Run Row Rock and Roll Adventure Race

By Michelle Thompson   

This weekends race started with Dave and me meeting at the Fairbury wellness center Friday. We received our maps and race instructions and begin preparing our maps for the Run Row Rock and Roll adventure race in rural Fairbury, Nebraska. This race was designed by and directed by our teammate Craig. Everything seemed pretty straight forward. We had a brief race meeting at 8pm and then we were off to meet Micah. Craig once again arranged for us to stay at his friends Jack and Jackie's beautiful home. It's like having our own apartment when we are there. A great way to start the race experience!
We reviewed our route and did a few more race preparations then called it a night.

We woke at 5 to very loud thunder and big bolts of lightening. We loaded things up. And we're off to the bike drop. The rain, that was forcasted to fall all day, stopped but clouds remained. We were shuttled to race start on the "redneck subway" which was a cattle trailer. I can only imagine what the passersby must have thought.

The race started at 7:30 with a running section followed by a canoe on a lake, trek/run and then, the most enjoyable part, a 1/2 mile canoe portage through a muddy ravine and woods. Then we were off on a short river paddle ending at the bike drop. This section was titled "Swamp Thing."
At this point there were 3 teams in the lead including us.

We took off on our bikes riding on mostly gravel roads, up and down, but mostly up,up, and up. Don't believe it when you hear Nebraska is flat. Craig was able to design the course so we had the pleasure of doing a 1 mile long climb. Thanks Craig , that was fun! The next section titled "Cabin By the Lake" started with a team challenge. This challenge was log sawing done by 2 teammates while the other steadied the log. No problem. I'm sure it was because of my superior steadying skills. Then it was off on an orienteering section. This section was not given to us until we arrived. This included 5 points. Once completed we were off on the bike again. This included gravel and pastures. At this point we were neck and neck with a solo racer.

This next section, "The Hills Have Eyes," started and ended on bike but was primarily a trekking section up and down some steep creek banks and through lots of poison ivy. Yikes! Near the end of this section Craig had a surprise for us. It was a time trial on a very, very steep hill. The male and female winners would get $80 in prizes. The guys decided they would help me win. I hooked the tow up to Dave and Micah pushed. Up we went. Dave was an animal. I felt like I was working hard but Micah said he had never seen the tow pulled so tight. We were glad that quickly came to an end and we were off on our bikes to the next section. What a nice surprise Craig. Thanks for thinking of us.

The next section, "The Bucket List," began with an orienteering section then a paddling section on a small lake. We decided we had better do the land section first. After all that hard climbing we werent sure if we would get up if we started in the canoe. We got 4 points on land, 1 which could have been really tricky but Dave was spot on.We decided to do the team challenge next. This was an attempt to " walk on water." Two large buckets were given to each of us. We were then supposed to stand in them, one on each foot, beside a rope that crossed a small cove of the lake. We were then supposed to pull ourselves across the water without falling. Dave and Micah both satisfied Craig's wish and proceeded to quickly plunge into the water. I, however, decided to straddle the hip high rope and pull myself across. Success. Then it was off to 3 more points in the canoe.

We were all anxious to reach the finish line. We were now in 1st place but knew the racer behind us was fully capable of catching us on bike if we did not push hard. We had 1 more rural section titled "Live Free or Die Hard." One point had been taken out due to all the rain. One point remained. Then it was back to the city of Fairbury. Once we reached the city we had 2 Cps to find. We had familiarized ourselves with the city layout the night before so felt pretty confident there would be little hesitation. From a distance we could see the railroad crossing light begin to flash and the crossbars descend. NO WAY! As we got closer we realized it was only 1 car. What a relief. We grabbed our last 2 points and headed to the finish. Finish time 7 hours 12 minutes.

Nice job guys! Almost flawless navigation from Dave, a strong push on the run and bike from both Micah and Dave, and great teamwork in transitions pulled us into and kept us in the lead. Believe it or not Craig, you did such a great job with this course we don't even have any suggestions. Only, could you throw in a few more climbs next time!?
Next up Big Mountain Adventures 24 hour in Colorado Springs next weekend. Bring your O2.