Superwoman Rebecca Rush's Team Montrail placed fifth at Explore Sweden 2005. Maybe not the teams greatest performance, but she herself had one of the best races ever. "It was so cool! Most beautiful course ever, across frozen lakes, over mountains and through the forests," said Rebecca later in the afternoon when they had finished the race and gotten some much needed sleep.

"This is the first race ever for me on skis," said Rebecca when asked what she thought about the mountaineering/ski section. "I loved the mountaineering! But two of the guys on our team had really never skied before. And we paid the price with non-skiers on the team. But we are happy with a fifth place. All the teams ahead of us are really experienced skiers. It was a "crash course" for Martin and John," she said about the two team mates attempts of staying upright on their skis. "They went from little eggs to roosters by the end of the course."

This years edition of Explore Sweden has been a very cold one. The teams have been freezing pretty much all through the course, especially on the kayak section when many of them flipped and took a swim in the cold rapids. Rebecca was no exception; "I was so cold, I could hardly sign my name when we came in to the TA!"

Rebecca is one of the most experienced female adventure racers in the world. She has raced in many countries all over the globe. And she really likes when the races are authentic to the area. "The kick spark that was planned a few weeks before the race start, but then removed would have been so much fun! It really is important to have legs in the race that makes sense in the setting. I hated the kick bike, but I suppose that is similar to a kick spark, though not really the same." Another part that added to the authenticity was the cot where the teams could sleep during the five hour mandatory rest. "All the teams lay next to each other sleeping on reindeer skins. It was a really funny scene!"

One of the worst parts of the race for Rebecca was the 25 kilometre mountain bike ride between Saxnäs and the start of the mountaineering. "Mountain biking with skis on our backs was awful! We had a head wind, and our butts were really sore. The mountain biking around Vilhelmina was fun though. There was some really cool single track!"

Her team did not compete in last years race, but everything she had heard about it was very positive. And it has not been changed now. "The race was super, super organized! Mikael and Helena are so sweet, helping the teams with everything. And the Swedish people are so friendly!"

Explore Sweden is not a race for everyone, and she is sure that that reputation has been cemented now and that more of the best teams in the world will come next year. "I will for sure come again next year!"

By: Emma Wichardt