They have just placed second in The Elf Authentic Adventure race, competing for 11 consecutive days. At the modest office in the sweltering heat they help screen candidates for reparative surgeries ranging from cleft palates to artificial limbs. The teammates hand out coloring books, talk to children and their parents, and help organizers take down information about the candidates, who come from the outlying villages on the island of Leyte.
Medical needs are high in Leyte and medical assistance is scarce.
In fact, Ian and I are planning on doing more of this kind of work together in the future. Pharmanex, Wilson's sponsor, works with the Mabuhay Deseret Foundation, the group spearheading the project in the Philippines. Cynics consider exchange projects at adventure races to be nothing more than politically-motivated PR moves, photo ops with no lasting impact. Proponents herald them as necessary, obligatory aspects of adventure racing. And of course some people, racers in particular, fall somewhere in the middle, viewing the complexities of organizing exchange projects as a burden when coupled with the details already required of organizing a week-long expedition adventure race.