Team Type 1 Takes 1st in Race Across America 8-Person Category
Atlanta — On June 18, 2010, Team Type 1 claimed its third Race Across America 8-person team victory with a total time of five days, ten hours and 48 minutes over the 3,005-mile course from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis, Maryland. Team Type 1 has now claimed victory in the epic, 24-hour-a-day Race Across America three times in 2007, 2009, and now in 2010.
Since 2006, a total of 27 athletes with type 1 diabetes have raced 15,125 miles over 27 days, 7 hours and 18 minutes in Race Across America on behalf of Team Type 1 and the millions of people impacted by diabetes around the world.
The 2010 Race Across America was filled with ups and downs for Team Type 1, from car accidents and armadillos to erratic blood sugar levels. To make make the 3,005 miles go by easier, the teams were divided into two sub-teams of four riders. Team Type 1 agreed to call themselves “Team Shake” and “Team Bake.” Each team would take a four-hour turn racing while the other team rested. Each member of each team would take pulls of approximately 15 minutes at maximum effort. The sub-teams would rotate for four hours and then switch out with the other team.
On the diabetes front, the blood sugar levels of Team Type 1 varied throughout RAAM, and required constant attention. Adam Driscoll observes “I checked my sugar over 50 times per day with my FreestyleLite meter. A very important piece to completing RAAM successfully was having my continuous glucose monitor on. It allowed me to sleep without worrying about waking up to a low.” Likewise, Dustin Folger notes “I kept my blood sugar in control by checking by blood about 44 times a day—a total of 264 times in five days.” Jeff Banninck used his Freestyle Lite meter 180 times in seven days, along with another meter at least 50 more times.”
In addition to managing blood sugar, teamwork is essential for a successful Race Across America. And for RAAM first-timer Adam Driscoll, the highlight of RAAM was soloing for two hours, well beyond his alloted 15 minutes, while teammate Jeff Banninck worked to get the team van unstuck from a muddy ditch several miles back on the course in Ohio. “I just got comfortable and kept on rolling. I didn’t let what was happening behind me effect how I rode.” Meanwhile, Banninck was busy working to wedge the van out of the ditch with a fallen tree limb.
A highlight for James Stout, the Oxford-educated ex-patriot of Team Type 1, was being given the honor of riding over the mythic Mississippi River and through Gettysburg, Virginia at midnight. “It was at once profound and spooky,” said Stout. And for Jeff Banninck it was “descending the Glass Elevator into the desert of California, climbing the winding ascent into Flagstaff, seeing the incredible night sky in the high altitude Colorado wilderness. That had a profound impact on me.”
Despite the ups, there were also the downs of RAAM. In Indiana, Jeff Banninck was struck by a car at low speed, but was not severely injured. Adam Driscoll pulled out of his cleat at 23 mph, which demolished instantly. And Team Type 1 endocrinologist, Dr. Bill Russell, was one of the first people on the scene of a car accident which allowed him to save the life of a young driver.
Despite the risks and challenges, the Race Across America has its rewards. And after five years of competing in RAAM, Founder and CEO Phil Southerland continues to be inspired. “For five years Team Type 1 has had athletes with Type 1 diabetes prove that diabetes should not hold anyone back from achieving their dreams. And for Team Type 2, who will be crossing the finish line in Annapolis Sunday morning, we have even more reason to be inspired about what is possible.”
In Team Type 1’s inaugural year of 2006, it completed Race Across America at an average speed of 17.33 mph for five days, 16 hours and four minutes across 3,042 miles. In 2007, the team stormed RAAM in five days, 15 hours and 43 minutes at an average speed of 22.54 mph for 3,046 miles, an increase in speed of 30% from the year prior. In 2008, RAAM saw Team Type 1 complete the 3,014-mile race in five days, 13 hours and 40 minutes with and average speed of 22.55 mph. And in 2009, setting a new world record for RAAM, Team Type 1 sealed the race in five days, nine hours and three minutes at an average speed of 23.41 mph over 3,017 miles (a 4% increase in speed over 2007.)
Related Posts:
Leave a Response
Entries(RSS)