Gilmore Adventure Race, Prescott, AZ 9-17-05

[znie]

WARNING: This is gonna be a long one, I don't get to do this very often from the racers perspective.

The Gilmore Adventure Race in Prescott, AZ on 9-17-05 proved itself to be once again one of the "not to be missed" AR's in the southwest.

Dave Sewell, Race Director, kicked up the navigation a notch this year forcing all of us to stop and think more than once. To that point, the comraderie of adventure racing was brought to a new level with nearly every team helping each other out along the way.

The race began at 8am sharp...as a tack...with myself, Carter Tobin and our newest team member, Lea Doll racing to the starting line. Ok, so there was a reason we were a few minutes late getting to the line. Word on the street was that flats were a forgone conclusion, and we decided pre-race to install liners between our tires and slimed tubes. A large group of racers pre-scouting the area a week earlier had averaged a flat per person, and we thought it best to take on the extra weight rather than waste precious time changing them out on the course. I'm happy to say that the liners we installed worked flawlessly, though did nothing to help our broken chain 3/4's of the way through.

Actually, Lea's boyfriend Chris helped us with the liner installations prior to the race start, or we would have been even later. Thanks Chris!

The navigator from each team was given access to master maps pre-race where we had to copy down about a dozen checkpoints onto our own provided maps.

So off we went, beginning with a short trail run to CP1 where we had to pick up our passport which contained the UTM coordinates for another 4 or 5 CP's. We (I) am a dreadfully slow runner, so I tried to fake out our new team member by plotting coordinates on the run (walk) as we went. Of the 38 teams of 2 or 3 people, we were dead last from the start. That's ok, we knew we'd make it up later with a slow and steady pace and some good nav. After we finished the initial run, we immediately went to kayaking on Willow Lake in the Dell's of Prescott. If you've never been to this area, do an image search for it on Google as it's incredibly gorgeous. The instructions said to first paddle to CP2, then continue to CP's 2a-2e in any order. Fortunately for us, more than a few teams selected the closest of the CP's rather than going first to CP2, and were forced to start this section over. The lake itself isn't particularly big, though with the zig-zag we were forced to paddle, it turned into about a 3 mile paddle. Our Ocean Kayak Cabo and another sit-inside performed exceptionally well.

The entire paddle section, we had our sights set on one team in particular, Team Ruination. Being leaders in the AR scene, and with their Kiwi female paddler Jane, we had lofty goals. As they'd make the mistake of visiting 2a before 2, we were side by side mid-paddle. It was a sight to be seen as teams cris-crossed the lake in all directions with different route choices. We tried to take advantage of a portage between our final two water CP's, though Ruination opted to paddle it and took a solid lead at this point. Fortunately for us, we were able to pass a number of teams on the water, and finished it around mid-pack. Yes it's true, dead last to mid-pack in about 90 minutes...and that little ditty kept us afloat all day long!

I got the impression that Lea, having never done an AR before, was a bit surprised at our ability to move up in such a short amount of time. Both Carter and I can't say enough about how tough she was throughout. She never complained once despite Carter and I whining about our cramps. She is a strong mountain biker and runner, and proved herself to be a solid paddler as well, setting a good pace from the front of the boat we call the Titanic.

Upon exiting the water, we were immediately met with our first of 4 mystery events. From about 12 feet away, our team had to toss three 2 inch washers through a board with a hole about the size of the top of a soup can. Carter blazed through this landing all three within the first 5 or 6 throws. Other teams were spending 20-25 throws, so I guess you could say we lucked out here. Then it was on to the Trek.

We knew pre-race we'd have to have our rappeling gear for the trek, so we packed up and moved out. In the Dells, which are large granite stones strewn throughout the area, route choices are either "around" or "over". We chose "Over" to begin with which was a mistake that cost us about 5 minutes. The routes "around" are nearly level if you can find your way. We picked off the first 2 CP's relatively easily, then it was on to the Rappel before hitting the last of them.

The rappel in this race was far and away the best I'd ever done. At about 175 feet, it was a rush just getting over the edge. They'd hung sponsor banners on the face of the rock which was wicked looking, and made it feel like we were racing in an Eco or PQ. Again here, Lea never hesitated and was down in no time flat.

**Side Story** A couple weeks prior Lea and I had made the trip to Camelback Mountain to practice rappeling as she'd never done it. Upon rigging it I said I was apprehensive as I didn't have anyone experienced to double check my anchor work. She agree'd with my apprehension, though about two seconds later said "Want me to go first??". Talk about Shame!! No, No, NO, I'll go. Not that it's risky, it's a monster eye bolt that's cemented at least a foot into the rock.

Back to the race: So, we finish this amazing rappel. Thanks to the volunteers, Prescott Fire Dept. and Scouts who spent alot of time putting it up!!

One more trek checkpoint to go and we're off to the bike...so I thought.

We get back to the TA for Mystery Event #2. Here we've got 3 posts, one of which contains a series of wooden circles stacked on it from largest on the bottom to smallest at the top. We're supposed to get them all stacked the same way from one post to one of the other two posts without putting a larger one atop a smaller one. Ok, it's time for me to plot the remaining checkpoints and leave Carter and Lea to work on this puzzle.

They did it in about 15 minutes, which was a good time compared to many people. Off to the bike.

We leave the TA and hit CP 7 prior to a nasty hike-a-bike through an area that I'm sure was never a trail. Dave has never had us cross a major road, and this was the only way through to Heritage Park. Upon reaching CP 7 we ask where we stand and we're told we're in the top 10!!! YEEEHAAAA! It seemed impossible after starting dead last, though we had alot of experience and some good fortune with us.

The next two checkpoints were simple, along a wash and in tunnels. Then we hit the next mystery event before starting off on a mission to our next 5 CP's. The first one (6a) was atop a spur on a small peice of single track. We of course missed it, and this error would end up costing us precious time. While the maps we were given had none of the trails listed on them, I had a map in my truck (of course) that had them all. I wasn't the only one who'd gotten a copy of that map, just the only one who didn't bring it with me. Duh.

So we go on and run into Jack and Josh from team Ascent. It was an accomplishment just to be running into them so late in a race and we were
psyched. They told us how to find 6a and we picked it off right away. Then onto the next mystery event which involved throwing a lasso around a sawhorse (saw-cow) with bike handlebars for horns. Now we had to do some back-tracking to pick up another CP we should have already gotten before re-ascending the biggest hill on the course for the second time unnecessarily. Just two CP's left.

A couple of times during the bike, we ran into team Monster Energy (Butch, Brian, Georgie). Again, we were on cloud nine to have run into them in a race in an area other than the starting line!! They'd been plagued with flat's on Brian's bike and ended up taking one of our pumps .

On to 6b along the pipeline trail northwest of Heritage Park...and Bang, there goes Carter's chain. We spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to use our chain tool, and another 20 adding in a "fix-a-link" that I'd purchased just the day before. On to 6B,got it, then to 6d. A nice peice of single-track wound around to a spur where we were sure we'd find the flag. Nope. The maps didn't have the road on them which would have given us a sense of where we were, though fortunately we weren't alone. Team Ascent had laid down their bikes and gone on an extensive hike to find it, while still other teams showed up where we were looking. All of us were too far north, though upon realizing this, we moved a spur to the south, stamped our CP's, and it was a race for the finish.

As with all of the last three races Dave has put on, he's finished with a 10 foot wall which all must go over. We'd done this before fortunately, and were later told we were "silky-smooth" going over. First we pushed Lea up, then Carter. With the help of a peice of rope (mandatory gear) I was able to hoist myself up and over and we ran across the finish line thrilled with our placement.

I think we finished in the top 10 and somewhere around 7 hours. Post race, the Venture-Scouts served up some killer burgers and the awards ceremony was fun. Hats off to all the Scouting teams that finished this race...it was a tough one!!

I can't wait til next year!

Rick Eastman
Team Sierra Adventure Sports

Check out: www.GilmoreAdventureRace.com

[jrh_home]

First a warning - this report is long. What can I say? Gerry enjoys writing
as much as he enjoys racing....
--------
Team Ruination arrived in beautiful Prescott late Friday evening and
promptly ran into a bunch of old friends and competitors at the Watson Lake
camp site (Sierra Adventure Sports, Adventure Racing Concepts, and Ascent AR). The whole group wandered into town and found one of the slowest Italian restaurants in the state. The food was excellent, but the slow
service kept Gerry up way past his bedtime.

Saturday morning arrived very early and all the happy campers packed up and dashed over to the Transition
Area (TA) at Willow Creek Reservoir to sign in for the race.



As soon as we started unloading our gear we were greeted by an energetic
team of Army ROTC Cadets from Emery Riddle Aeronautical University who
offered to help unload gear. They cheerfully carried the Big Red Rabbit
(Jim's canoe) to the TA and back to the truck after the race. Gerry sends a
big "Airborne" to the cadets for helping us and all the racers with the
heavy gear.

The Gilmore '05 race represented Team Ruination's one year anniversary. The
Gilmore '04 race was our first adventure race. With Gilmore '05 we began
our second year of racing, and we donned our very sexy Ruination IPA
gargoyle racing jerseys for the first time ever.



At the pre-race briefing, the Race Director, Dave Sewell, told everyone that
there were 37 teams in the race. This was a great turnout for what was
clearly going to be an excellent and challenging race. The best teams in
Arizona were there to see what Dave had up his sleeve for '05. Even
Adventure Racing Concepts was there, but only to watch, cheer everyone, and
support AR in Arizona. Darn. Ruination's always looking for an opportunity
to try and beat them.

After the pre-race briefing, the navigators were invited into the map Ramada
to transcribe Check Point (CP) data from a master source. Jane went to
gather the CP information for Ruination. She returned to the Ruination TA
armed with map and data, and briefed Jim and Gerry. The order of march was
to be trail run, paddle, trek, and bike. Somewhere along the way would be
four special tasks designed to frustrate us and a "sizable rappel."

The first leg of the race was the trail run along the edge of the lake out
to a single CP and back to the TA.. Teams were to pick up the punch card
needed for verifying CPs at the trail run CP. The race began precisely at
8:00 AM with a stampeding herd of racers, thrashing elbows and arms
everywhere as they fought for advantage heading to CP1.



The fast teams quickly moved to the front and put some comfortable distance between
themselves and the stampede.

Ruination's goal was to stay far enough forward to keep the sprinters in
sight. To do this, Jane towed Jim for the first half of the run (out to
CP1) while Gerry huffed and puffed along behind. She towed/dragged Gerry on
the return trip back to the TA. About 200 yards from the TA, Gerry managed
to trip over his own shoelace and nose dive onto the rocky footpath. With a
little hoist from Jim, Gerry was up and moving almost as quickly as he went
down. If you ever wonder why Gerry wears bike gloves for the entire race -
they are landing gear.

Upon returning to the TA the team grabbed the Rabbit, and headed for the
lake.

Once on the water Jim asked Gerry to give a heading for CP2 (the
first CP on the lake). Gerry puzzled desperately over the map and finally
announced that there was no CP2 on the map. This was not good. Jim thought
that there should be a CP2. For lack of a better idea the team headed for
CP2a. After punching the card at CP2a, we headed back out into the fray.
By now teams were heading in all directions, all over the lake. Jim felt
something was wrong - there had to be a CP2 on the map. While he and Jane
double checked the map, Gerry asked if perhaps there was no CP2. Jim
checked the punch card and confirmed that there was a CP2, and that we were
supposed to plot the location for CP2, and (worse yet) we were to go to CP2
before any other water CPs. We drifted silently in the water while Jim
plotted the location of CP2. Jane confirmed the plot and the Rabbit was
moving once again. By now, many boats were converging on the narrow cove
hiding CP2. It looked like the battle of Trafalgar in miniature. The nose
of the Rabbit clipped the tail end of Butch Nelson's kayak and spun him
sideways, like a take-out in one of those police car chase videos. He hit
another boat and both were stopped, bogged down in the water weeds growing
thick in the cove. We rammed Butch again later on in the paddle, both times
were accidental -- really they were. Anyway, after punching CP2, Ruination
took off to punch the other five water CPs with a return trip to do a second
punch at CP2a. Rick Eastman and Sierra Adventure Sports, in their good ship
the Titanic, were dogging us all around that lake. Try as we did, we couldn't
shake them, which added to the frustration of already losing time earlier in
the paddle. Finally, after a long, frustrating paddle we were back on dry
land dragging the Rabbit up the hill to the TA where the first of four
dreadful special tasks waited to torment us.


The task master explained that we had to take three metal washers about
three inches in diameter and toss them about 15 feet into a box with a tiny
hole that couldn't be more than 3.5 inches in diameter.

We were taking
turns tossing those washers everywhere but near that little hole. After
many tries taking turns, it was obvious that Jim was hitting closest to the
hole, so he became chief washer-tosser for team Ruination. Jane and Gerry
took turns retrieving the washers after each throw. One! Finally, he got
one in the hole! Now Rick and his SAS crew were at the other end of the
washer-toss event and his team mate Carter started dropping washers in the
hole like it's something he did all the time. Frustration, frustration. In
very short order, Rick and the SAS crew were off to the trek (ahead of
Ruination - this was serious). Jane and Gerry were wearing themselves out
chasing washers. Then, suddenly, two at a time - Jim sank them - nothing
but net! Ruination was off to chase SAS and whoever else might be out
there. At this point we could only guess who might be ahead of us - all of
the Monster Energy people for sure, probably Josh and Jack from Ascent AR,
and SAS because we saw them leave the washer toss.

Once in trek mode, Ruination quickly overtook SAS and knocked off the first
two trek CPs. We arrived at the third trek CP in time to watch Butch
descending the 130 foot rappel. The firefighters running the rappel safety
checked our gear and sent us scrambling up the rocks to the top of the
rappel. At the top, Jim asked Gerry if he had remembered to take his heart
pills - this drew a startled look from one of the overseers (We get to have
some fun too you know).

After the rappel we trotted off to find the final trek CP. It proved to be
the most challenging part of the trek. We let the scale of the map get the
better of us and were scouring the rocks to the east of the actual location.
At one point Gerry stood on the rocks just above the CP and turned back the
other direction. We ended up retreating back to a known location and
starting from there. A fresh course plot took us right to the CP just in
time to join a line of teams punching their cards at the CP. Once punched,
we took off behind/after the other teams. They appeared to be returning to
the TA by the same route they took to get to the CP. Jim diverted us down a
drainage overgrown with thick brush, scrambled over some rocks, and popped
us out near the first trek CP where we jumped on the trail and ran back to
the TA before most of the small group who had been ahead of us.

Another special task more dreadful than the last . . . . This one consisted
of a stack of wooden disks with each one smaller as they went up the stack.
The disks had holes in the center and they were stacked on one of three
posts mounted on a long board. The task was to move the stack from one post
to another by moving the disks one at a time and never stacking a larger
disk on a smaller disk. Jim and Gerry looked at the task, then immediately
stepped back and looked at Jane. It's moments like this that it pays
dividends to have a Rhodes Scholar on the team. Jane shuffled those disks
so fast it made Jim and Gerry tired and a little dizzy.

Just like that we
were off to the bike leg. We heard unconfirmed reports that some teams took
one look at that task and quickly decided to skip it in exchange for a 30
minute penalty.

The first bike CP (CP4) was a culvert which funneled all teams safely under
a road. It was manned by volunteers, so we asked them how many teams had
been through. When they told us seven teams had been through we knew we
were behind a serious power curve. From CP4 we were directed to follow an
off-trail route marked with colored flagging to a dirt road where the
volunteer told us we could choose to go any direction. At the dirt road we
went left, followed the road around a big curve, scooted by a ball park,
pushed/rode up a drainage to another culvert, and under yet another highway.
This was CP5. From there it was a quick dash to CP6 and the third special
task - the bike joust.

Each of us had to ride our bike while holding a long plastic jousting lance
thing and spear a small plastic ring suspended in the air from a stand.
Once the ring had been secured on the lance we had to turn the bike in the
slippery, narrow, gravel drive and ride back to the start. Jane went first
and promptly skewered the little ring, but fell off her bike trying to turn
around. Her second try was successful. Gerry followed with his turn at the
joust successfully securing the little ring. Jim missed the ring on his
first try, but got it the second time around.

With the joust in the books, we checked the map and Captain Jim decided that
we would gather the remaining CPs in a more or less counter clockwise
manner. We took off heading north and heard one of the volunteers call out
with some concern in his voice, "Hey, where are you guys going?" We knew,
at that moment, that the other teams all elected to chase the CPs in a
clockwise manner.

CP6d was the northeast corner of the bike leg and our first target. We got
lucky and found it without too much trouble. The next target, CP6b,
represented the northwest corner and was easy to locate, however it required
some difficult riding to reach. On the way, we passed Dave, Windy and Vicky
of Team Monster Energy riding hard coming from the other direction
(clockwise). Actually, Team Monster Energy passed us riding hard coming up
the hill from the other direction. Technically, we weren't exactly riding
at the time.

From CP6b we headed south to punch in at CP6c. Unfortunately, Gerry
mistakenly sent the team heading west down the wrong side of the highway.
By the time we noticed the error, regrouped, and got back in motion we lost
probably another 30 minutes. We pushed hard and reached CP6c quickly once
we got on the correct side of the highway. CP6c was the home of the easiest
special task on the range - cow roping. Each team member had to lasso a
simulated cow, bull, whatever. After a few test tosses, Jim showed his
incompetence at roping and Jane took over. She showed remarkable form in
the art of simulated cow roping. Jim and Gerry then followed suit, using
Jane's unique roping approach. The nice volunteers at CP6c gave us water
and sent us on our merry way.

Based on the map, our next stop, CP6f was about 3/10ths of a mile south of
us and 200 feet below us in a drainage. We headed back down the road about
a tenth of a mile to a fence line coming up the hillside. We could see a
steep trail paralleling the fence line. As we descended, we met two or
three teams pushing their bikes up the trail toward us. We shared the
location of CP6c with them and they shared a description of CP6f with us.
CP6f was the southwest corner of the bike leg. After punching 6f, we turned
east to hit the last three CPs on the route back to the TA. Having chosen
to go counter clockwise, we were now meeting a lot of teams coming from the
other direction. We were sharing CP locations/directions with some teams as
we met them. This noble calling chews time off the clock, but that's
adventure racing, besides, we get our share of help too.

After nabbing CP6a, CP6e marked the final CP in the "6" series. We punched
our card at 6e and were barreling downhill along some narrow single track
twisting through a brushy forest of shrubs and small trees. Gerry was
leading the descent standing on his tiptoes so as to better see down trail -
keeping watch for riders coming up the trail. He rounded a large bush and
right in front of him were two riders. He slammed on his brakes. All Jim
and Jane could see was his rear wheel cycling through the air above the
intervening shrubs - never a good sign. When they arrived they found Gerry
on the ground right in front of the other two riders. Fortunately, he
landed on his head and the bike landed on top of him so both were unharmed.
After apologies and assurances that everyone was okay, we were back on the
trail headed for the culvert at CP7 in preparation for the final dash to the
finish line.

At CP7 the volunteer advised us that only three teams had punched through
ahead of Ruination and one of them was only minutes ahead. Only minutes
ahead - the race/chase was on. On the other side of the culvert we met more
teams starting out on the bike leg. These mostly appeared to be scout
teams. Again, we stopped to answer questions for those who asked. Jim and
Gerry stopped to talk to a group of three female riders (at this point Jane
was a short distance behind around the bend in the road). After giving them
some route finding guidance, Jim proceeded on up the road. Gerry did not
notice that Jane passed them by while he and Jim were talking to the scouts
so he waited and continued answering questions. Finally, he rhetorically
questioned, "What's keeping Jane?" One of the female riders advised, "She
rode by a minute ago." Now, Gerry was rushing to catch Jim and Jane. With
all three members once again moving in the correct direction, Ruination
pressed on toward the finish. The off-trail section, previously marked with
flagging, was now an easy-to-ride trail.

Riding through the last culvert at what was CP4 on the way out, Gerry
wondered if the team had done four special tasks. Jim and Jane confirmed
that all four special tasks were completed. We sighed a collective sigh of
relief. With all four special tasks completed the dreaded ten-foot wall
from '04 surely would not be part of this race. As we arrived at the TA we
were directed to the south end of the TA; then someone told us to drop our
bikes in the TA and run around the TA to the finish line. As we rounded the
corner of the TA, there it was - the wall. It was back. Groan.

At the wall we quickly boosted Jane over and then tossed our packs to her.
Jane tossed an end of the rope back over from her side. Jim boosted Gerry
up the wall while he used the rope to pull himself up to the edge. Once on
top of the wall, Gerry gave a hand down to Jim to assist him as he pulled
himself up with the rope.


As we were clearing the wall Kachina was starting
over right behind us. We spent so much of the day meeting teams coming from
the other direction that we almost forgot there were teams hot on our heels
behind us. We grabbed our packs and ran to the finish line.

We were the
fourth team to cross the line. Later we learned that the team that crossed
minutes ahead of us had to absorb a time penalty which moved us to second
place in the coed division and third place overall.

It doesn't have to be fun to be fun, but in the case of Gilmore '05 it
certainly was fun. We ran hard, paddled hard, rode hard and had a
wonderful, wonderful time doing it.

We hope to see everyone in October at Desert Rage III.

Gerry, Jane and Jim
Team Ruination

[Fygar]

This year's race was based at Willow Lake in Prescott. Teams arrived and started checking in at 6:30am, just before the sun came up over Granite Dells. As the teams set up their transition areas, the race organizers were going over last minute questions and answers with the checkpoint personnel. At the pre-race meeting, race director Dave Sewell, and director of safety Charlie Reyes covered race details with the huge field of teams. For some of the teams, it was their first try at adventure racing, while for others this was just another race (right!).

At 8:00am, 26 adult teams (71 racers) racers bolted into the first leg of the race which was a two mile trail run. At 8:15am, 9 more teams of Venturing aged racers (22 in all) also took to the course. We started them a few minutes apart in hopes of avoiding a bottle neck at the rappel later in the race.

Coming off the trail, Team Monster Energy had a 30 second lead, but saw that evaporate during the transition to the paddling leg. Three teams hit the water at the same time, and when they arrived at CP2, Anodyne Therapy had a 1 minute lead on Monster Energy, with Team Ascent-AR.com just 2 minutes behind them. Several of the less experienced teams forgot to plot CP2 on their map and headed to one or more of the other paddling checkpoints before discovering their mistake and having to backtrack. The other points on the water 2a-2e were scattered all over the lake. Teams could ger these points in any order they chose, so boats were everywhere! A few teams failed to realized that the topo map was over 3 years old and the deltas in the lake had reshaped themselves thus making points that appeared to be in the water actually on land, and vice versa.

After the paddle, teams encountered the first mystery event. Anodyne Therapy was the first team there, now leading Monster Energy by 2 minutes. This event ws called Hawaiian Horseshoes and involved thowing 2-inch washers into a 4-inch hole on a platform 15 feet away. One team took only 1 minute (Team Ascent-AR.com) to accomplish this, while others took as long as 11 minutes.

The trekking leg was next, and teams were told during the pre-race meeting that they would need their rappellng gear on this leg. Teams had to plot CP3 and then go there first before getting the other 3 points 3a-3c in any order they chose. There were many different routes that teams could take through the huge rock formations called Granite Dells, some faster than others. When the lead teams arrived at 3a (the rappel) The two man Team Ascent-AR.com (Josh Sprague and Jack London) had moved into 1st place overall. At 3a teams were given the coice to rappel or perform the alternate task. The alternate task was to plot then do an out-n-back trek to another point in the Dells. At the rappel, teams had to drop their packs, put on their harnesses and head up flagged ravine and up and over the back of the rocks. Here they met the safety crew that double checked their gear, and told them which set of ropes to go to.
The descent itself was 125' overall, enough to make your guts quiver a little bit looking over the edge! Teams had a blast and race staff and volunteers did a great job.

Coming off of the trek, teams found the second mystery event. A huge version of an old Chinese puzzle known as The Tower of Hanoi. This task involved moving a stack of circular discs from one peg to another using a series of moves that had to conform to the rules given to the racers. Like the first mystery event, Teams took from as little as 4 minutes (Venturing Team Round Trippers from Casa Grande) to as long as 26 minutes (not naming names!).

The final leg was mountain biking with a short hike-a-bike and 2 more mystery events thrown in. Teams had to plot CP's 4, 5,& 6 themselves, then ride to CP4 where they were told to follow the flagging through a section of hillside covered with scrub oak and weeds. Some teams tried to ride this (flat tire city) while others pushed or carried their bikes. Once through the hike-a-bike, teams followed a dirt road around the campus of Embry Riddle to CP5 and on to CP6 where the third mystery event awaited them. This event was called Bike Jousting, and each racer had to use an 8' lance to joust a 4" ring that was hanging up about 30 yards away. Racers held the lance and rode toward the ring, if they failed to get the ring on the lance and return it to the start without touching the ground they were told to "Joust Again!" by the Joust Master.

From here, teams had the ardous task of finding 6a-6f in any order they chose, but it involved some very difficult navigation, as none of the trails (singletrack or otherwise) were marked on the map! Teams had to use the SWAG method to determine which trail would get them to the point they were looking for, and our race staff learned that this was a lot to ask of even seasoned racers much less the beginning teams.

6d was the last of the mystery events, racers had to lasso a "bull" made from a sawhorse with a pair of bike handlebars as horns. The experienced teams immediately out-thought the event designer and figured out a way to accomplish the goal via their own method.

The tough navigation and lots of flat tires took their toll on teams, and race officials had to shorten the course to insure that all teams would finish before the end of the day.

Then it was back toward the TA (the hike-a-bike was now looking more like a trail) and the finish. At the finish, teams found 1 final test between them and the finish line. The dreaded WALL a 10' high wall that teams had to get up and over before a short run to the finish line. It is really a treat to watch this part of the race, as teams manage to come up with a wide variety of ways to get themselves and their packs over the wall. Team Monster Energy finished first overall and in the Co-ed 3 division with a time of 5 hours and 10 minutes. Red Energy was second overall and first in Co-ed 2 with a time of 5 hours and 50 minutes.

At the finish, teams that had already finished partook of the hotdogs, hamburgers, fresh fruit, chips, and ice cold drinks. In a display of true AR team spirit, everyone gathered around the finish area to cheer on all the teams as they arrived and made their way over the wall.

The race was a huge success, and a great time was had by all!