Treasure Coast AR Race Report: Team FLX-3

Setting up my new GoPro Hero HD camera for the race

Authors note: Team Florida Xtreme 3 is a developmental pick-up team focused on novice racers gaining experience in running elite length courses with an experienced team captain. Race team captain is Dave "Dash" Ashley, a local racer from Merritt Island with several years of elite level racing experience and a navigator for team Florida Xtreme and Mountain Khakis/Rev3 Adventure. If you are looking to move up from the novice to elite class but would like some backup assistance the first time, drop me a line! ~Dash

Saturday January 28th welcomed 3 new racers to Team FLX-3: Jeanette, Stef, and Wesley. The 6-hour Treasure Coast AR would be the longest race yet for all three. Weather was forecasted to be sunny, low 70s, and little wind. Perfect conditions and in a perfect location, Jonathan Dickinson State Park near Hobe Sound, Florida.

Here is a quick rundown of the team:

Jeanette: Completed about 10 ARs, mostly Pangea sport races with a few of the shorter Elite events. Former soccer player and gymnist, looking to gain experience navigating. Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, wow!

Stef: Completed about 7 ARs, Pangea sport races, also training for a marathon. Strong cyclist, looking to gain experience navigating. Very fit, killed this race physically!

Wesley: Completed 2 Pangea sport races with family/friends. Strong paddler, and looking to gain experience from racing with an elite team in a longer race. A loving husband, brings his wife to the race and sets her up in style with a tent, chair, and cooler full of cold beverages!

I was a little nervous meeting up with three strangers for a 6-hour race. Teamwork and chemistry are so important in adventure racing, this was the equivalent to going all in and not even looking at your poker hand! Well, live a little, right?

Things started off pretty well, as I showed up to the race registration about 15 minutes late and was able to locate all three of my teammates after a few minutes.

Lesson learned: Plan to arrive early. The directions only put us at the front gate of the park, the race start area was another 10 minute drive from there! We lost valuable time that could have been spent analyzing our maps.

After gathering all of our gear into one spot and snagging one of the few picnic tables, Jeanette and Stef started looking over the maps and clue sheet. Since this was Wesley’s 3rd race, we spent some time going over some race fundamentals such as what gear was needed and how to pack for a 6 hour race, options for hydrating and fueling, differences between canoe and kayak paddles (we brought kayak paddles for this race), and some of the key differences between the many types of mountain bikes.

From left to right: Stef, Wesley, and Jeanette

Jeanette used a cool tool I had never seen before. Using a small piece of colored wire, she would bend the wire into the shape of a trail on our map to measure between two checkpoints. Marking the length with her finger on the wire, she would then straighten the wire and measure the distance off the map scale. It was quick and easy to measure the distance between two points, even if the route curved back and forth. As we would soon find out, our “map” only showed about half the trails that were actually out in the park. If we didn’t know the distance to travel and use a cycle computer or pace count to measure, we could have easily gotten lost. Nice work Jeanette!

Lesson learned: Don’t trust your map to show all the roads and trails. Measure your map and keep track of your distance, this will help reduce the possibility of turning too early or missing your turn. Some racers use different techniques, such as a string, a mechanical or digital measuring tool, and some experienced navigators can eyeball distance accurately.

After working the map, red shows our travel path and distances

The Treasure Coast Elite AR was composed of 4 sections. All teams must first do a short (~3k) trek, followed by a moderate (~10k) paddle. After that, teams had to accomplish both a moderate (~10k) trek and long (~20k) bike but could pick the order, either bike/run or run/bike.

Stef started off navigating, and Wesley was our “rabbit” and had the job of punching our passport at the checkpoints. The first trek was entirely on a nature trail and was very straightforward, with the typical “choo-choo train” of 16 teams heading off in the same direction. Stef masterfully navigated us through this section.

Race start, noticeable "choo-choo train" of teams

Following the short trek, we sped through transition and grabbed our kayak paddles. There was a short line to launch canoes, then we were treated to a beautiful paddle through mangrove-lined waterways with glassy conditions. Jeanette flawlessly lead us through this section, while Wesley and Stef showed off their paddling skills.

In line to launch canoes

Lesson learned: We all had kayak paddles, and it paid off. We were faster than teams with canoe paddles. The wide channel and relatively little overhanging vegetation was perfect. If the waterway was narrow, or had more overhanging trees, canoe paddles would have been the better choice. Bring your own paddle to the race, and make the decision once you see the park and map.

We opted to avoid congestion with the flotilla of other canoes in the narrow sections of the creeks, and went back to the furthest checkpoints first. That strategy rewarded us with some quiet time on the water where we didn’t see any boats, and we were able to gauge how fast other teams were moving as they passed us on our way back to catch the earlier points. We easily found all the points and were quickly back at the main transition area.

Snagging a paddle point

Lesson learned: Often, paddles are “out and back” and some of the points along the way you have the option of getting now, or when you return. Keep an eye on them as you go and grab them if convenient. If other teams are clogging the shore, or you don’t see a point the first time you go past, it’s often easier to get it and/or see it when you are returning the other direction. So don’t sweat missing one if you can grab it on the return trip!

Next we had the option of the long bike or moderate trek. We elected to bike first, and with another quick transition (great job team!) we headed off with Stef navigating, Jeanette marking distance on her cycle computer, and me rabbiting.

Not nearly as much sand as FLX-3 encountered in the Resolution AR, JD Park certainly had some of the deep stuff out there. Most of our checkpoints were right off trails, but far enough that you had to know where to look. And there were a maze of trails that didn’t show up on the map, while some of the map trails were incorrectly marked. A typical adventure race!

Stef did a great job of keeping us in a “known” location for most of this section. He communicated with the rest of the team when he was not sure, and several times Jeanette, Wesley and I were able to help keep the team on track. With a little bit of luck and a brazen bikewhack move that paid off, we finished the bike portion and moved up the leaderboard several positions over other teams. At this point we had about 90 minutes left to race, the temps were warming up, the sun was beating down, and we were all getting tired. Time for a 10-k sand run!

Lesson learned: The navigator should regularly communicate with team members and use their eyes to help locate key terrain features. A strong navigator will let the team know how far until the next turn or checkpoint, which direction they should be heading, and any other details that will help the team stay in a “known” location while racing. Team members should all know how to use a compass, pacecount, and have a cycle computer with an odometer set in kilometers. This philosophy saved us several times during the Treasure Coast race.

With a slightly slower transition to remove some of the bothersome burrs that we collected during the bikewhack, team FLX-3 headed out for the last leg. We already knew that time was short, we were tired, and any serious navigation error would cost us a point at a minimum, and likely several slots in the overall placement as well. Only 10k to go!!

Stef was handling the long race and heat well, so after a quick huddle we elected him the navigator for the final section. I rabbited and counted pace. Jeanette and Wesley were both getting winded, and worked together motivating each other to keep pushing. While nobody was severely worn out, we discussed things a team could do when one team member “hits the wall”. Stef had a tow rope that we practiced with, while Wesley experimented with holding on to the pack straps of the person running in front and slightly to the side for some extra speed. Even with a pace count we had difficulty finding two of the three points, but ended up with a full control card and headed back to the finish with only minutes to go.

I dare you to bushwhack through saw palmettos!

Lesson learned: Teams must stay together at all times in adventure racing, so you are only as fast as your slowest member. Pair up your strongest paddler with your weakest. Provide a push on the back during straight bike sections, or carry a tow rope. If needed, you can tow on the run as well. But I only recommend this if you are close to a cut-off time on the course, or going towards the finish line. Towing on the run can easily wear out both members, so don’t do this early in a race!

Team FLX-3 completed the Treasure Coast Adventure Race in just over 5 hours 42 minutes and in 5^th place overall. It was an impressive finish, as only 5 teams out of 16 “cleaned” the course with all checkpoints. Jeanett, Stef, and Wesley had just finished their longest race…ever! Their navigation was stellar, and everybody stayed positive on the course. Not too bad for 4 people who were complete strangers at 7am that morning!

Looking forward to seeing the folks from Pangea and team FLX at the Boar AR in March!

~Dash

Resolution Adventure Race: Race Report

Authors note: Team Florida Xtreme 3 is a developmental pick-up team focused on novice racers gaining experience in running elite length courses with an experienced team captain. Race team captain is Dave "Dash" Ashley, a local racer from Merritt Island with several years of elite level racing experience and a navigator for team Florida Xtreme and Mountain Kahakis/Rev3 Adventure. ~Dash

January 14th had the promise of a fantastic day for racing in central Florida, just West of Orlando on lake Lousia. Temps were only supposed to reach into the high 60s, although the night prior was cool by Florida standards. FLX-3 members for this race (Dash, RC, Thumper, and Shamrock) met up right when registration opened at 0630 to check in and get our maps. It was still dark and felt quite cold. We all hoped the paddle would be later in this 8-hour race...brrr! No jokes about Florida for all of you dealing with snow and worse up north!

We set up some chairs, said hellos to the race director Greg, his staff, the volunteers, and some other racers, then settled down to examine the map and clue sheet. First impressions were good, this course look fairly short for an 8-hour event and the paddle didn't look very difficult at all for an adventure race. Flat water paddling, no creeks, and fairly short! The course was divided into several segments, the order was run, bike, paddle, run, bike. The hardest sections looked like the last two, as they were by far the longest run and bike sections. Barring any unfortunate circumstances (getting lost, injured, or a mechanical problem) the course looked straightforward and not too difficult to "clean." Notice the use of foreshadowing…

For this race we had decided to share the navigation between Shamrock, an experienced racer, and RC, who only had one race and orienteering meet (Florida Orienteering Club) under his belt. Both did a great job on this moderately technical course.

Shamrock navigated the first leg, about 5 k. The "choo-choo train" effect of the beginning of the race made navigation a breeze. We were surprised to see a 3-female team pushing hard on the return from an out-and-back point. They were in 1st place already and looking determined to shoot for the lead. Way to go ladies!

The 2nd leg was a short bike, but with an interesting decision point. You can either backtrack about 2 miles in mixed sugar sand on bike, or "hike a bike" across a waist-deep creek about 100m to shortcut to the next CP. 2 teams with us elected to backtrack. Well, we decided that it looked more fun to brave the possibly alligator-infested water so I volunteered to cross the creek. (Editor’s Note: I recently learned that gators this time of year are pretty docile due to the cooler temps; somehow, this information is only mildly reassuring.) It quickly rose to my waist in the first few steps and my feet started to get mired in the mud...so we looked up and down the creek and found a log crossing. That worked great...it was a treat that 3 of us had lightweight bikes for this part (titanium and carbon frames, low 20lb range). Shamrock rides a real brick, makes a huffy look like an upgrade, and halfway across the log we heard a "crack!" and just like that the log broke apart and fell into the water. He made a leap and hit the far side, but 3 other racers following him didn't have the same luck. We saw one face-plant into the middle of the creek with his bike. Did I mention it was around 45 degrees?? (Quit with the Florida jokes already!)

After a fairly difficult bike-whack through some dense palmettos, we caught the trail again. The 2 teams that had elected to backtrack and make the longer bike went sailing by us as we were looking for our CP. Best guess we lost about 3 minutes to them and spent a fair bit of energy in the bike-whack. But I can guarantee we had more fun! Finally we rolled up to the bike-to-paddle TA.

We paired up, grabbed 2 canoes, paddles, and lifejackets, then portaged the boats for about 100 meters towards the lake. Then bad news: whitecaps on the lake. It was a strong wind, and the shallow Lake Louisa had waves about 12 inches high and blowing directly on-shore (north to south). Our first point was 200 meters west, crosswind, and looked to be a daunting paddle. We could already see one team had flipped their canoe in the waves. Hopping in, the wind immediately pushed our canoes into each other and Shamrock/RC flipped. Hey guys, that water looks really, really cold!!! The thing about Shamrock and RC, they are both over 6 feet tall and around 200lbs. Very fit guys, but a large profile and top-heavy on a canoe. On the 2nd try we had better luck and managed to make very slow progress, paralleling the shoreline towards the next CP. RC was paddling in front and sat on the bottom of the boat to increase stability. In each boat the paddler in front had to continually paddle on the left side to keep the canoe from turning away from the wind, and the rear paddlers were working overtime attempting to make forward progress. As Shamrock and RC's boat flipped a 2nd time, we all decided it was faster, easier, and safer to just drag our boats in the shallow water by the shore to the CP. Other racers in front and behind us were doing the same thing, and we quickly made the 1st paddle CP.

this point we were still in the wind, very wet, and getting close to hypothermia. Time for a short team discussion. Should we continue the race? Should we cut short the paddle section? Everybody had a different opinion. In the end we discussed the team goals...no stopping with time and CPs still on the course! So much for an "easy" adventure race.

After dragging/carrying our boats another 300 meters, it was time for a change of plan. We could not continue stepping in the water it was just too cold. With around 10k left on the paddle we simply could not carry our boats on land the entire way and finish the race in 8 hours. A quick check of the race rules...nothing here says you NEED to carry your canoe, paddles, and life vest to each CP. So we dropped them at the paddle-trek transition area and jogged the remaining paddle course. Greg, we dare you to DQ us!

I really don't recommend doing this. Paddling is faster than jogging. It takes much, much less energy (even into the wind). You don't have to cross private property in the canoe, nor do you have to follow the entire coast line to get to a CP. But if all else fails (and the rules don’t prohibit it) it works.

I'll save the stories of meeting land owners as we cut through their backyards, neighborhood children giving us directions, and watching teams of strong paddlers sail off into the sunset (and up in the leader board) for another discussion. It was a humbling time. Over 2 1/2 hours later, we finished the "paddle" and transitioned to the long trek.

With 4 hours to go, "cleaning" the course still looked very possible. The long run on the "paddle" section slowed Thumper down a bit, as none of us had trained to run so much (it ended up around 15 miles total that day). We encountered deep sugar sand during much of this section, further sapping our energy levels. Fortunately Thumper and RC had set recurring timers on their watches. Thumper's was for every 20 minutes as a reminder to drink. RC was every hour as a reminder to eat food. We never ran into dehydration or the dreaded "bonk" of low blood sugar on this race. Shamrock was killing the navigation, and we hit every checkpoint on the first try with minimal searching. Pushing hard at the end, we made the final transition trek-to-bike with just over 2 hours remaining. We were smoked.

Then more bad news.

Two bikes had flat tires. One was a simple tube, easy to fix. However I run tubeless on my Specialized Epic S-Works, and it is usually a godsend. No pinch flats, self-sealing punctures, tubeless is the only way to go for advanced racing. But for some reason I had a flat. What the heck??!!??

After about 45 minutes of trouble shooting, we narrowed the problem down to my valve stem. Air was leaking around the seal. Simply tightening up the nut stopped the leak. Meanwhile we had run through 2 tubes on the other bike (cheap replacement tubes were splitting) and used up all of our CO2. On our last tube, we used a hand pump and all our tires were finally full. We took off!

And finally, more bad news. We missed a CP with a navigation error, and got another tube flat. With no more usable spares (patching didn't work) and a bent valve stem on the only good tube, we were completely out of the running to get all the CPs. Even worse, we were located about 4 miles from the race start with only 30 minutes to get back...carrying a bike. Another decision point. Do we just have one member ride back, get a car, and drive back to the finish? Or do we tough it out? We elected to carry/push the bike back to the start line. We finished around 40 minutes past the cutoff – a huge disappointment after working so hard all day.

Looking back, what could we have done differently?

Certainly the paddle hurt our time and energy. Paddling together as a team may have given us the skill to make it across the lake in our boats. Once there, coming back into the wind would have had us off the paddle leg about one hour faster than running.

The bike mechanicals killed us late in the race. We packed well, with lots of CO2, spare tubes, a pump, and a patch kit. I had never seen a valve problem before on my tubeless tires, that won’t happen again. And our handpump was very difficult to work, putting lots of strain on the fragile valvestem when attempting to make the 200+ pumps to fill a 29-er tire. This week I ordered a new pump with a flexible nozzle on the end. You screw it onto the valvestem of your tube, and when pumping you don’t risk breaking/bending the valvestem. Oh, and bring more CO2. It’s way, way better than pumping!!!

Another great race from the folks at Pangea. Thanks go RC, Shamrock, and Thumper for giving 8 hours (and 40 minutes!) of their all until the very end. We’ll be ready for the next one….will you?

Next race: TreasureAdventure Race in Jupiter, Florida on Saturday 28 Jan.

~Dash

QOC Meet at McKeldin

We made the most of the mild weather today for a winter training session at the McKeldin area of Patapsco. I had only been to the east end of Patapsco and this area was new to me. I met up with Liz, who is planning on racing with Rev3 in 2012. We hit the trails for an hour of mountain biking.  The area has about 8 miles of bike-able trails, all in good condition.  Not too technical, a few steep climbs and some nice fast downhill sections.  Liz and I tied together the white, red and purple trails for about 8 miles of riding.
After the ride we hung around a bit waiting for Dennis to arrive and then hit the Brown O course set up by QOC. It was a nice loop with 8 controls.  No heavy undergrowth was present so all point to point navigation was easy.  We worked around the course in about 50 minutes and then enjoyed some of the snacks put out by the club.  Those guys really know how to put on a great meet.

Orienteer Your Snowballs Off 6 Hour ROGAINE

January 7, 2012
Rev3/MK Racers: Britt and Cory Mason

Race Report by Britt Mason

Early Saturday morning, my brother Cory and I traveled to Rock Cut State Park in Loves Park, Illinois, for the inaugural Orienteer Your Snowballs Off, a 6 hour ROGAINE orienteering race. The day promised to be gorgeous for Illinois in winter, with temps getting up into the 40s and sunny. We received our map and worked out a route, planning to try to clear the course. The race would consist of 43 CPs with a 6 hour cutoff. After a brief pre-race meeting, we were off!

The navigation proved challenging right from the start, as all trails were removed from the map, and points were plotted using GPS. In addition, the park had very little elevation change, so the topography was subtle to say the least. About an hour into the race, we found ourselves searching for a CP with another team, Heather and Rich from Eyes of the World/Team Randomocity. After 20 minutes with no success, we realized we needed to move on if we were going to manage our time well for the rest of the race. We had even gone to the next CP to use it as a reference and come back. We decided to press on, effectively beginning a great partnership with Heather and Rich for the rest of the day. Cory and I have never raced with anyone else or partnered with another team. We had a blast feeling like a 4-person team and spending time with a couple of awesome racers. On several occasions, the vegetation was so dense we literally had to army crawl to get through it. I'm sure taking trails would have been faster, but without knowing the trail system in the park, we had no choice. The course itself was fantastic, taking teams through the entire park and creating endless route choices. Getting to some of the CPs was interesting and included: climbing a tree, crawling into a tiny cave, walking out on a fallen tree above the thin ice of the lake, and running in the frigid water through a long culvert and back.

As the hours slipped by, we had to make a couple of route choices to skip CPs in order to beat the cutoff. We crossed the finish line with Heather and Rich with less than 10 minutes to spare. We cleared 35 of 43 CPs and effectively tied for 3rd place. We covered 17-20 miles for day on foot and had a great time doing it! Next up is the Bonk Hard Chill in Lake of the Ozarks, MO, on February 18. Hope to meet you all at the Epic!

Odyssey Endorphin Fix 2-Day Adventure Race

Oak Hill, WV
June 24-26, 2011

48-Hour Expedition Adventure Race
Rev3\MK Team Members: Dennis Azato, Ernie Lawas, Fritz Pameijer, Terri Spanogle

Photo By Chris Radcliffe of Mad Race Media

Race Report by Terri Spanogle

River Boarding – 4 miles
Paddling – 30 miles
Trekking – 35+ miles
Mountain Biking – 70-80 miles
Off-Trail Orienteering – 23 mandatory checkpoints; optional orienteering course

When my teammate, Dennis, asked me to do this race with a week and a half’s notice, I knew they were desperate for a girl to race with. I asked “Do you really think I have what it takes to do a 48-hour adventure race?! My adventure racing experience is minimal with only one 24-hour race under my belt yet I was assured that I could do it. I know I have a great attitude and the mentality to suffer and not give up easily but can I physically and mentally endure this event?

Dennis and I packed my car full of gear and food and headed out for a 5.5-hour drive to Southern West Virginia Thursday afternoon. We met up with our teammates, Ernie and Fritz, after their 11-hour drive from Connecticut at the cabin where we were staying at the Ace Adventure Resort. Racer check-in was at 6:00 am Friday so we needed to hustle to get our gear organized and in bed at a decent time. I maybe got 2 hours of sleep that night as I was filled with anxiety and fear of this race.

The race consisted of approximately 150 to 200 miles of trekking, mountain biking, river boarding, paddling, and off-trail orienteering in the beautiful Allegheny Mountains. The race was unsupported so teams had to carry all their gear and food (weighing approximately 15 to 20 pounds) with only one opportunity to come back to headquarters to restock our packs from our gear bin (including water).

Thunderstorms rolled in the night before so the trails were plenty muddy in spots. Otherwise, we were fortunate to have fairly pleasant weather except on Sunday when it was much cooler (not comfortable when you are soaked with sweat) in the morning with a chilling down pour towards the end of the race.

Race briefing was at 9:45 am. I’m getting more nervous. I don’t understand half of what the race director is instructing us to do. The race started with the river boarding section on the New River Gorge so we donned our wetsuits, loaded our gear, and were on the bus by 10:45 am for a one-hour ride to the start.

The water temperature was surprisingly pleasant. I fully expected it to be cold so I was prepared with my new dive suit. The Class 1 and 2 whitewater rapids were a blast! But in slow moving water the boogie boards Dennis and I were using sucked so we (me especially) were constantly falling behind Ernie and Fritz who were on proper river boards. We needed to move faster. Ernie and Fritz positioned their boards long ways so that I could hang on in the middle. Dennis is now stuck with an extra board in addition to wearing improper swimming pants that filled with water and created an annoying drag. After 2 hours of river boarding it was time for the kayaking section.

Paddling sucks. After 3.5 hours (about 20 miles) of it in mostly flat water I could feel the blisters starting to form on my hands even while wearing gloves (well cycling, not paddling gloves – I’m JV at this). The Class 1 and 2 whitewater rapids were always exhilarating to go through especially the “Surprise Rapids” (must have been a Class 3) toward the end that tossed Dennis and Fritz right out of the boat. Pretty cool to watch but scary to see them floating in the water with their boat capsized. Ernie and I managed to get through it without being flipped. So exciting! After we helped Dennis and Fritz back into their boat I looked back to see another team being flipped over by the rapids. Once we docked we then had to carry the boats up a set of very steep steps to the top where we transitioned into dry clothes (everyone strips butt naked out in the open, there is no modesty in these races) for a >7-mile trek ahead.

We started off down a dirt road but were soon heading straight up the side of the mountain through loads of poison ivy. There was no avoiding it. This was the first of many leg-burning climbs and bush whacking we would experience throughout the race. Ernie was our superb lead navigator with Fritz as deputy. Both did an excellent job of plotting and locating the checkpoints but it wasn’t easy. Sometimes we were spot on, other times we were off and wandered in the wrong direction and had to either back track or find another route but Ernie and Fritz did an excellent job and they always found the CPs as was the case for the remainder of the race.

Once we arrived back at headquarters slightly after 9:00 pm, we loaded up our packs with all the gear and food we would need for the rest of the race (39 hours to go!) and set out on the mountain bikes for about 20 miles. Ahh, mountain biking feels natural. I’m liking this now. We rode up long steep dirt and fire roads, single track, and paved roads with plenty of hike-a-bike. The descents were also long and ridiculously fast. We located all of the checkpoints as we rode through the darkness and still of night, the sky filled with stars. It was peaceful except for the many dogs that barked at us incessantly (a few even chased after us) as we rode by homes that were sparsely scattered around the mountains (it would seem none of the townies keep their dogs indoors).

We arrived at the bike transition area around 6:00 am where we were greeted by volunteers. Unfortunately they had just run out of coffee. We’ll just have to make do with our caffeine tablets, which by the way only help up to a certain point of exhaustion and just make your belly hurt and feel queasy as Dennis and I will attest to!

Back up up up the mountain we go on the next trekking portion (about 12 miles). After some serious bush whacking through thick foliage on the mountain we made it down into the valley and continued our long walk on a dirt road to the river to the paddle put-in. We were all running out of water and there were no stores or water sources in site other than the creek, and we had many miles to go. As we meandered through a small section of homes down in the valley we saw a lady on the porch of a church. We asked her for some water and she gladly welcomed us in. What a blessing! I think she was ecstatic to have company in that remote area! All of the WV locals we encountered were so friendly to us and interested in what we were doing out there.

Here we go again with the most dreaded part of the race. Back in the boats for a 2-hour paddle (10 miles) down the Gauley River. The water was much colder than the day before so we were grateful there weren’t many rapids to soak us. We all agreed a 10-minute nap was in order so we closed our eyes and let the boats drift slowly down river. It’s amazing what a short nap will do for you. Now let’s get this paddle section over with. The boat take-out was in a small town where the 3 big rivers converged. We changed clothes, grabbed our gear, and off we went for the longest trek of the race (approximately 15-20 miles). Here is where my troubles began and details of the race get blurry. We’re only half way through the race.

As we started walking back up the mountainside my feet really started hurting. Dennis insisted that we stop and have Ernie (our foot expert) check them. Ernie proceeded to pad around my blisters with gauze and mole skin and even went as far as cutting out the heels of my trail running shoes to alleviate pressure (these shoes were a terrible choice for this type of race – didn’t know that you should never wear waterproof shoes when you know you’re going to get your feet soaked). Much better but still painful to walk. At this point it seemed as though we trekked endlessly on ATV trails, open fields, and through the woods. I absolutely hated this part because it hurt so bad to walk and it was hours before we made it to the bikes again. We arrived at the bike transition area a little after 9:00 pm. This time coffee and treats awaited us (and a proper bathroom across the road!).

My feet hurt like hell now. Luckily my feet didn’t hurt nearly as bad while on the bike. We headed back out on the bikes at 10:00 pm for another 60 to 70 miles and immediately started climbing back up the same mountain we had trekked earlier. It was the longest, steepest, hardest climb I think I’ve ever done. Back onto single track and fire roads where we struggled to find the next CP. It took us 2 hours to finally find it. I don’t remember much about this portion except that we rode along rolling paved roads then onto some rail trail all through the night. At least it was mostly flat but with huge mud puddles occasionally throughout that spanned the entire width of the trail. We encountered lots of teams at this point. It’s cold...when is the sun going to rise and warm us up? I’m starting to doze off when we are stopped. We’re all fading. Time for our second 10-minute nap as the sun starts to rise. So on the cold road we laid to rest our weary bodies. We then continued on the paved road until reaching CP 18 around 7:00 am (2 hours before the cut-off time) where we filled up our reservoirs with creek water (praying that the water treatment drops work to destroy the illness-causing parasites).

A critical moment in the race. Do we go for a clean sweep of the course, opting for every mandatory checkpoint (23 of them) or skip 2 of them and short cut the course to the finish? At this point in the race, as long as we finish the course regardless of the number of checkpoints we get from here on out we’ll be “official” finishers and be ranked but is it possible we could get them all within the remaining time and improve our standing in the race? Of course, being the weakest one on the team, the decision was up to me. If we go for all remaining mandatory CPs, we’ll be on the course for another 5 hours. If we short course it, then probably another 3 hours. Ernie and Fritz wanted to finish the course but completely understood if I decided otherwise. Dennis was neutral because he sensed that I wanted to short course it. I am the one hurting the most, can barely walk, and quickly losing mental focus and motivation. I was ready to get this race over with. I flip flopped, not wanting to let my teammates down, trying to be even tougher than I really am yet I had had enough and needed to be honest with myself and my teammates. Here come the tears (I can’t believe I didn’t break down sooner). I don’t give up easily and will suffer and endure but I knew it would be a big risk to make it to the finish on time if we tried for all remaining 4 CPs. We would have had to haul ass and the best I could do at that point was (even more) slow and steady. So I said to Ernie “I don’t have another 5 hours in me.” Okay, time to press on, let’s get these last 2 CPs and be done. Little did any of us know at that point that we would indeed be on the course for another 5 hours anyway! We probably would not have gotten all 4 remaining CPs so I believe it turned out to be a good call after all.

Next up is a 3,300-foot climb to the top of the mountain. At one point along the way we took a wrong path and headed back down the mountain. While bombing down the fast semi-rocky descent, I flatted. So Ernie and Dennis put my spare tube in and off we went a little further down before realizing it wasn’t the right way. Oh hell, we gotta go back up the way we came? It wasn’t rideable in spots so Dennis took my bike so that I could walk more efficiently (one of the many times he helped me along the way). We got back on the right dirt road and continued our ascent to the top. Once there and checkpoint found we were all relieved to soon be descending back down and then we had only another few miles to the finish. We have only 2 hours left before the race finish time of 1:00 pm. We can do it but we’ll need to fly down the mountain and not let up until the end. So as we were flying down as fast as we could taking big risks it started to rain. None of us had on rain gear or warm clothes and we weren’t about to stop until we got down. The descent took over 30 minutes and we were soaking wet and freezing! Once at the bottom of the mountain, I put on my rain jacket and wool base layer and quickly warmed up. I was not about to get hypothermia!

Okay, we need to seriously hustle to get back on time. We ended up on the wrong side of creek and rather than back track we cut through a section of the creek with big boulders. Again Dennis took my bike across the creek and part way up the slippery trail until I could get back on and ride. Our effort was intensifying with less than 2 miles to go. Ride as hard as you can! We made it off the single track and onto a dirt road where Fritz towed me to the finish line. We made it in at 12:30 pm with a half hour to spare!

But it’s not over yet. One of the volunteers informed us that we were in 4^th place in the 4-person co-ed category but could move up to 3^rd if we were to get one bonus checkpoint on the optional orienteering course. Earlier we decided we weren’t going to go for the optional CPs on the O course due to time constraints. But we were pumped with adrenaline and decided it was worth a shot! So Ernie quickly plotted the first CP and off we ran (well I fast crawled it) back up a steep hill. We had less than 15 minutes to find the CP and get back by 1:00 pm. Along the way, Dennis ran into a bee’s nest and got stung on the chin. I was lagging behind (as usual) and was bitten by a spider on my finger. We got the checkpoint, punched our bands, and back down the precipitous terrain we went with only 5 minutes to spare. We weren’t going to make it with my crippling feet and my overwhelming fatigue so Fritz put me on his back and carried me the whole way back down! It was an amazing finish and we made it in at 12:58 pm! 3^rd place in the 4-person category secured, 8^th overall.

As to be expected, there were plenty of trying and tough times during this race but we all kept a positive attitude (and the guys took very good care of me) and finished strong. Are the blisters, rashes, saddle sores, chafing, scrapes, bruises, sleep deprivation, sunburn, spider bite, severe muscle fatigue and exhaustion worth it? I think so. I have never felt so much exhaustion and discomfort from any type of athletic event. I’ve also never felt so much elation and pride from completing one of the hardest adventure races around with three amazing teammates. Dennis, Ernie, and Fritz are incredible elite athletes and fun to race with.