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wanttorun100
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Joined: 14 Feb 2005
Posts: 4946
Location: Just to the right of Atilla the Hun!
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 Posted: 05/03/05 - 17:20 Post subject: Adventure Race
I did this a long time ago - found it on the old hard drive thought some of you might be interested!
Pain is inevitable, misery is optional
BY PHIL OELKERS
A co-worker and I decided to enter the Pathfinder Wilderness Challenge a
50+ mile adventure race held at Kettle Moraine St Forest. The race is a
sort of Eco-Challenge for mere mortals. In the spirit of adventure racing
there would be coed teams of three. But neither Mark nor I knew any ladies crazy enough to do this with us. So where do you go to find such a lady?
IUS-L of course!
I posted a message to IUS-L and got a few replies. The best fit came from
a truly outstanding lady from Southern California named Heather Crook.
Consider what she signed on to do - fly half way across the country to be
part of a race with two guys she doesn't know. Of the four events in the
race (trail running, mountain biking, land navigation and canoeing) Heather was only experienced in running and had no idea of our expertise in these events. She didn't even know the length of the events just that the coursewas about 50 miles.
We trained and corresponded by email, Heather and Mark even 'chatted'
through AOL. Finally the day came for Heather to fly into Chicago and the
adventure to begin. We went to a local Forest Preserve for a bit of team
building - canoeing and single track riding. After a little more than 2
hours and light canoeing we were fast friends.
Thursday evening was spent at my home relaxing and building team unity. On Friday we loaded our small mountain of gear and headed North to Kettle Moraine. Spirits were riding high as we checked in, received our passport and first set of instructions. We laughed and joked as we set up our bike gear in the bike transition area. The evening was full of activity as we packed and repacked, attended the prerace briefing, had a panic attack as we briefly lost our passport. I'll always remember being packed into the cargo area of my wife's mini van plotting coordinates for the navigation leg. We finally turned in for fitful sleep about 11 pm. Before we knew it, it was 4 AM and time to get up. We dressed, put on our packs, ate as best we could and headed to the start.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Gooooooooooooo! Race Safely!
The trail running portion of the Challenge was a 9.2 mile run on the blue
loop of the Nordic Ski-Hiking Trail. The trail was beautiful and we ran at
a conservative pace. About 45 minutes after the start we arrive a Check
Point 1 (CP1). 'Passport please. Headquarters this is CP1 team #49
checking in.' Hey we're real adventure racers now. Another checkpoint and
we're in the bicycle transition area. We completed the trail run in 1:45
and are 18 of 44. My lovely wife Laurie (our crew) is there to greet us.
She helps refill water carriers, reminds us to be careful on the bike leg
and we're off on the 30 mile mountain bike leg feeling really charged.
Bike is a four letter word!
The mountain bike section consisted of the blue loop of the John Muir
trail, the 'connector' and the Emma Carlin loop for a total of 30 miles.
Mark is a great mountain bike rider, Heather and I suck rather badly in
comparison. Mark would fly down hills oblivious to roots, rocks, ruts and
other trail features. He would hit the bottom of the hill with enough
speed to cruise half way up the hill on the other side. Heather and I on
the other hand were too scared to just let it loose down hill so we rode
the brakes pretty much the whole way down so we didn't have enough momentum
on the uphill part so we either could make it all the way up or had to
expend a lot more energy to get up. Some of the down hill's were so
treacherous we walked the bikes down and up the other side, a few were so
bad even Mark walked his bike. Heather and I also demonstrated our
incompetence by crashing several times each. There was another hazard on
the course - sand. Soft sand that sucks your tire down and tries to hold
it. Sand the causes your wheels to slip out from under you when you try to
turn. Mark was great during the whole bike leg, encouraging us, teaching
us, staying with us even though he could have gone much faster. By the end
of the bike leg we had slipped back to 23rd.
My wife was again waiting for us in the transition area. She again went to
work filling water carriers, breaking out food and generally being helpful.
We all ate some solid food and headed out on the navigation leg.
It's only 10 miles!
The hiking or navigation leg started by following pink flags back down the
John Muir trail to the woods then following a 270 compass bearing through
the woods to the Ice Age trail. Several teams (us included) had trouble
finding the correct point to enter the woods. We found the correct point
and tried to quietly enter the woods but one of the other teams spotted us
and the chase was on. We followed the compass until we came to an
overgrown clear cut in the woods. What a mess chest high black berries and
raspberries concealed large piles of dead dry pine branches.
We fought our way through the tangle and found a trail. At this point our
first nav mistake occurred. The course guide stated the Ice Age trail is
marked in yellow. The trail we found was marked in red and orange but we
also found a small yellow marker on the trail. We decide (incorrectly) this
must be the Ice Age. So we merrily trot down the trail till we decide
we're on the wrong trail. We cut cross country again until we finally hit
the Ice Age (confirmed by a small sign that says Ice Age trail) and
promptly make our second mistake and head the wrong direction up Ice Age.
I briefly protest that we're going the wrong way but my thinking isn't to
clear at this point and I don't press the issue. The trail is easy travel
so I eat a Warp bar (energy bar with guarana, ginseng, and gingko biloba)
and my thinking straightens out and I press the point a little more. We
turn around a finally make it to the next CP in a disappointing 28th place.
The course continued south on the Ice Age and Heathers experience pacing
runners through 100's really paid off. She picked which sections of the
trail to walk and which to run. By the time we hit the next CP we had run
down 4 teams. We made it through the compass section of the course with
relative ease. Heather even got ride like royalty as Mark and I carried
her on an improvised stretcher during one of the 'mystery events'. At one
check point we were directed to wade about 100 yards through a swamp to the
other side. Nothing like being waist deep in mung to liven up a race.
From the swamp it was cross country to the next CP then back down Ice Age
to the canoe leg. On the way to the canoes we again did the run walk thing
and managed to pass 5 more teams.
Inflatable Canoes Suck!
The canoe leg was rather unexciting. We were issued two boats. Heather and
I paddled together in one while Mark paddled the second. Heather and I
found that inflatable canoes require a light touch compared to aluminum.
We did a few 360's till we got that worked out. No one passed us and we
couldn't catch anyone. Two CP's and a short portage to the finish and we
were done. We finished 19th over all and 14th of ranked teams.
Completing the Pathfinder was one of the most special moments of my life.
I'd like to thank my two teammates Heather and Mark without whom it
wouldn't have been possible. We were a true team we stuck together through
the whole thing. Just wait till Heather and I learn to really ride a
mountain bike.
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