The race officially went off at 10am. One member from each team volunteered (or perhaps was 'voluntold', drew the short straw, or was chosen through another most excellent decision-making process) to run the Prologue. The prologue is a 2km marked running loop from the start line. Once the runner returns, the team regroups and starts on their first trekking segment. First teams off the prologue ran a blistering pace for a technical trail run, coming in around 8min. There was a

There is an excited buzz and chatter across teams gathered for the pre-race briefing and (most exciting) getting their first look at the race maps and the course that lays ahead of them. Teams will spend the next hour pouring over the maps, planning their routes, identifying where 'tricky' sections will be and make plans for managing their efforts across the kilometers. At this point, it all seems exciting and 'not too bad' - the inevitable rose coloured glasses of the pre-ra