Race Report - ARC - Guelph, ON - Oct 15, 2005

[Adventure Racing Canada]

Race Report
Adventure Racing Canada

ARC Enduro Xtreme
ARC Enduro
Merrell Outventure Offroad Race

October 15, 2005 - Guelph / Belwood Lake Conservation Area


Sunshine and blue skies held the promise of perfect fall weather for the last races of the 2005 ARC season, although the forecast for intermittent gale winds was something that would effect the race later in the day. A tornado in mid August had also left many trees blown down adding an extra Halloween ambiance to the race course.

With three races scheduled for race day and the attendance of a special guest, Robyn Benincasa of Team Merrell/Wigwam, race headquarters was a busy place.

Enduro Xtreme 10 -12 Hour Adventure Race

Before the sun could even begin to light the sky members of the Enduro Xtreme teams were already packing last minute gear and watching their bikes get loaded into the moving van. Racing not only for first place, the fastest co-ed team would receive a free entry into the 2006 Canadian National Championship Race to be held in Timmins, Ontario.

A bus ride began by taking them far east of the home base at Belwood Lake and dropping them off at the Palgrave Conservation Area. From here teams have six CP’s to find in any order. Once all CP’s were found teams then made their way back to the drop off point to check in and get on their bikes.

Riding south from Palgrave Conservation Area teams then entered Albion Hills to begin the bike navigation section of the race. Four CP’s were located on separate single track trails requiring teams to not only navigate using the Albion Hills map but ride the entire trail to find the CP.

Teams then got onto the rail trail and rode west to The Forks of the Credit where they would drop their bikes and head out on another navigation section. Once completed teams would once again get on their bikes, this time making their way over to a single track bike trail that would connect them to the rail trail.

To prevent teams from getting lost this trail had been marked from start to finish with the CP sign hanging somewhere in between. It was here that racers and organizers encountered unexpected and, unfortunately, major problem. Race staff heard complaints that signs were missing and upon investigation discovered that someone had removed all course marking signs and the CP sign leaving racers nothing to follow and nothing to find in the maze of single track. Each team was forced to make the decision to abandon the CP and once again find the rail trail and continue towards Belwood Lake Conservation Area.

At the start of the paddling section racers and organizers were dealt another unexpected situation. The weather, which had been windy and rainy for most of the day turned worse. The paddle section was changed from a long paddle across the length of the lake to a short paddle in the bay under watch of the safety boat and staff on shore.

When the weather turned even worse the paddling section was cancelled and all canoes were stewarded back to the shore by the safety boat. Racers on shore who had not yet set out were very thankful of the decision, especially after watching the wind pick up a canoe off the ground and toss it 10 feet downwind.

Due to both the removal of the CP sign and the cancellation of the paddling section rankings had to be taken from an earlier CP which showed Team Beowulf and Team EAS to be neck and neck for first. An agreement was reached that saw the two teams ranked in first place, and they split the grand prize of a free entry into the National Adventure Race Championship in Timmins in late May 2006 (each team getting a $1250 race credit), while the third place Team Runningfree.ca receiving a $500 credit for the race. Special mention was also given to Team Adventureheads who were the only all male team competing and had two members up from the USA to race.

For complete results please visit www.adventureracingcanada.com


Enduro 6 – 8 Hour Adventure Race

Enjoying the early morning sunshine and beautiful fall scenery racers milled about the Hampton Barn at the Belwood Lake Conservation Area finishing their registration forms, rechecking their packs, heading to the bathroom, and awaiting their race kits. Once maps, instructions, and a race briefing had been delivered teams grabbed a few last things and boarded busses which would take them to the start line at Forks of the Credit.

Starting on foot teams, had to follow a 2km trail down to the Forks of the Credit, where they would have to find four CP’s in the park before navigating out to the parking lot to pick up their bikes.

Leaving the Forks of the Credit teams then had to find the start of a single track bike section that would connect them to the Rail trail to the north. To assist teams in the navigation of the mountain bike trails, arrow signs had been posted to guide teams to a CP sign and then back out to the Rail Trail.

Soon reports began coming in that no one could find the CP and teams were becoming lost as they rode every trail in hopes of finding the elusive CP sign. Race organizers investigated right away and discovered that at some point that morning someone had gone into the trails and removed every arrow sign. With nothing to guide them and no CP to find teams had joined forces in combing every square inch of trail and had spent considerably more time in the course than had been expected.

Quickly race organizers began rounding teams up and sending them out on the Rail Trail to head back to Belwood Lake Conservation Area and the start of the paddling section.
By this point in the afternoon the wind had increased dramatically and teams now had headwind to test their legs and biking stamina.

Arriving back at Belwood Lake teams discovered the paddling section had been shortened due to the weather and a six kilometer paddle on open water was now a two kilometer paddle in the bay close to the boat launch and under the close watch of the safety boat and race staff on shore.

Only a few teams were able to complete this paddle, however, as the ever worsening weather forced race organizers to cancel the paddle and have the safety boat guide all canoes back to the shore. While some were disappointed with being unable to paddle there was an overall feeling of relief by the racers at the boat launch, especially after watching the wind lift up a canoe on the ground and toss in 10 feet downwind.

Due to the missing CP and the cancellation of the paddling race organizers had to make a hard decision regarding ranking the teams. In the end it was determined that it would be in the best interests of everyone for no official rankings to be given and prizes would instead be awarded to ALL teams. This, combined with the free beer, had almost everyone agreeing that that it was the best of an unfortunate situation.

Here is how a participant summed it up after the race:

“Thank you for providing us and teams like us with a spirit of adventure,
challenge, and a feeling of accomplishment that comes with all of your
adventure races. As in life and in racing, sometimes things happen and
how you deal with it is the true test. Congratulations on arriving at an
amicable solution at our last race that left everyone happy. You showed
true sportsmanlike behavior.”

Race organizers would like to send a special thank you to all teams for their understanding regarding this situation, and as always, we appreciate any feedback regarding the race.

For complete results please visit www.adventureracingcanada.com

Merrell Outventure 2 -3 Hour Off-road Race

Outventure racers waiting to receive their instructions were given a special treat as Robyn Benincasa, captain of Team Merrell/Wigwam and one of the top female adventure racers in the world, was on hand to give them a pre-race pep talk and provide encouragement. Soon the course was revealed and racers rode their bikes over to the boat launch at Belwood Lake Conservation Area where they would begin with a paddle.

In less than half an hour the wind had picked up and was now quite strong sending hats flying. Nevertheless, racers were still eager to start and once all boats were in the water the signal was given and everyone, including Robyn, was off.

A two kilometer paddle north on Belwood Lake lead racers to the mouth of a small bay, and the first CP. From there racers retraced their path and paddled back to the boat launch. Once boats were brought back to the top of the launch area, racers could drop their paddling gear and start the bike section of the course.

Taking the rail trail north from Belwood Lake, racers rode to the intersection of the rail trail and Highway 26, had their passport signed by the CP staff, then traveled south back down the trail towards the Conservation Area. Once back at the Conservation Area racers rode to the Hampton Barn, race headquarters, where they dropped their bikes and set off for the run section of the race.

This run took racers to the base of the Shand Dam where they had to run up 6 flights of stairs before continuing on the trail. A brief run on an ATV trail and a connection on Side road 3 led racers to the Belwood YMCA camp, which had been closed since August due to tornado damage. Avoiding the camp racers turned off the road and made their way down to the shore line of the lake before running back towards the trail on top of the dam. From here racers then entered the Belwood Lake Conservation Area trail system for a scenic run through fall leaves, river shoreline, dark forest, and sections of blown down trees.

Once out of the trails racers just had to run as fast as they could back to the Hampton Barn and the finish-line.

For complete results please visit www.adventureracingcanada.com