Team 'Uge.Cyanosis' are very proud to announce their "WIN" at the 2008 Swazi Xtreme, against some of the toughest competition that the sport has to offer.

The team comprised of Nicholas Mulder, Clinton Mackintosh, Eugene Botha, and Debbie Gerrand. This was our first race together so we were not considered as favorites for the event. This was also Eugene's and my first Adventure Race in three years.

I would like to thank my team mates Nic, Mac and Uge for their boundless support and encouragement throughout the race. Together we proved to be an unbeatable combination. We dovetailed well as a team, with someone always lifting the team to a higher level when the 'chips were down.'

Special thanks to Nic for his outstanding captaincy, and supernatural talent for finding those hidden paths and guiding us constantly in the correct direction. To Mac, for keeping the team together, especially through the slow and torturous first night, and for his inexhaustible energy... pushing and pulling me through my tough times. Uge, you were a super-star, also with boundless energy pushing and pulling me, and such a positive attitude, never letting us forget that we were out there "to win!"

To our support crew - Wilma Botha, Liz Mulder and Michele Botha - words can not express our thanks and appreciation for all your help, your sense of urgency, and wonderful meals and snacks, and last but not least your constant support and belief in us.thank you!

This year, the Swazi Xtreme was a very technical and challenging race for any team wanting to finish on the Podium. Swaziland is a beautiful country, with hospitable, warm people. The terrain is constantly challenging, with massive mountains, harsh vegetation, and rocky paths. We were excited to be racing in such a beautiful place.

The Race kicked-off at 5am on Friday morning, with a burst of Teams running in all directions. The Tubing Section had been cancelled due to heavy rain. We all breathed a sigh of relief, as it sounded like a suicide-mission at the Race Briefing! We spent most of the day on-our-feet; there was a short Bike Section, but not long enough for my liking! Next was the torturous Night Hike in the river valley. This was possibly the most grueling Leg of the whole race. We got lost! - spending hours climbing up and down rocky, thorny, bushy paths, and when those came to a dead-end, we made our own paths through the 3m tall grass and reeds, and thorny bush! I think we were all ripped to shreds by the time we found our way out. We pushed-on through the first night with no sleep, telling ourselves, "It would be okay!" - we would sleep the next night!

Things always seem better as dawn breaks, and we all had a new energy to get us through the next day. We completed the stunning Ropes Section, and then went onto a Bike Leg. This is when we decided to take a gamble, and "Go for broke!" There was a really tough Bike Leg where we could pick-up extra Points. None of the other teams had dared to do this Leg. We decided that if we could pull it off, we would have a good chance of winning the race, but if not, our decision would back-fire badly, and we would be out of the race!

I'm not sure if it was due to lack of sleep or stupidity, but we decided that we could do it! We raced around the Course as if our lives depended on it - we just had to make it to the down-hill Section before it got too dark, otherwise we would go too slow, and not make the cut-off.

Time was racing against us, as the Sun began to sink lower and lower. but we made it down, and pushed as hard as we could, racing to the Cut-off Point with 2-min to spare! Only to find out later, that due to the delayed start of the race, we actually had 12-min of time remaining!

We were all pretty pumped-up at this stage, because we were now 1 point ahead of Team Salomon, and I think we were 3 points ahead of Team Mc Cain Adventure Addicts…yay! So all we had to do was get through the night and the next day without any major blunders, and we would win!

Well, it was a long second Night; it started with a short Bike Section, and then a LONG hike up to the Chief's Hut, followed by a Bike Leg that never seemed to end! We had 10-min of sleep in the bush during the Hike Leg, which nearly froze me to death because I was too lazy to take out my space-blanket! My muscles froze-up and started cramping, so I was only too happy to start hiking again!

The "sleep monster" got to us all on the Bike Leg - it was misty and the lights from the bikes reflected in the mist, was just mesmerizing! We all kept dozing-off! - but Uge "took the cake!" He fell asleep! - careering down-hill at about 25km/hr and almost had a crash-from-hell! We finally got to the next Transition, but only had 40 minutes to sleep before the next Leg opened! This was the best, most wanted sleep that I have ever had in my life!

Then we were on the next Start Line at 5:55am, waiting for the Gun! It was so cold and windy, everything ached, and I felt like I could hardly move. We were in two-minds as to whether we were going to do the Water Jump or not... first "Yes," then "No," then "Yes" again! So this meant the life-jacket 'in' then 'out' then 'in' the back-packs again! I had a smaller Pack than the boys, and it was quite a mission getting that life-jacket into my Pack!

Then the Gun sounded, and the race was "On!". ...e had an awesome down-hill Bike Leg to the Rafts. This was probably the highlight of the race for me! I loved it so much - what a "rush" going down the rapids with four of us in one raft, with only one paddle! We flipped twice, but were still hot-on-the-heals of Team Salomon Pro. Once the Water Section was finished, we were back on our bikes for the Final Leg. Once again time was against us - Team Salomon was ahead of us but we didn't know how far! All we needed to do was pick-up all of the Points to stay ahead of them. We rode as fast as we could, Nicholas was spot-on with his navigation, and so we didn't waste any time. The end of the Race was very exciting - once we had punched our last Point, we had just 12 minutes to get to the Finish! - and we needed to average about 30km/hr to make it!

We put our heads down, and gave it our all, with about 2km to go we could "see" the Finish, and we were all egging each other on, and praying that our legs would hold! As we came into the gates and rode around the track to the Finish Line the crowds were cheering us on, with everyone wanting us to make the Cut-off time… which we did with 60seconds to spare!

What an exciting Finish! - we had beaten Salomon by 1 point - but if we had been 31seconds slower, we would have lost a Point (and would have 'drawn' with them on Points), and then lost the Race to them on "Time" - I think that they were 4min 30sec faster than us!

So we were crowned "Kings-of-the Swazi Mountains!!"

Thanks to Darren and Lisa for creating and organising such an exciting (but tough) Race, and we look forward to defending our Title at the 2009 Swazi Xtreme event.

A big thank you to our Sponsors - the technical gear and equipment, and top quality supplements all added to the winning formula. Without you we wouldn't have been able to bring home "The Trophy". Thank you! «