - Milton Basement Racers have passed through CP7 in 14th place - this is a solid biking team and they will be hammering to get this bike finished in the daylight.

Note: Feel free to send a message in Facebook on the Wilderness Traverse page if you would like to enquire about your favorite team! We will do our best to give you our latest info!

Saturday 6:54 p.m.

Confirmed - #37 Terra Firma swam to CP3 - hopefully they have dry clothes in their transition bin with they CP 4 or it will be a chilly ride!

Saturday 6:36 p.m.

Message from "CP3" - "two guys are swimming towards us". We wonder is it team #37 - Terra Firma? We will know soon.

Saturday 6:00 p.m.

Team #2 - Running Free now in 4th - they want to take home Bob the Beaver badly. They are solid riders so we will see how much ground they make. It is looking like these top teams will make it through the bike in the daylight.

Looks like the severe thunderstorm warning has been removed. Fingers crossed.

Saturday 5:45 p.m.

Competition is fierce but # 14 - Pentathlondesneiges.com still leading this pack at CP 7, followed by #25 - 7 Systems and #7 - Storm Beowulf.

Just a handful of teams left to get through the monster trek and they will be glad to hit their bikes. Racers are thirsty out there - we keep sending more water out to CP 4/TA 1 - start of the bike.

Saturday 4:06 pm

So far 16 teams have made it through the tough navigating of the trek and are conquering the bike leg.

Saturday 3:48 p.m.

Rain Rain Go Away, Let The Racers Have Their Day! Winds are picking up.

CP 5 - This is an unmanned CP so our next leader update will be at CP 7, but looking at the SPOT the top teams are on top of each other.

Saturday 2:44 p.m.

Team #29 FIBD - With some tough navigating out there, #29-FIBD has returned to the start line and will be transported to CP 4/TA1 to hop on their bikes and to complete a shorter course. The team will be moving on as "unranked" but they all are in great spirits!

Saturday 2:14 p.m.

CP4/TA1- #14 - Pentathlondesneiges.com has a 22 minute lead over # 7 - Storm Beowulf and #25 -7 Systems. On the bikes they go.

Rain has stopped, teams are spreading out on the course now.

Saturday 1:05 p.m.

CP 3 - Top teams are moving through the course at a pace that is no surprise to the Race Director. Just through CP 3 in this order - #14 Pentathlondesneiges.com; #7 - Storm-Beowulf; #34 Team T.O.A.B; #25 7 Systems. They are on their way to CP 4/TA 1 to pick up their bikes.

Saturday 12:15 p.m.

Team FIBD had a little trouble on the trek so they're returning to the start and will be moved forward to TA1. We've had great radio communication with them and they're cheerful and looking forward to the rest of the course.

Saturday 11:27 am

Half the teams through CP2. Skies are looking grey here at HQ. With the humidity it will give the racers a break out of the sun, but please don't rain!

Saturday 10:48 am

6th place - Team #2 - Running Free, 7th place - #39- Team Random and 8th place - #8 - Shed Coffee Bar. Leaderboard just uploaded!

Triathalon also going on at Stanhope Community Centre - race HQ BUSY!

Saturday 10:38 am

At CP 2 - 3rd place #36-Team Outeractive, 4th place - #7-Storm Beowulf, 5th place - #25- 7 Systems - all minutes apart. Estimate 1.5 hours for CP 3 update for top teams.

Saturday 10:25 a.m.

Team 14 (Pentathondesneiges.com) has just left CP2 in 1st place. Team 1 (Salomon Suunto) is 1 minute behind.

Saturday 10 a.m.

Top teams are between CP1 and CP2 on the 35 km opening trek.

Saturday 9:20 a.m.

SPOT issues should be resolved within the next half hour. Most teams have been broadcasting successfully but there has been an issue with them appearing on the map. Our ace programmer is on it! Teams will be added one a time as the fix is made. Thanks for your patience!

Saturday 9 a.m.

Team 37 started the race unranked after a teammate was unable to get here last night. Nice to see their enthusiasm!

Saturday 8:00 am

And they are off! On time and at blistering speeds!

Friday 1 a.m.

Pre-race photos and info on race briefing posted on Breathe Flashblog.

Friday Midnight

Maps have been uploaded to the Course Description page.

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Friday 9:30 p.m.

After almost a year of planning, the action is underway at Guats Wilderness Traverse. All 40 teams have arrived and completed registration at the Stanhope Firefighters Community Centre. Pre-marked topographical maps and supplementary maps were distributed at 8 p.m. and the room has been buzzing ever since! The Course Description has just been posted.

Racers will be up at sunrise for a 6 a.m. pancake breakfast. After dropping off bikes and gear bins and having a final sip of coffee, they'll board buses at 6:45 a.m. The race starts with a 35 km trek tomorrow at 8 a.m.

We will be uploading race course maps to the Course Description page when the action gets less intense here. Starting tomorrow, come back here to monitor the live leaderboard, live GPS tracking of teams, ongoing commentary and pictures from the field. For those of you on Facebook, "like" our page and feel free to add your comments. On Twitter, follow us @Wildernesstrav or join the conversation using hashtag #wtrav. There's also a discussion thread on Attackpoint. Don't worry if you aren't into social networking; we plan to post all the most important news to this website.