Author Topic: TAR seasons summer and winter  (Read 2770 times)

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Offline sunnyca

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TAR seasons summer and winter
« on: July 08, 2008, 02:45:56 AM »
I found this interesting - I pulled together the routes of the previous 12 TAR seasons from Wikipedia and separated them by whether they were run in summer vs winter (roughly nov-mar).  First of all, it's pretty cool to look at all the places the races has gone in one shot like this. But some nice trends also can be seen leading to some predictions for TAR14:
The race has been to Australia thrice and South America 5 times, all in winter. In fact they spend a lot more time in the southern hemispheres in our winter - their summer. The one anomaly appears to be in TAR1 which I've listed as summer, but it was borderline - it was run Mar-Apr.
The countries they've been the most are India and China - but they didn't go to China in TAR12. They went to India in the summer only briefly once, in TAR12 - must've been hot and humid in Mumbai.
They've only been to Scandinavia/Iceland in the summer, probably good idea not to go there in winter. Unpredictable and risky, dangerous driving. They did go to the Alps in winter, to Cortina in TAR4. They have been to Russia twice in winter, but neither involved tasks in snow and ice.
They do like to come down from the north for the finish, going 4 times to Alaska and once to Canada.
So anyway, some predictions for TAR14 (please note - no spec/spoilers about TAR13 here!!) would be:
Africa is highly likely, perhaps South Africa; only been to Egypt once (TAR5) so overdue for a visit there if the political situation allows. 
Australia and China are also likely (perhaps Northern Australia? haven't been there yet, I think). Would love to see them go to the Cook Islands or Fiji!  Perhaps Indonesia (Bali?) finally if it looks calm enough.
Northern Europe is unlikely, but perhaps Greece or Turkey? Spain and Portugal would be good bets too.
They haven't been to Central America much, perhaps Guatemala or Belize?  Or the Eastern Caribbean.
And has the time finally come for Antarctica???!!!
Any other guesses? The delicious uncertainity of the race keeps us coming back for more!!

Offline apskip

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Re: TAR seasons summer and winter
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2008, 07:13:40 AM »
sunnyca, you have done a useful analysis. I do not agree with your prediction about AR14, however. I expect it to be run about 6 months after AR13 did, in October/November. This is spring(Southern Hemisphere)/fall(Northern Hemisphere), not winter/summer. There should be no restrictions on where they can go except Antartica is not likely. I do expect to see northern Europe get a nod, perhaps Finland, Latvia or Estonia.



Offline TARAsia Fan

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Re: TAR seasons summer and winter
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2008, 10:25:38 AM »
As BVM says, he likes it best when racers have to experience hot and cold weather in one season. He tries to do that as much as he can.
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Offline georgiapeach

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Re: TAR seasons summer and winter
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2008, 10:38:03 AM »
GREAT job sunnyca! Thank you!

It is still possible that TAR 14 could run even in August...but w/ a new baby at home for BVM and Elise, I'll bet fall is the most likely! November has been popular in the past...
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Offline sunnyca

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Re: TAR seasons summer and winter
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2008, 03:10:48 PM »
yes, peach, i agree with you, i was also thinking of a nov start (or late oct) even before the news about the BE-aby! the late premiere date of TAR13 (sep 28), the ad you posted asking for celebrities to run the race late oct-nov, the sky-high ticket prices in august and schedule cutbacks by all airlines this year, the previous 3 non-summer runs (TAR7. 9, 11) all starting in nov, and last but not least, the complete absence of any news on team selections/callbacks (don't know if it's always like this tho').  still, even nov's not too late to go to northern europe i guess - i'd really like them to go to the Czech/Slovak republics!
btw, the antarctic is getting more accessible by air, i saw this item about the first ever race to the South Pole!
"The race to the South Pole is being filmed by TwoFour for the BBC. "On Thin Ice" will be broadcast in the spring of 2009. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7495676.stm          and here's the site for the race:
http://www.amundsenomega3southpolerace.com/index.php?ID=18