Oak Hill, WV
June 24-26, 2011
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
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 4th place in the 4-person co-ed category but could move up to 3rd 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! 3rd place in the 4-person category secured, 8th 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.
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