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It was an eventful night for the officials at Tapawera. At 3am a call came in that a member from Team Hastingsorleys/Copperhead Rd requested a rescue helicopter as one of the team members had taken a bad fall and was suffering from a dislocated shoulder. At first light on Tuesday morning the competitor was air lifted out and flown to Nelson Hospital. The remaining three members of the team are continuing but will be unranked.

Team Saint Lary are down to three people after one member pulled out. Yesterday, Team Sabah 2000, from Malaysia, were struggling in the mountain biking section with a sick team member, who has since pulled out due to a viral infection. The team is continuing with a support crew member as a replacement.

	Cobb Reservoir

The teams are starting to really spread out as the front runners begin Section 4. Star & Garter are still out in front with a one-hour-plus lead over Team Cromwell, who is reported to be looking in good shape. Following Team Cromwell is Long International who at 09:00 is the last team to have completed section three and passed through Transition Area 3 to begin the long mountain bike section through Mt. Norris.

Many of the bottom-half teams were reported as "starting to tire" as they passed through Checkpoint 6, with dawn approaching. However the action continues with an epic mountain bike ride ahead of the teams once they get down from the mountain.

— Andrew Johnson, Southern Traverse

*Southern Traverse Photographers Include: Derek Paterson, Brian, Jurgen Ruoff, Barbara Newton, Rob Lile, Tony Di Zinno, Gareth Eyres, Alan Nelson, and Beyond City Limits.

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