Lightning Strikes 8 Hour
YMCA Camp Benson, Mt Carroll, IL
March 24, 2013
Racers: Britt Mason, Cory Mason, Chuck White
Race Report by: Britt Mason
Last weekend, the Rev3/MK Midwest team made the (short!) trip to Camp Benson in Mt Carroll, Illinois, for the Lightning Strikes AR. Coming off a win at the Swamp Fox the previous week, I was excited to be hitting another race right away. Last year, we attended the AR camp that goes along with the race, but this year, we chose to do just the race due to time constraints. After check-in and the first round of SWAG, we took part in the taco bar prepared by the camp staff. Side note: Camp Benson is a very special place, particularly because of Cory Harrison, camp director, and the rest of his staff. The camp has a great atmosphere and is a place where kids can go to connect with other kids and actually learn how to play in the era of Facebook and SnapChat. (If you don't know what SnapChat is, consider yourself lucky. I just spent a week in Disney with a team of high school girls.) They truly learn to appreciate the outdoors that we adventure racers love so much.
After dinner, we had the opportunity to hear Robyn Benincasa speak on the topic of Why Winners Win. She is a fantastic speaker with plenty of funny and often incredible experiences to share with a room packed with racers. I fell in love with adventure racing the first time I saw an Eco Challenge in junior high mainly because of Robyn. She was, and still is, the epitome of a strong, resilient, badass woman and the kind of person I aspire(d) to be someday. But I digress...after her main message, Robyn decided to give us 15 years of AR tips in 15 minutes, which included things like nutrition, gear, and race strategy. How cool is that?!
Robyn touching on Project Athena
Before heading back to our cabins for the night, we had the pre-race briefing, where we were given maps and UTMs for all the bike points. The race would cover a total of 22 CPs and would have 3 foot nav sections. We would receive those maps in the morning. The paddle was cancelled due to extremely low temperatures, and as a result, low water levels. The Mississippi River was even frozen over! Didn't I just race in South Carolina last weekend?
CPs around Camp Benson
20 minutes prior to the race start, we received a map of the camp property which had our first 3 CPs as well as the final 5 that included ropes and a LUGE. We knew that we had some stiff competition in Rib Mountain, and some of the local teams could give us a run for our money. The first 3 points were ROGAINE, and the rest of the course had to be done in order. We chose a route that would take us to the furthest point first and allow us to hit the other 2 on the way to the TA. Rib Mountain came into the TA at the same time we did, but we realized they weren't using clipless pedals, so all their TAs were going to be faster than ours. Game on!
As we settled in for the ride, road conditions began to deteriorate a bit. Temps were in the low 30s, with a mix of sleet and snow. Total bike distance was just shy of 40k on pavement and gravel that was frozen and covered in a layer of snow. At one point I decided it would be a good idea to cut Cory off, and he went down hard. Sorry bro!
We grabbed a couple of CPs enroute to the Mississippi Palisades, where we dropped our bikes for the main O course that consisted of 9 CPs. Rib Mountain entered transition while we were there, and we left together. After passing the pit where the first CP was located, we lost a few minutes to them initially. We caught them later after being spot on with several points. It was back and forth this entire leg. I made a mistake on the final CP, choosing to take the reentrant instead of the road, and it put us about 5 minutes back coming out of transition.
Back on the bike for the trip back to Camp Benson, we knew we had push to make up some time. The hills were our friend in this race, the more the merrier. We passed Rib Mountain on the final big hill with 5k to go in the bike leg and put hammer down. We managed to get in and out of the TA, grabbing all our climbing gear, with out seeing the other team.
Death wish anyone? Really though, it was a blast!
The first CP in this final section was an ascent. To get down to it, we took the (safer?) way down the ridge off the bluffs, which ended up being an ice covered slope. Rib Mountain took a near-vertical reentrant down adjacent to the ascent and came in right behind us. We were strong on the ascent and solidified our lead here, hitting the next point, the zipline, before their second teammate made it to the top. When Cory hit the ground on the zipline, his legs locked up in full on cramps. He screamed like a girl, I unclipped him, and he crawled away :) Thus began the cramping for all three of us that would be the rest of the race. We had pushed hard to this point, and we knew the finish was in sight. We grabbed another CP and crossed the FRIGID river to get up to the rappel. It was a really cool spot. Standing at the top, it looked like you were going to rappel straight into the river. The final point was the luge, which consisted of black, corrugated drainage pipe that you rode downhill in on a sled. In the dark. Really fast. I think Chuck's life flashed before his eyes upon exit of the pipe and the bail that followed. After ensuring all parts and limbs were still attached, we headed to the finish to claim victory.
Our final time was 3:50. It was short race but also very exciting and a lot of fun. Rib Mountain is a great team, and we had a blast going head-to-head with them the entire time. Special thanks go out to Gerry Voelliger and the rest of the team at High Profile Adventures for always putting on a memorable race with crazy SWAG and lots of good times. We love Camp Benson and will be back again in August for Thunder Rolls!
