When Kim and I entered the
2007 Summer Quest Adventure Race we had two goals: 1) complete the race, and 2) avoid swamps. Well, we did far better at achieving one of those goals than the other!
Since we are adventure race (AR) rookies (my second race, Kim’s first), we were a little intimidated when we arrived at the check-in and there were 200+ contestants, all looking very serious!
The start to the race set the tone for the day, a quick romp through NASTY waist deep, mucky, swamp water to the first check point on an island in Stony Creek Lake. From there, we had a full-on open water swim. If you ever wondered what it is like swimming in your shoes and pants…it sucks!
After we were thoroughly soaked we grabbed our paddles and headed to the. During the transition, one of the photographers approached Kim to say he loved her STR jersey, to which Kim responded “It’s a revolution!” Amazingly, we quickly found a nice rhythm paddling over a mile to the first check point (CP). At CP’s, Kim would take care of getting the passport punched and I would turn the canoe around. By the time I was done turning the canoe around she’d return and we were off for the next CP. After 3 miles of canoeing we began to separate ourselves from the majority of the pack, which was very surprising to us.
Next up, mountain biking. We rode two-track, single track, roads and grass for 14 miles collecting 8 CP’s. While on our bikes we passed through a gear check, requiring we show them our bike pump and medical kit. The riding was tough but we made good time and avoided crashing.
We took a break from the bike for the orienteering portion of the race, commonly called the O-course. At the bike drop, we again had a gear check, this time matches/lighter and emergency blanket. Good thing Kim ran to the store the night before our race at 11:30pm to get that second emergency blanket! Here is where we really made some great decisions that helped our time immensely. Upon arriving to the start of the O-course we were given a more detailed map showing the 10 CP’s we would have to collect. We matched this up with a separate map that was provided at the pre-race briefing showing trails in the area, transferred the info to one map and decided on the most efficient route to collect all the points. Although this took some time (less than 5min) it was a huge help when trying to navigate on the run. At one CP, it required walking/swimming through thick black muck that was covered with floating swamp grass. Later, we made our way from one CP to another by walking down Stony Creek for a ¼ mile. This creek is not a nice open creek with clear flowing water; it is overgrown with nettles, clogged with driftwood and filled with more of that nasty muck! Once we cleared all the CP’s on the O-course, we hopped back on our bikes for a quick ride to the finish.
After completing the race and turning in our completed passport, we were amazed to learn we finished
2nd in our division (Co-ed)! While watching many of the other racers finish behind us it slowly began to set in just how well we did! We were truly surprised and elated!
STR rolls on! It’s a revolution!Ps. Final results will be posted at
www.infiterrasports.com/ar_rr.htm
