Annapolis, Md. (2:34 a.m. EDT) – A year after falling short in its quest to win the Race Across America (RAAM), Team Type 1 rode onto the City Dock early Friday in Annapolis, Md., as champions of the eight-person team division.
The eight athletes on Team Type 1 who have Type 1 diabetes won the non-stop, transcontinental race in record time, completing the 3,021-mile (4,861 km) distance in five days, nine hours and five minutes.
Their average speed of 23.41 mph bettered the 23.24 mph of last year’s winner, the Norwegian Byggkjøp presented by BMC Cycling Team, which completed nearly the same distance in five days, nine hours and 43 minutes.
Team members Jeff Bannink, Simon Bennett, Alex Bowden, Matt Brooks, Tom Kingery, Lonny Knabe, Bob Schrank and Mark Suprenant were recognized on the victory podium to the cheers of a large crowd of supporters that included Team Type 1 founder Phil Southerland.
Schrank teamed with Southerland and Team Type 1 co-founder Joe Eldridge in 2007 when Team Type 1 won its second straight eight-rider RAAM team title. Last year, Bowden, Brooks and Suprenant joined Schrank on the squad that finished second.
Team Type 1′s record-setting performance was not without several obstacles, including a grass fire in the Arizona desert that destroyed one of the team’s minivans, an RV that lost its transmission in Utah and a crew car that ran out of gas – all within a 24-hour span early in the race. The team is also looking for Mark Suprenant’s Orbea Ordu time trial bicycle, which went missing in the final 24 hours of the race.
Team Type 1 was created in 2004 to inspire people living with diabetes to take a proactive approach to managing their health and overcoming the obstacles often associated with the condition. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to properly control blood sugar levels.