*** This race started with a run, so read that section first, then follow the directions (down) ***

Now, onto the paddling. One reason that we entered as solo racers instead of a team was so that we could use our own kayaks instead of having to use a rental canoe. Really. The race application said that it was a 2.2 mile padling section and I think that they got this one pretty close. We made good time going going out to the island. Both of us tried to get up to "ramming speed" in order to not have to walk through the water, but it got too shallow too quickly. Oh well. Jump out, get the shoes wet and then I was thrilled at how quickly they drained. Teva trail running shoes rock! We pulled our kayaks up on the beach and headed for the checkpoint cards. Picked up our "#2" card, put it on the carabiner and went back to the boats. Before the race, our big plan was to have one person take the front of both boats and the other person take the back of both boats and carry them for the short portage. Well, the portage area was flat and sandy/muddy. So each of us just dragged our own 'yak by the nose across the island. We put in on the other side and made our way back. Pretty much an uneventful paddle section, but about halfway back we got a tailwind and some waves and it felt almost like we were body surfing. Kinda' sorta' cool feeling. We got back to shore and parked the boats.

Maybe paddle a little faster, but who cares - we had fun.

*** Go to the T2 section from here (down) ***

Well, in a normal triathlon, T1 is where you change from swimming to cycling. In this race we were changing from runners to monkeys to paddlers. First up was a six foot tall vertical wall. Thankfully there was a board about two feet off the ground and that made it pretty easy to get up on the wall and jump onto the big bouldering mat on the back side of it. Next up ten tires (like what you see football players run through in the movies, dunno in real life, never played it myself) to run through. Unfortunately for my sasquachian feet, they weren't quite big enough to do it quickly. After that, a set of track and field hurdles that we had to go over-under-over-under-over-under-over-under to get through. After that was a big cargo net to climb up and jump over once you got to the top. I think I hit the mat and rolled every time we go to that part...

*** Go to the "swim" (Kayak) section from here (up) ***

Fairly uneventful ride out to the trail, but there was a pretty steep, grassy downhill section with a deep/wide trench at the bottom that was only jumpable with a big ramp. When we got to it, Cathy stopped and in her "I'm mostly kidding, but about 5% serious" way she turned to me and said "I'm scared" :) I didn't think it looked bad, but I figured if she was being serious (she's done this race before), I should be really carefull. Then she looked at me and said "But I'll ride it anyway" and took off like a Bat outta' Meatloaf. So I followed suit. Super fun downhill. Unfortunately, my shorts caught the nose of my saddle and I couldn't get back far enough on the seat without pantsing myself... I made it down unscathed even if I was more forward than I wanted to be and we put our bikes on the other side of the trench and crossed by foot. Got back on our bikes and back onto the road. Once we got off road, things start to get really fun. First things first. Daddy likes his disc brakes. For a big guy like me, it was awesome to have that much stopping power on a bicycle. Next, we got to "omigodthissuckshill" - just about everyone that I saw walked the whole thing or had to get off their bikes less than halfway up. There was one stud that would have made it all the way up (everyone was cheering him on), but he dropped his chain about 10 yards from the top and I thought he was going to eat his handlebars. When we finally got to the top, we put our bikes down and had to select a car tire. The point of the car tire was to carry it back down "omigodthissuckshill" and then back up. Without letting it touch the ground. At all. I selected a nice 205/55HR16 that wasn't filled with too much muck, water and leaves and put it up on my shoulder.I don't think the volunteer got my joke when I asked if I could get into the tire and roll it down the hill with me inside of it. "No, it can't touch the ground." But what if I get a good jump and soar the whole way down? "No, the best thing would be to carry it." Oh well, I suppose she didn't get many people trying to be funny today. That took about 10 minutes or so of my life that I'll never have back - but is was fun even if it hurt a bit. Through the tire carry Cathy and I talked about my paint-job plans for my tri bike. It'll be an homage to Jen's hot pink "F#@k Leukemia" T-shirt. During the tire carry we also figured out that our uniform for Cap City this year will be a similar tribute. Good thing I look FABULOUS in hot pink. No, really. I do. Ran into a guy with a TnT jersey on and we talked a minute or two about which chapter we were with and it looks like we'll see each other again at the Sea Gull Century in Maryland in October. Cool. After that, we got back on the bikes and started off on the singletrack. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!! I felt like I was channeling Ned Overend or Tinker Juarez today. All of the singletrack was like a really bumpy roller coaster. I even manage to jump over a couple of small logs, ride over some rutted out root balls and take one downhill that I thought was going to be the end of me. Lots of really fast people were coming though, so we got to the side to let them pass where we could and rode quite a bit of it. I did much better today than I did at Cap City last year. And this course was much more technical. Must be my now "good" knee. With about 10 yards to go until we were done with the technical stuff, I tried to zip around a couple of small trees. Well, let's just say that I don't zip as quickly as I used to. I put my right elbow out to scoot around the tree to my right and as I brushed my shoulder against it to get some room (who says cycling isn't a full contact sport) I caught the very end of my handle bars on it and did my best cross-up stunt ever. Unfortunately, cross-ups only work well in the air. On the ground they tend to stop the bike in a hurry. Yep, the tail end of my bike decided to go left while the rest of me went straight. As I realised that I was going to do a high speed oral tree sample, I turned my head so as to not damage my ugly mug and stuck the landing against the tree with my shoulder and neck. Something went crunch in my neck and that's when I stopped forward motion. But that's not where I stopped. I was still three feet off the ground, so of course I had to slide down said tree scuffing my shoulder and neck the whole way down. *sigh* I would have never believed that your average race volunteer's eyes could distend that far out of their skulls, but since there were now four of them where five seconds earlier there had been two, I figured it was just me. I got up, told them I was OK and tried to get back on my bike. I almost fell over since I couldn't balance worth poo. Decided to walk the bike the last 40 yards to the road so as to not crash again. About 30 seconds later I only saw one park sign and one Cathy and no longer felt like puking, so I knew I was going to be OK. Good thing my nickname is Frank-the-Tank or else I wouldn't be so indestructable. We got back on to the bikes and rode the last two miles back to transition. One more loop through the obstacle course and we were done! I finally did it! I finished an adventure race! Woo-freaking-hoo!!!!

Well, not run into a tree for starters. Missed a couple of gear changes and ended up walking more than I would have liked. The toeclips on the bike were a size too small too, hard to get my second foot in on the move - but definitely better than dragging two pair of shoes through the whole race.


*** Go to the "Post Race" section from here (down) ***

Another trip through the obstacle course. Still felt pretty good, but the 4" steel pipe at the top of the cargo net was starting to get a little slippery. Well, that or I was starting to sweat a little bit... Thankfully there was a tree to steady myself with before the jump. Sorry to disappoint, but no face plant.

*** Go to the bike section from here (up) ***

Well, it was labeled as a three mile run, but there was no way. I'm going to log it as four miles, but it was probably closer to four and a quarter miles. Cathy and I ran a lot of it and only walked after running up some big hills and then we started walking the up hills and running everything else. First big hill right off the bat. Some people walked it, but we ran jogged it. When we did walk, we kept a decent pace though. Part of the run course had a bad cant to the trail, probably close to 40 degrees. It wasn't that pleasant on the ankles. The trail we ran on was really beautiful though. Lots of roots, but they were tiny, so not too much in the way of tripping hazards. On our way back through the campground a couple asked us how long our run was. We told them and they looked at us like we were insane to do it. I didn't have the heart to tell them that we still had a two plus mile paddling section and an eight mile bike course to do after the run. Oh, and the obstacle course. Three times. Thankfully, this race doesn't have a "NO WHINING" clause on the waiver/race application. Well, it was more like b!^@#ing than whining. Actually, I would say more commiserating than whining - 'cause neither of us are that fond of running. Especially hilly courses. Started to get a little worried that we missed the checkpoint cards, but we got them on the way out of the trail and back to transition. Anyway, we made our way back to transition, dropped off our water bottles that we used on the run and headed to the obstacle course.


Not much. We made good time and paced ourselves well

*** Go to the T1 section from here (up) ***

Got changed, packed up the short bus, walked my kayak back up to the car and ate some watermellon and orange slices during the award ceremony. I didn't do so well, but Cathy got first in her division!


Not much. I was just looking to have fun and finish. Check and check mate. Speed can come next year.


Great race. I will defintely to this one again. Race started about 20 minutes late, but I'd rather have a thorough prerace meeting for something like this than rush though the meeting and not have enough info to race safely. Very well run event.