RAAM Daily Wrap-Up: Day 11

More riders and teams cross the finish line in Annapolis.

RAAM Solo Male

Gulewicz finishes second
Seventeen hours after race winner Dani Wyss, Gerhard Gulewicz was the next RAAM male soloist to cross the finish line. With his 14.06mph average speed, he also managed to do it in just under nine days, a sublime ride. He moved into second after passing Jure Robic, who (while officially still in the race) has been stationary at TS #51 for the last day.

Gulewicz’s good pace really paid dividends this year: the Austrian sat in sixth for the opening two days before really coming into his own in the race’s second half. It is much in contrast to his 2008 race, where he tailed Robic closely for the first two days, before having to abandon at the halfway point after a bad crash.

Marko Baloh approaches Annapolis
Third-placed-to-be Marko Baloh is just 70 miles from the finish, having passed through Mt Airy. The Slovenian has been in the top four for virtually all the race and despite being passed by Gulewicz a few days ago, he has ridden an uber-consistent race and utterly deserves a podium finish.

Gottwald makes his move
Behind, the race for fifth is still on. Kevin Kaiser dropped his pace, allowing Colavita road pro Chris Gottwald his opportunity to make a move. With 400 miles left, he leads Kaiser by 48 minutes. Yet, Gottwald has collected sixty minutes of penalty time, for late attendance at a mandatory race meeting.

Therefore, in effect, he is still behind his rival. This is more than just a battle for fifth place: they are also vying for Rookie of the Year and fastest American titles.

Still close behind
As for seventh and beyond, it’s still up in arms. Jim Rees has a three-and-a-half hour buffer on compatriot Richard Newey, who has enjoyed a strong twenty-four hours. Just behind, Ben Popp is still in the mix. Claudio Clarindo seems to have gone off the boil recently, with Michael Cook riding steadily in the eleventh. Still, let’s bear in mind that in the last 36 hours, a lot can happen.

1st Dani Wyss (Swi) 3021.30 miles – FINISH – 8d 05h 45m (15.28mph)
2nd Gerhard Gulewicz (Aut) 3021.10 miles – FINISH – 8d 22h 54m (14.06mph)
3. Jure Robic (Slo) 2966.70 miles – TS #51 – 8d 02h 40m (15.24mph)
4. Marko Baloh (Slo) 2966.70 miles – 9d 16h 55m (12.74mph)
5. Christopher Gottwald / Miles for Mentoring (Usa) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 – 9d 20h 05m (11.85mph)
6. Kevin Kaiser (Usa) 2751.30 miles – TS #46 – 9d 16h 56m (11.81mph)
7. Jim Rees / Team Inspiration (Gbr) 2706.80 miles – TS #45 – 9d 16h 19m (11.65mph)
8. Richard Newey (Gbr) 2706.80 miles – 9d 19h 45m (11.48mph)
9. Ben Popp (Usa) 2642.00 miles – TS #44 – 9d 11h 21m (11.62mph)
10. Claudio Clarindo (Bra) 2642.00 miles – 9d 15h 22m (11.42mph)
11. Michael Cook (Usa) 2575.40 miles – TS #43 – 9d 18h 19m (10.99mph)

DNFPeter Oyler (Can) 1614.50 miles – TS #27 – 4d 22h 51m (13.58mph)
DNFTony O’Keeffe (Can) 1576.30 miles – TS #26 – 5d 3h 01m (12.81mph)
DNFChristoph Strasser (Aut) 1471.50 miles – TS #21 – 4d 6h 43m (14.33mph)
DNFFranz Preihs (Aut) 1044.10 miles – TS #18 – 3d 11h 08m (12.56mph)
DNFJulian Sanz Garcia (Spa) 934.20 miles – TS #16 – 3d 01h 02m (12.79mph)
DNFJean Marc Velez (Fra) 934.20 miles - TS #16 - 3d 5h 42m (12.02mph)
DNFBill Bradley (Usa) 884.10 miles – TS #15 – 3d 22h 42m (9.34mph)
DNF Patrick Autissier (Fra) 563.00 miles - TS #9 - 2d 01h 59m (11.26mph)
DNF Scott Luikart (Usa) 396.70 miles – TS #6 – 1d 04h 39m (13.85mph)

RAAM Solo Female
As long-time leader Janet Christiansen falls out of contention, Daniela Genovesi is set to become the first South American woman to win the RAAM. 220 miles from the finish, she leads her erstwhile rival by seven hours. She just has to make it safely and speedily through Maryland to the finish.

Meanwhile, Ann Wooldridge is still on course to reach Annapolis within the time limit, though her average of 9.84mph means she is teetering on the brink of elimination. 500 miles out, fingers crossed that she makes it.

1. Daniela Genovesi (Bra) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 – 10d 16h 33m (10.90mph)
2. Janet Christiansen (Usa) 2706.80 miles – TS #45 – 10d 16h 43m (10.54mph)
DNFMichele Santilhano (Rsa) 884.10 miles – TS #15 – 3d 14h 01m (10.28mph)

RAAM Solo Female 50-59
1. Ann Wooldridge (Gbr) 2516.30 miles – TS #42 – 10d 15h 45m (9.84mph)

RAAM Solo Male 50-59
Similarly, Dominique Briand is just sixty miles up the road from Wooldridge. He too needs to keep tapping out a good rhythm and pedalling – about all the RAAM competitor is able to do ten days in. He is on course to becoming France’s only finisher in 2009.

1. Dominique Briand (Fra) 2575.40 miles – TS #43 – 9d 16h 34m (11.07mph)
DNF Hermann Bachmann (Swi) 1614.50 miles – TS #27 – 7d 03h 35m (9.41mph)

RAAM Solo Male 60-69
Barring a major collapse, Paul Danhaus is going to be the oldest solo finsher in this year’s race. The 60 year-old is a day from relief in Annapolis, still boasting a healthy average of 10.95mph.

1. Paul Danhaus (Usa) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 – 10d 15h 32m (10.95mph)

RAAM Teams
More and more teams are crossing the finish line in Annapolis at the end of their 3,021-mile races.

RAAM Open Open
Open team JDRF crossed the line in six days, ten hours and four minutes for a fine average of 19.61mph. A big well done to them.

1. Team JDRF (Usa) 3021.30 miles – FINISH – 6d 10h 04m (19.61mph)

RAAM 8-Person
The Team Donate Life teams of Give Hope and Liverators finished their races in the last twenty-four hours. Liverators fought off Bike M.A.D.’s penultimate-day challenge to claim fourth relatively comfortably.

Behind, the last day has served to break the pack up significantly. The remaining four octets should all finish tomorrow, with positions unlikely to change.

1st Team Type 1 (Usa) 3021.30 miles - FINISH – 5d 9h 5m (23.41mph)
2nd Team ViaSat (Usa) 3021.30 mles – 5d 15h 53m (22.23mph)
3rd Team Donate Life – Give Hope (Usa) 3021.30 miles – 6d 04h 48m (20.30mph)
4th Team Donate Life – Liverators (Usa) 3021.30 miles - 6d 17h 56m (18.66mph)
5. Bike M.A.D. (Gbr) 2928.30 miles – TS #50 – 6d 16h 46m (18.21mph)
6. Team Vera Bradley (Usa) 2889.90 miles – TS #49 – 6d 16h 56m (17.96mph)
7. Team Type 2 (Usa) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 - 6d 16h 50m (17.39mph)
8. The Caledonian Chain Gang (Gbr) 2642.00 miles – TS #44 – 6d 18h 03m (16.30mph)

RAAM 4-Person Male 50-59
There’s not long left for the Georgia Chain Gang to race. They will be gunning to maintain their 17.39mph average over the closing miles.

1. Georgia Chain Gang (Usa) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 – 6d 17h 02m (17.37mph)

RAAM 4-Person 75+

1. Great Grand PAC Masters (Usa) 3021.30 miles – FINISH – 8d 14h 49m (14.61mph)

RAAM 4-Person Male Under 50
Team RANS are winners of the four-person male RAAM race. They crossed the line late yesterday morning after six days, three hours and forty minutes – the only team to maintain an average over 20mph.

Team Strong Heart rolled into second just under seven hours later, as the expected assault on their position never materialised. Instead, Austria Triathlon Team had to fight hard to maintain third, crossing the line 1h 18 minutes ahead of race-long rivals OC Quattro.

There was movement lower down the order, as Team SaveBuzzardsBay.org caught and passed Berliner for sixth place. Only nine minutes apart, expect things to very close between these two in Annapolis tomorrow.

1st Team RANS (Usa) 3021.30 miles – FINISH – 6d 03h 40m (20.46mph)
2nd Team Strong Heart (Usa) 3021.30 miles – 6d 10h 30m (19.56mph)
3rd Austria Triathlon Team (Aut) 3021.30 miles – 6d 15h 07m (18.99mph)
4th OC Quattro (Usa) 3021.30 miles – 6d 16h 25m (18.83mph)
5. Vencendo Desafios Team Brazil (Bra) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 – 6d 17h 58m (17.27mph)
6. Team SaveBuzzardsBay.org (Usa) 2751.30 miles – TS #46 – 6d 17h 24m (17.05mph)
7. Berliner (Ger) 2751.30 miles – 6d 17h 35m (17.03mph)
8. Ari’s Angels (Usa) 2706.80 miles – TS #45 – 6d 17h 43m (16.74mph)
9. Equipe Schwarz (Ger) 2642.00 miles – TS #44 – 6d 18h 19m (16.28mph)
10. Drew’s Crew (Usa) 2575.40 miles – TS #43 – 6d 17h 08m (15.98mph)
11. Team Can Be Venture (Usa) 2458.20 miles – TS #41 – 6d 17h 14m (15.25mph)
DNF Team Surfing USA (Usa) 1911.70 miles – TS #32 – 3d 21h 51m (20.37mph)

RAAM 4-Person Mixed 50-59
Just 90 miles left to go for Buchholz goes America. The German quartet are still avrging a notch over 18mph as they head towards Maryland.

1. Buchholz goes America (Ger) 2928.30 miles – TS #50 – 6d 17h 57m (18.08mph)

RAAM 4-Person Mixed Under 50
In the middle of the night, All Wheels 4 Fibromyalgia were crowned RAAM champions in Annapolis. The awesome foursome held off an early challenge from Team Human Science to take a comfortable win. Their British rivals are due to finish in the next few hours, with Sami’s Team set for third position.

1st All Wheels 4 Fibromyalgia (Usa) 3021.30 miles – FINISH – 6d 11h 16m (19.46mph)
2. Team Human Science (Gbr) 2889.90 miles – TS #49 – 6d 16h 32m (18.00mph)
3. Sami’s Team (Usa) 2751.30 miles – TS #46 – 6d 16h 45m (17.12mph)

RAAM 2-Person Male
Adventures for the Cure have slowed considerably for another day, but they are should make it to the finish to take the triumph. E-HUB TEAM have closed them down slightly, but they’ve run out of both time and road.

On the plus side, the Slovenians are now ahead of 50-59 pair Team Reaching Heights, albeit by a slender sixty-one minutes. Tomorrow will be the culmination of a battle that has raged between the two for the last seven days.

1. Adventures for the Cure (Usa) 2889.90 miles – TS #49 – 6d 17h 58m (17.84mph)
2. E-HUB TEAM (Slo) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 – 6d 18h 37m (17.20mph)

RAAM 2-Person Male 50-59
1. Team Reaching Heights (Usa) 2797.30 miles – TS #47 – 6d 18h 38m (17.09mph)

RAAM 2-Person Mixed
1. SpinVox Adventurers (Gbr) 2458.20 miles – TS #41 – 6d 16h 33m (15.31mph)