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Nelson's "Awesome Foursome," team Star & Garter, lead by Kathy Lynch and Steve Gurney, continue to blitz the field being first off the mountain run section through Nelson Lakes. Arriving at Rainbow Ski Field, at 4am today, the lead team is now racing on mountain bikes towards the head of the Buller River to prepare for the first raft of the day.
Following is Bill Godsall and his fellow Team Cromwell members Jim Cotter, Murray Thomas and Nigel Aylott. The gap between the two front teams remains at approxiimately two hours with Team Icebreaker (Central Otago) four-and-a-half hours behind in third position.
Today's rafting section on the Buller River will be divided in two. The top section from Lake Rotoiti down to the Harleys Rock Bridge will be guided by Ultimate Descents, with each team appointed a guide. The second section will be self-guided down to the Buller and Owen River junction. Ultimate Descent guides checked out the river last night and race director, Geoff Hunt, says the water levels have risen over the last few weeks to a sufficient level for quite a fast run.
The movers and shakers overnight have been the New Zealand Army team, Team Lycos (USA), and Team Wales moving up into 6th, 7th and 9th place respectively. As the middle of the field continues to travel over the Nelson Lakes mountain run section, snow is falling at the top of the abseil site on the Robert Range and rain is just starting drizzle further down at Lake Rotoiti. At the lag-end, the last teams are just moving through Baton River (the end of the first mountain leg over Mt. Arthur) and toward Tapawera Checkpoint. The overall spread of the entire field is now around 26 hours between first and last place.
— 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.
EXPEDITION DISPATCHES 
