Pre Race
Our 2005 race curse plagues us once again as I contract food poisoning and couldn’t race!! Not only did Dave agree to fill in with 12 hours notice before the start, but it was his first race. Since I wouldn’t be racing with Al, and Dave was new, this also meant that Al would be captaining his first team for this race (which made him pretty nervous!!). Angie and I decided to help support the team as well as the event since neither one of us was racing, so we happily tagged along.

The race was to start at 11:00pm, a couple hours after the pre-race meeting. We had a transition tent for the first time which made us all feel pretty with it. The two hour wait ended up seeming forever! Some tried to sleep, others were trying to make head or tails of the race course and directions.

Section 1 – Trail Run
The race began with an out and back 3-legged race into the woods. Peter and Andrew were one of the first teams back and were quickly cut loose and sent on the 3 mile trail run. Al and Dave came out of the woods around mid pack and we back in the woods in no time. I layed down in the tent to catch a little sleep figuring I had a little bit of time before anyone would be back, but much to my surprise, Peter and Andrew were back in no time….. in 3rd place. They made a lightning fast transition and left the TA in 2nd place. Al and Dave took a bit longer, but were out of the woods in a respectable amount of time and also passed several teams by making a quick transition.

Section 2 – Bike
This section of the race would prove to be one of the most difficult physically. The teams were to ride about 15 miles to the single track trail head, ride about 8 miles of single track, and ride back to the TA. For those of you who don’t feel like adding, that’s nearly a 40 mile bike leg!! Just to add to the difficulty, lets not forget it is in the middle of the night, and Dave was the only one with night single track experience. Peter and Andrew rocked this section and finished the leg in around 4th or 5th place. Al and Dave gained a bit of ground but chose to err on the side of caution and took the single track a little slower. I personally used this time to catch an hour or so of sleep and then got up to man the CP at the end of the bike leg.

Section 3 – Night-O
After making a quick transition, Peter and Andrew were off into the woods for the night orienteering section. This section would prove to be one of the most deciding factors in the race. Team Loose Gravel blew through the section and overtook the 1st place team and added an hour or so cushion as well. Peter and Andrew got through the section quickly, but unfortunately lost a few places. Al and Dave also did well on the section, but also had the luxury of a bit of daylight to wrap it up. Both teams transitioned quickly and were off on the bike to the paddle.

Section 4 – Paddle
Upon completing the short 8 mile ride to the paddle, it was into the canoes for the paddling section. This section of the race was a total fiasco for Peter and Andrew. They were using a racing canoe, but didn’t have a whole lot of experience with it (racing canoes are very narrow and tippy). According to their estimate, they dumped over around 10 times. As if that weren’t bad enough, their map case had a leak in it, so there map got destroyed at some point during all the tipping. They were forced to rely on the word of other racers in the section in order to complete the paddle. When they finally got to the TA, they were penalized 15 minutes for not having all the clues correct (although they had been everywhere, they didn’t know what to look for because of the washed out map). They took their penalty in stride and were back on the bikes in no time heading back to the TA. Al and Dave muscled through it and maintained their middle of the pack position.

Section 5 – USGS Orienteering
The next section of the race was orienteering using a USGS 1:24000 style map. Peter and Andrew got through this relatively quickly, however, Al and Dave had a pretty hard time with it. Fatigue and USGS inexperience took it’s toll and ultimately finish them off. Without any time left to move on to the next section, Al and Dave finished after completing this section. Peter and Andrew were still rocking and were back on the bikes.

Section 6 – Bike Time Trial
The bike time trial was put in to break up the USGS and Satellite orienteering sections of the race. Racers had to do a 2 mile out, 2 mile back ride. Seeing how Peter and Andrew had their bike legs well rested, they muscled through the time trial in only 25 minutes. They quickly ditched their bikes and were ready for the final section of the course.

Section 7 – Satellite Orienteering
The final section of the race was another orienteering section using a satellite image. To be honest, I couldn’t believe how fast Peter and Andrew cleared the course. They came back into the TA area at blazing speed. It turned out that they had been leapfrogging most of the section with another team and decided to go all out to the finish. It’s a good thing they did since the next team came in only 2 minutes later.

Finish
Peter and Andrew finished at 3:48pm which was good enough for 6TH PLACE overall and 3rd PLACE in 2-person!!! Al and Dave finished unranked at 5:26 which got them 21st overall, 9th in 2-person. What a showing for the team!! They really did fantastic in what proved to be probably the most exhausting race to date. Andy did a flawless job putting the race together and continues to be one of the most solid race directors we have dealt with. Thanks to Andy, Jennifer, and all the other people who helped make this race possible. I can’t wait till next year, so I can actually compete!!