Logs, Rocks and Steel
Adventure Race
Saturday July 19 2008 Minden, On
First off, I will let you all know that I have officially re-named this race Logs, Rocks and Steel and Mud and Water and Pain and Suffering and Epic and Awesome! I have only recently added the awesome part as it has been a 2 full weeks now since the race and I can now look back on the race and say that yes it was a pretty “Wicked Day”. But let me tell you something…..during the 4+ hours of biking through the muddiest, wettest, gnarliest bike course I have ever hit in an AR I did not really think that I would ever use the word awesome to describe this race. However, with a little time and a little perspective I can now say that this race was one of best adventure races ever put on in Ontario. With this race report, it is my hope that I can tell you why.
Pre-Race: The race organizers had arranged the end of the race to be at the Minden Fairgrounds and offered all racers to come up on the Friday evening to register and camp out on the grounds of the park. My partner Robin and I took full advantage and after meeting with the race crew at the race check in and finding out that Bob Miller had pre-rode the bike course in 4.5 hours and was “hurtin’ pretty bad” at the end of it, we both knew we were in for a long, tough race. We set up camp amongst the millions of misquitoes (not an exageration), prepped our race day gear and were able to hit the hay before midnight. The next morning, sunshine and perfect blue skies woke us up and promised a fantastic day of weather for the race. We loaded up our 2 transition bins (run to paddle and paddle to bike) and boarded the bus that took us to our remote start at Beech Lake. There was a real electric aptmosphere at the start line as all racers anticipated a fantastic day of racing on an epic course. The race organizers did not disappoint!!
The Run: The race started with a 16km run through rugged terrain across the Canadian Shield. My partner Robin is an Ironman triathlete and he is a very strong runner so I was pushed to my limit in trying to keep his pace over the first couple of km’s. We were able to stay with the front group of racers (including the top 3 male solo racers) and as we moved deeper into the race we found ourselves comfortably entrenched in the top tier of racers. As the climbs became steeper and the sun increasingly stronger we were able to keep our speed and as we emerged out of the woods to the first split we were racing in 3rd place, tied with the Storm Racing team. Happy with our start we pressed on into the 2nd 1/2 of the run and tried to gain some ground on the teams that were in front of us. Another 8km’s of hilly terrain strewn with rocky outcroppings and slick moss challenged all racers to stay focused on the task at hand to avoid any race-ending falls or ankle twists. As we reached TA1, we were tied for 3rd and feeling strong as we hit the water for the paddle.
The Paddle: The 2nd stage of the race was a 14km paddle through 3 different lakes in the Stanhope township region. With the sun beating down on all of the racers the paddle presented a real challenge with temps hitting the high 20’s. Robin and I had only paddle together once before so it did take us a little while to get into tempo but as we did we were able to stick close to team Sparks/Running Free who were running in 2nd place while battling Team Harbor Patrol for 3rd. A tricky little portage caused some confusion on course as some teams missed the left turn and continued on into a different lake. We were able to go the right way and as we emerged out of the last leg of the paddle we were feeling good and ready to hit what we believed to be our strongest leg…the bike. A quick transition onto the bikes and we were good to go.
The Bike: Seriously the toughest bike section of any race I’ve ever done (yep, harder than Keen!) The course itself was great, lots of steep climbs, bomber downhills and plenty of cool terrain to keep even the strongest biker honest but the condition of the trail was a whole different story and that is what changed the bike from a tough go to a pain in the ass. For the first 2.5 hours of the bike we spent more time pushing our bikes through unpassable sections including mud pits, lakes and bogs as the spring thaw and rains in the region had turned the snowmoblie trials a mess. Add in the amount of deer flies and mosquitoes that ravaged each racer and it really was a miserable time on the bike. But for all the pain and suffering we were still battling for a top 3 finish as we were able to push our way through the muck without any major incidents……that is until my pedal broke and my chain snapped. Now trying to fix a chain is a bit of a pain to start with but with a million bugs biting your body, mud and grime in every nook and cranny of your bike and the exhaustion of racing ravaging your body it made for a tough go. Unfortunately, as we made our repairs we were eventually passed by a couple of teams (who we led by 10 minutes before the mishap). But we toughed it out, got the chain fixed (pedal still broken) and pressed on with 15 minutes of repair time behind us. As we crossed the finish line with a time of 9:27:09 we were glad the race was done. We ended up 5th in the all male category and we were pretty happy to sit in the top section of finishers. Oh and in talking with a group of racers at the finish we were happy to hear that each one of them had the same opinion regarding the bike section….pure hell!
Post-Race: The absolute best post-race food I’ve ever had at an adventure race. Over the years I’ve gotten used to having cold hot dogs or a flimsy sandwich at the end of 9+ hours of racing but this race raised the bar from here on out. Pemeal on a bun, tons of fruit, bags of chips and cookies and plenty of juice, pop and water to replenish and rehydrate. All in all, it was a pretty epic race and I really hope that this race sticks around and that race organizers will consider staging a race in 2009. If they do, we’ll be back.
Oh and congrats to RF team member Kalon Sparks and his partner Blake Arscott for finishing 3rd in our division and thanks for sharing their beer after the race. A big thanks also to Jill Sparks and the Sparky’s for being awesome cheerleaders throughout the entire race. You guys rock.
Marcus
Tough day indeed – helps to have Robin as your teammate – that guy is an animal.