Alberta residents take 4th place in gruelling 9-day Patagonian Expedition Race

It's anine-day race in a region of Chileuntouched by humansthat pushes participants to their limits bothphysically and emotionally, and two Albertaresidents were part of a team that took fourth place.

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The Patagonian Expedition Race has racers trekking, climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and navigating the wet, cold landscape over hundreds of kilometres, relying solely on their stamina and preparation.

Francois Charest and Sandra Baribeau of Canmore formed Team Mind Over Body with fellow racers David Lebrun and Michal Dorocicz.

The teamsays wind topped the list of challengesin a racethat kept them moving for about 160 hours.

"It is unbelievable, especially on the bike,"Baribeausaid."It is so slow biking with the wind in your face, the time doubles. I was thrown many times by the windin the ditch. We had to learn to work as a team to go against the wind."

Charest said the racers also struggled withstaying dry.

"The cold and being wet all of the timeis pretty tough. It is pretty tough to go into your sleeping bag wet and getting up wet and being wet all day," he explained.

"Having a tent without a floor didn't help sometimes," Baribeau added."Once we woke up literally floating in the water."

The Patagonian Expedition Race has been going since 2004 and draws participants fromaround the world.

"I don't think we ever considered stopping," Charest said."We always had in mind to keep going until the end."

Baribeau saysin this type of competitionspeed is not the only strategy.

"We were just slower. Being slow is not a bad thing in that type of race. We were making slow process but steady progress," she said.

"You cannot expect to have a fast pace on a race that lasts nine days," Charest added.

When asked if they couple would do it again, the response was immediate.

"Definitely," Charest said without hesitating.

"Tomorrow," Baribeau said, speaking over Charest."If I had the time, I would do it tomorrow."