Four months ago, my hubby called inquiring if I would be interested in take parting in the 2008 Ozark Adventure Race. As a five-time marathon runner, an escapade race seemed to be right up my ally, and I excitedly agreed. We formed two squads of three ( Team Viper: Whit, Mike and myself ; Team Acid: Chris, Veronique and Jake ) and over the following few months our group of six, biked together, ran together and talked scheme on how non to decease during this race. The dashing 50 to 70 stat mis ne’er one time frightened us while preparation, and alternatively, merely added to the exhilaration of how “ hard-core ” we would be when this was over.
Fast frontward to 3 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2008. Here I am in Fayetteville, Arkansas, cold as all heck, bundled in every piece of vesture I brought with me: leotardss, tri-shorts, wool socks, rain bloomerss, long-sleeved top, fleece jacket, rain jacket, cervix heater, hat and baseball mitts. I can still experience the air current at the start of the race, and we have n’t even been in the unfastened land yet. We were given merely minimum information before the start, such as the start clip of 3 a.m. and that race functionaries hoped to hold all of the squads finished with the class by 7 post meridiem Our two squads are the youngest rivals by 10 old ages, and other squads look at us like we ‘re brainsick to take part in a 12 to 18 hr race for our first escapade raceaˆ¦ I ‘m get downing to believe they ‘re right.
We have two race maps and a list of co-ordinates to see where we need to travel. Our end is to plot each leg right, race to each flag, plug our passport, and someway do it back to the coating with each stationed clout on our passport without giving up or being disqualified. Our first leg is mountain biking, and without farther bustle, we adjust our motorcycle visible radiations and headlights and caput towards where we think the trail is.
15 proceedingss subsequently, we ‘re back to the start and demand to calculate out a different path. So far, the lone thing we ‘ve accomplished is waking up an full vicinity as Canis familiariss and people are inquiring what sort of misfits are out siting motorcycles at three in the forenoon. A new path is established, and we ‘re in fortune this clip, other squads are in front of us and a few are following us. Certain plenty, we come to the base of a big hill, or possibly what Arkansas people think is a mountain. I take the lead, and seek to follow the individual path mountain bike way in the complete darkness. Teams are all around us, but it ‘s impossible to look at anything besides the land in front of the forepart tyre. An hr into the race, the top squad is already heading down the mountain, and we have n’t even plug our first station.
We spend four and a half hours mountain biking, pluging seven different Stationss of the entire 15. Once off the mountain, we bike to our passage station, which brings us to the canoeing part of the race. Before the race, Mike tried to convert me to purchase a sling place for the canoe, which race functionaries extremely recommended but did non necessitate. I disagreed with my hubby. Surely I would n’t necessitate it for two hours or so of canoeing. He and Whit could paddle, and I would maintain the balance in the center of the canoe, equilibrating on my articulatio genuss or pess.
Establishing the canoe proves to be hard as the river is merely six to nine inches deep. Every clip we settle in to get down paddling, the canoe sinks down into the bouldery bed, and we go nowhere. Within the first 20 proceedingss, our pess are soaked with cold river H2O as we have to maintain acquiring out and dragging the canoe to deeper parts. An hr into the canoe, my pess are asleep, the perspiration has dried on my organic structure, and I am far colder now than I was at the start.
Hour two on the canoe, Mike looks at the map to happen where we are. I am rapidly losing hope. I ‘ve found that the reconciliation on my pess is harder than I originally thought, and the canoe has become dramatically uncomfortable. Mike and Whit come back with good and bad intelligence. Good, they know where we are. Bad, we have a long ways to travel.
Hour three, cryings are fluxing out of my eyes. I am cold, wet and hate canoeing. I ‘m agitating from the cold, and Mike tells me to paddle to acquire the blood fluxing. Our squad has yet to hone our method of paddling, and one of us is invariably stating, “ Brace yourselves ” , as we crash into beaver dikes, logs and embankments.
Hour four, we try to go through the clip by singing vocals. That lasts for 10 proceedingss, and so wretchedness settees in once more. For the past three hours, we ‘ve been entirely in the river. Now, we see another two other squads behind us. We become stuck on a submersed log, and the squads pass us. When they ‘re a few paces off, our squad is once more in the H2O, fring the canoe. By the clip we become unstuck, the two other squads are nowhere to be seen.
Hour five, this stupid river will ne’er stop and now, the two work forces have joined me in detesting canoeing. I am for good sitting in a pool of H2O from all of the acquiring in and out, and though we keep dumping the H2O when possible, it keeps coming back to ooze into my socks and up my legs to soak my leotardss. My organic structure begins to demo marks of hypothermia as I can no longer grip things with my custodies, my organic structure shakes uncontrollably, and I am holding problem equilibrating when we have to walk with the canoe. Mike insists every five proceedingss for me to paddle, jiggle my toes, and have on his somewhat less wet baseball mitts.
Hour six, I fear we ‘ll be on this river everlastingly. When Whit and Mike eventually spot our fillet point, I ca n’t even be happy or excited. Alternatively, I merely acquire out and walk heterosexual to the fire one of the voluntaries has started. I entertain the idea of discontinuing and allowing Mike and Whit continue as a two-man squad. Mike responds, “ I ‘m completing this race with you, so you ca n’t discontinue. ” Those are merely the sweet words I need to hear, and after eating a protein saloon, we ‘re traveling once more, this clip on dry land.
This leg of the race is a 10 stat mi trekking subdivision. We try running a few paces, so walking some. I, the proud marathon runner, keep my squad back as I ‘m unable to run for really long. Lucky for me, both Mike and Whit are compassionate psyches and merely give encouragement. The fire-starting voluntary thrusts by us in a truck, stating us we have merely one squad behind us. Within the following stat mi, that squad passes us, and we have officially become the last topographic point squad. Our salvaging grace, nevertheless, is that many squads have already quit and given up, and we still have the bosom to maintain traveling ( thanks to my hubby and Whit, I have non quit ) .
Merely earlier 5 p.m. , we are back to the topographic point where we left our motorcycles. There, we hear some of the most glorious words I have of all time heard: “ You have missed the cut-off clip for this station, so you can non go on to the following leg. ” Though dissatisfactory to non do it to the rappelling and orienteering parts of the race, our squad will still be considered as holding completed the race if we merely bicycle to the coating.
We hop on our motorcycles and caput towards place. At 5:30 p.m. , we cross the finish line, take a speedy image, and so I hop into the auto and crank the warmer. We spent 14.5 hours rushing, and my organic structure can experience every minute of it.
Our other three friends are still out on the class, holding made it a little farther than we did before being turned back, and at 6:30 p.m. , all six of us are ready for some hot nutrient and cold beer. The Ozark Adventure Race was precisely that, an escapade, and though I ca n’t state I ‘ll take part in it once more, I will state that it showed me two things: One, I am non a canoeing type of individual ; and two, my hubby is more fantastic and supportive than I of all time thought.
Thankss to Whit Collins for fall ining with Mike and me to organize Team Viper and for demoing a batch of bosom, finding and giving encouragement to a really cold and ready-to-be-finished-with-canoeing gal.
Thankss to Chris Behrens, Jake Pippenger and Veronique Jarrell-King for organizing Team Acid and fall ining us for the escapade. Great occupation to all three of you, and thanks for the merriment during preparation, the thrust there and back, and the chumminess.
Thankss to Jessica Behrens and Eileen Hess for acquiring up at 1:30 ante meridiem when you did n’t hold to, back uping all six of us throughout the race and for recognizing us with a beer at the terminal.
And a particular thanks to my hubby, Mike Cady, who is the ground I continue when I feel like discontinuing, non merely in this race, but in mundane life. ( Besides, thank you for giving me your lone brace of baseball mitts and dry socks excessively! )
