Did you have any Adventures in 2008? Let me tell you about one that I didn't participate in, but I can see the carrot dangling in front of me for 2009! These are photos of Team Tryad from The Wildlands Challenge Adventure Race on September 28, 2008. Teams of five people competed in trail running, mountain biking, canoeing, and team challenges. Rather than the orienteering aspect which is typical in many adventure races, in this race each leg had a twist, or more likely a tether. Team Tryad consisted of Dan, the team captain, Doug, Jody (who has run with the SRC group on occasion), Eric (an SRC regular), and Miko. Since I wasn't there, I can't do justice to describe just how gnarly this event was, so I'll use Eric's words.
"It was Epic! The design of the race and the fact that I was racing with Tryad made it much tougher physically than the two GOALS races (adventure races from earlier in the year). There were no check points and no orienteering - you just go as fast as you can. During the first run I was feeling the best and Dan's friend Miko was struggling a bit, so Dan had me drop back and start giving Miko an assist on the hills by pushing him in the small of his back. The first run included about a third of a mile trying to run along a shore or a reservoir in a few feet of water. The second leg of the race was a run-ride where we had only 4 bikes, so one person had to run behind the bikes tethered by a lead (second photo is of Eric tethered to Dan and his bike). We were able to switch off between me, Dan, and Jody, but the repeated switch between the bike and run was brutal and I was trying to hammer it. I know there were some downhill sections where I was running a six minute pace.
"When we hit the mountain bike leg, I was pretty toasted. Dan didn't stop in any of the transitions to eat at all, so I never got to down so much as a gel packet. I sucked my camelback dry about two thirds of the way into the bike. Miko actually gave me an assist a few times. It was also so muddy that my front derailleur got caked up and stopped shifting to the little ring.
"I did the four mile canoe leg on sheer willpower, like the end of a marathon. I have no idea what my body was burning for fuel. There was also a final canoe challenge in which two people had to be in the water, towed by the canoe (see the last photo at the top of this post).
"I can't say this race was fun, like the GOALS races. It was much more like running a marathon, which of course means that as tough as it was, I would do it again!
"Oh, our opening challenge was to attach four ropes to Jody's bike (first photo at the top of this post), take her chain off the rings, and then the four of us run up a huge grassy hill pulling her! I almost lost my breakfast!"
Eric
Sounds like fun, doesn't it? So what kind of adventures did you have in 2008? Or are you planning an adventure for 2009? It doesn't have to be an Adventure race. Are you doing an ultra-marathon, or your first triathlon, or maybe you'll do a race of a lifetime this year. Send me your stories and photos and I'll post them on the Shawmont Blog to share with the group.
Have a Happy and Healthy 2009!
