NIGEL AYLOTT – 1966-2004 Nigel Aylott’s achievements read like a book. Adventure Racing • • • • • • • • • • • •
rimal Quest, Lake Tahoe, CA, 2nd place, 2003 P Wild Onion Urban Race, Chicago, 1st place, 2003 EcoAdventure, Cairns 1st place, 2003 Three Peaks yacht race, Tasmania, 1st place (course record), 2003 Mountain Designs Geoquest, Sydney, 2nd place, 2003 Arrow 24 Hour, Melbourne, 1st place, 2003 Three Peaks yacht race, Tasmania, 1st place, 2002 Arrow 24 Hour, Melbourne, 2nd place, 2001 Three Peaks yacht race, Tasmania, 1st place, 2001 Eco-Challenge Sabah, Borneo, 3rd place, 2000 Southern Traverse, New Zealand, 1st mens team, 1999 Thredbo Enduro, NSW, 2nd place three times
Other
Vale Nigel Aylott Adventure Racer Extraordinaire
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LOSE to 1,000 people crowded in and around St. Marks church in Emerald, Victoria, to celebrate the life of Nigel Aylott. Nigel was an extraordinary rogainer, orienteer, paddler, ultra-distance runner and adventure racer. On September 21, in Washington State, US, whilst leading his Team AROC in 1st place in a 400-mile adventure race, the Subaru Primal Quest, Nigel was struck by a falling boulder and died instantly. Eight members of Nigel's team and an American team were using ropes to lower themselves during the trekking/orienteering segment when a boulder that weighed more than 135 kg came loose. Two other racers were injured.
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xfam Trailwalker, Melbourne, 1st place, 2004 O Oxfam TrailWalker, Sydney, 1st place, 2003 Australian Rogaining Champion, 2001 & 2002 Oxfam TrailWalker,1st Australian team, 2000 World Rogaining Champion, Canada, 1998 Victorian Rogaining Champion, Four times
Nigel in 1998 after winning the World Rogaining Championships near Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.
The Australian and American teams were leading the race, which involved hiking, biking and kayaking stages. The race, which was expected to last about 10 days, was halted after Nigel's death. Nigel, 38, was an experienced racer, finishing in the top three in 12 adventure races around the world. Nigel was best known for his running and rogaining. He held numerous Australian long distance running records and titles. He twice won the Australian Rogaining Championship, and was a former World Rogaining Champion. He also placed first in the Three Peaks yacht race in Tasmania in 2003, setting a course record in the process. His successful adventure-racing career included top-3 finishes in last year's Primal Quest race in California, the Eco-Challenge expedition race in Borneo in 2000, and the Southern Traverse race in New Zealand in 1999. Nigel was a business analyst for Telstra. Unstoppable; bulletproof – these are just some of the images held by friends and compatriots. Other descriptions were – highly inquisitive and intelligent; committed organizer; tireless volunteer. A champion who was always ready to assist lesser mortals, Nigel was one of the world’s best adventure racers. His passing leaves an enormous hole at the top of several extreme sports. Two tributes from friends say it all: “Nigel was a true Aussie in every sense of the word. Confident, passionate about sport, incredibly friendly and a bloody good adventure racer.” “Nige, you were always gentle, intelligent, funny, humble, lifeloving and just a damn good bloke.”
52 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2004
Nigel’s Paddle September 27, 2004 Gordon Wright (Primal Quest) Around a point, came the members of Teams AROC and Montrail. The flotilla quieted and organized more coherent parallel lines, forming a chute through which the athletes passed, singing “Wish You Were Here.” Our paddles were raised, and I got a wicked shock at the sight of what I swore was Nigel, paddling the lead kayak. It was Michael Aylott, Nigel’s brother, looking skilled and easy with a paddle in his hand. After they passed, we lowered our paddles and fell in line behind them, beaching the flotilla to quiet applause from hundreds gathered on the shore. It turns out that Nigel had been on the paddle after all. His ashes, inside a dry bag, were pulled from the hatch and carried to the finish line, where his mother waited. We sang; most of us cried a bit. Then we quietly dispersed into the morning, individually and collectively lost in remembrance and reflection.
