Women and Relay Teams Set the Pace in the 93 Race Across America(Published as "93 RAAM: Only for the Tough") By Chris Kostman Originally published in TailWinds, September/October 1993 The 1993 Race Across AMerica (RAAM), held July 28 to August 9, lived up to its recent billing by Outside Magazine as the world's toughest endurance event. Only six of the twenty starting men made it into the finish line, while just two of the four women also triumphed. Teams and tandems fared well, though, with the one tandem and seven of the eight teams managing to complete the crossing. Temperatures up to 122, severe thunderstorms, a tough course, and just plain bad luck perhaps accounts for the higher than usual dropout rate. The 2920 mile race, which stretched from Irvine, CA, to Savannah, GA, via Las Vegas, Monument Valley, Durango, 10857 foot Wolf Creek Pass, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Memphis, was a true race of attrition. In the men's race, once the big guns such as Rick Kent, Steve Born, Bruno Heer, and Paul Solon dropped out, the pace slowed remarkably. Race leader Gerry Tatrai of Sydney, Australia, was so far off the front (over a day ahead of second place Rob Kish, the 92 champion) that he eased off the pace, slept more, and intentionally slowed down to let the few remaining stragglers make it in within the official finishing 48 hour cutoff. Tatrai, who placed third in 91 and 92, still won decisively with a time of 8:20:19, with Kish coming in 17 hours later. Kish has now finished all eight of the RAAMs he has started. The women's race, while small, was the most intense battle in the history of the event. 92 champion Seana Hogan of San Jose, CA, duked it out mile for mile with rookie entrant Muffy Ritz of Ketchum, ID. The two even sprinted for the Queen of the Mountains primes offered for the first women over Wolf Creek Pass! By the end, Hogan had crossed in 9:15:30, becoming the first woman to post back to back victories, while she and runner up Ritz also posted the second and third fastest woman's crossings ever, and placed third and fourth overall against the men. Ritz's time of 9:16:29 is two days faster than any previous rookie woman as well. So in 1993, the woman's race was the hotbed of competitiveness in the solo RAAM. Men, watch out in 94! In its second year, the Team RAAM has improved dramatically in participation and competition. This year, eight four-rider relay teams provided intense racing from coast to coast. Team PacifiCare/TREK of San Antonio, TX, took the lead for good at mile 60, but nervously watched over the shoulders for the next 2860 miles to Savannah. But while the foursome of Cat Two and Three USCF racers set their own pace across the country, an intense battle was waged for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. By the end, the champions would cover the distance in 6:05:31, and only five and half hours would separate the 1st through 4th teams, compared to 16 hours between 1st and 2nd in 92! With just one team dropping out, evidently because two of the four riders mutinied, it's apparent that team racing is the most surefire method for completing a transcontinental bicycle race. Team PacifiCare/TREK, TX 6:05:31 Team Make-A-Wish, DC 6:06:46 Team Norway/Pactel, Norway 6:07:45 Team New Amsterdam Beer, NY 6:11:00 Team RAAM-ROD, GA & SC 6:21:39 Team SCOR, CA & TX 7:01:26 Team Patterson, VA & FL 7:01:54 Gerry Tatrai, Australia 8:20:19 Rob Kish, FL 9:13:08 Seana Hogan, CA 9:15:30 Muffy Ritz, ID 9:16:29 Michael White, OH 10:15:51 Tom Fanning, FL 10:18:14 Scott Sturtz, Iowa 10:20:10 Nick and Becky Gerlich, TX 11:09:24 Bobby Thoren, Sweden (unofficial) 12:18:44 |
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