2001 Mark Twain Adventure Race

After watching the annual Eco-Challenge on USA Networks, we decided that 2001 would be the year that we finally try our hand in adventure racing. We searched the web for races that were not too far away and discovered the Mark Twain in Brownbranch, MO. Everyone was excited and began to plan our race strategy. Since none of our equipment was ideal for racing, Mark decided to buy a new bike for himself. Big Mistake - while test riding a Trek 4500, he wiped out, broke his arm and dislocated his elbow.

Although he did purchase the new bike, we were now short a teammate and had to find a replacement before the race on June 9, 2001. We had no luck in finding someone that was willing to race, so I contacted the race organizers. They put us in contact with some people on their waiting list and we soon had a fourth again. Although, as it turns out we did not meet Rod until about 15 minutes before race time.

Erica, Matt, and I arrived the night before the race and set up camp. A small tent city had sprung up in a field near the river, which was now serving as race headquarters. We weren't sure what to expect from the competition, since this was our first race. But we got the impression that many teams were quite serious about the race when our tent-neighbors informed us that they would be going to bed at 8:30 and would need relative silence. By the time we went to sleep around 11:00, we could still hear them tossing around in their tent because they couldn't sleep.

We awoke around 5:30 and made our way to the HQ shelter to receive our race packet, which included maps, course descriptions and race numbers. We readied our gear and laid out a race plan - primarily to get out front early. By 6:30, we were beginning to worry that our new teammate was a no-show for the 7:00 race. He showed up around 6:45, but had missed the mandatory team meeting, in which the race directors explained the race rules. (IMPORTANT FACT)

The race was to begin with a 2.5 mile out & back run. When the gun went off, it was a mad dash for over 300 racers (84 Teams), with the first mile entirely uphill. We held our own in the top 1/3 of the pack until the turnaround. Erica is a great downhill runner, so we started to move up after the turn around. By the time we were back to HQ and the canoes, we were in 8th place. We hopped in the boats and tried to get out of the crowd. Fortunately, we were ahead of the main pack, in which there were dozens of boats trying launch at the same time, resulting in many dumped canoes.

We really cruised on the 12-mile canoe leg, moving up to seventh place and putting a lot of distance between us and the teams behind us. The water was really low and we had to get out and push pretty often. We used that as an opportunity to make up some time, by running with the boat in those instances.

We hit the next checkpoint, refilled our water packs and headed up the road on a 7.5-mile run. Some nagging training injuries kept us from running the whole way continuously, but we were running more than most teams. We passed a couple of teams and got passed by one. We got to the next checkpoint in 6th and began mystery event #1. It was a 20-question trivia quiz with questions about Missouri Conservation, canoeing and orienteering. If we got better than 80% correct, we could skip the ensuing obstacle course. Of course, we got a 95% and skipped the obstacle course. (We were the first team to do so.) That put us into 5th place heading into the orienteering section.

A forest ranger was distributing maps of the oriented section and explaining the rules of this section - primarily, "do not cross any fences onto private property". Our new teammate missed this statement. We headed out for the first orienteering check point about 1/2 mile away. Due to our inexperience, we missed the checkpoint by about 100 meters. However, we could not see the checkpoint, since it was over the top of the hill. We fanned out along the fence we had come to in order to look for the check point. Unfortunately, Rod stepped through a hole in the fence for about 10 seconds before we could call him back. We spotted the checkpoint and proceeded. At that point (in 5th place) we were informed that the 10 second indiscretion had gotten us a DQ. We wasted about 20 minutes discussing the DQ with race officials and were passed by 3 teams.

We were determined to complete the race, even if unranked. Although, our competitive edge faded quickly. We took the direct routes the remainder of the 5-mile, briar infested orienteering course.

We set out on the 16-mile bike section, and our only goal was finishing the race. Over gravel roads, trails and rock stairs that no one could possibly ride up, we continued. A flat tire cost us several more positions. We finally reached the finish line in what would have been 15th place - just over 10 hours.

This was not the best run race, but we will likely return this year because of the location and relatively reasonable entry fee.

2001 Berryman Adventure Race

We arrived at the Bass River Resort around 4 pm on Friday to set-up camp and check in for the race, which was to begin sometime Saturday morning. Upon arriving we were given a schedule of events leading up to the race:

·  7:00 p.m. Dinner

·  8:00 p.m. Mandatory Meeting

·  9:00 p.m. Safety Meeting

·  1:00 a.m. RACE START!!
Yes, a 1:00 start time. After setting up camp, we tried to catch a short nap, but had no luck as other teams were arriving and noisily setting up their own camps. We had been up since 6:00 a.m, and we would not be sleeping before the race started - D'oh! We attended the spaghetti dinner & the meetings. We received the checkpoint coordinates for the 100 mile race at the 9:00 meeting. This being our first race in which we had to plot our own maps, it took us a couple of hours to finish the process. We kicked back for about an hour in our support crew’s cabin before returning to camp to load our packs. The campground and race HQ was covered in a dense fog and race time temperatures were in the 30s.

The Trek – 30 miles
As in our previous race, we wanted to get out front early on and try to stay there. The first checkpoint (Checkpoint A) was about 3 miles away, via gravel roads and wooded trails. We ran the majority of the first few miles, along with one other team. We believe we reached the first checkpoint in 2nd place, although we cannot verify that as it was an unmanned CP. (1 of every 2 checkpoints would be manned) We elected to take the less direct, but clearly marked route to CP B and when we arrived we had dropped to 6th place. We maintained this position through the next few checkpoints. We were sticking to our plan of eating as a group at 30 minute intervals throughout the race. However, by this time our Snickers and Power Bars were quite hard from the cold. This made them difficult to choke down on the run, so the Nutri Grain bars & Oatmeal Cream Pies were going quickly.

When we reached the area of the 5th CP, which was off the trails and at the bottom of a drainage ravine, there was already one team in the area looking for the CP flag, as well as us and about 3 teams close behind us. At one point, there were 20-25 people within 100 feet of each other – all looking for the flag. Mark located it first and we quietly exited the area. We had gone maybe 200 feet when someone from another team yelled “HERE IT IS!” What a genius. All the other teams made a mad dash for the flag and we high-tailed it out of the area to lose the crowd. After about a mile, we had left behind all of those teams, and we could see another team up ahead.

We came to a creek crossing and found the team ahead of us just sitting there. I suspect they were unsure they were on the right course, because once we began wading through the creek they did the same. They left us behind – for the time being. The sun was coming up and we really had no idea what place we were in. We weren’t doing any running by this time, but we tried to keep a steady pace – pulling each other along on the uphills. We reached the next manned checkpoint at a road crossing and learned we were in 5th place – about 40 minutes out of the lead. We wasted about 30 minutes looking for one of the upcoming CPs, only to realize we were not even in the right area. That cost us a few places and we began to get discouraged. We ran a little after that to try and regain our position. The final trekking checkpoint was not on a marked trail and our only clue other than the coordinates we plotted was that it was on a saddle. It took us about 10 minutes in the area before we found the CP. We became more discouraged, as we thought our chance for a win had disappeared. However, as we hit the gravel road and began our final 3 mile trek toward the canoe launch, we saw teams backtracking. They had completely missed the last CP. Maybe we weren’t doing so bad.

The Canoe – 20 miles
We arrived at the canoe launch at about 11:00 a.m in 7th place. Three teams had launched their boats within the 30 minutes before us. We quickly caught and passed two of those teams. The first half of the 20 mile canoe leg was filled with portages and fancy steering due to fallen trees. We reached the Hwy 8 bridge after about 3 hours in the water; we judged this to be about the halfway point. At that point, our support crew was there to tell us we were in 5th place – about 10 minutes out of 4th. By now we were having some difficulties, as one of our boats had a small leak. The extra effort necessary to paddle that canoe was taking its toll and made it difficult for us to stay together. However, we held our position until we reached race HQ at about 5:30 p.m.

The Transition
Once back at camp, we quickly tried to repack our gear and prepare for the bike leg that was yet to come. We also grabbed some snacks prepared by our support crew and changed clothes. After six hours in the river in temperatures in the 50s & 60s, we were quite chilled. We also learned that a member of the 2nd place team was unable to continue and that they had withdrawn from the race. With our lights, Gear, food, and water all packed we headed out on our bikes. We were the third team to leave the transition area.

The Bike – 45 miles
We were determined to reach as many checkpoints as possible before dark, as this would give us a distinct advantage over the teams behind us. As it turned out, we were able to reach two CPs before darkness set in and left us cruising down some of Missouri’s roughest single track with little light. None of us had any experience mountain biking at night. We methodically clicked off the next few CPs without seeing another team. After several miles, we began seeing headlights in the distance behind us, and we knew the fourth place team was gaining ground. As we began descending down the side of the hill toward the Brazil Creek Campground CP, we had a significant drop-off to our left and a hill immediately to the right. My pedal dug into the hill and the bike came to a quick stop. I went over handlebars and fortunately hit dirt and not rock. I saw stars, but the bike seemed alright and we took off immediately. A half mile later, we started down some switchbacks leading to the creek and the CP. Wham – another wipeout for me. This time it was a large rock in the trail that I did not see in the dark. This time I hit rock and, as I later found, got some significant gashes to the legs. More importantly, I had smashed the headlamp on my bike. We weren’t delayed more than 1 minute, but as we mounted up we were passed and dropped back to 4th place.

It was obvious that we were now beginning to feel the effects of sleep deprivation and fatigue. The folks at the CP were very nice and offered encouragement, as well as a can of Red Bull. The energy drink was a welcome site, as we had now been awake for 40+ hours. We hit another unmanned CP and checked our map for the route to the next. You may remember that the CPs were labeled by letters. Naturally we proceeded to next CP alphabetically. However, when we got there the volunteers told us that we had gone to the wrong CP. The race instructions did not go through the CPs alphabetically! Deflated, we trudged back the way we had come to get back on course for the correct CP. It was now almost midnight and the Red Bull had worn off. We were beginning to fall asleep on the bikes. Erica, Mark and I were having hallucinations caused by sleep deprivation. This was truly the most surreal feeling I have ever experienced. At one point I saw a van full of army recruits in full fatigues parked in the middle of the woods. Having ridden this trail before, we knew we were about to enter a 7-mile stretch of treacherous switchbacks. We stopped for a break at the next CP and began discussing the possibility of bailing out of the race. We decided to bail with just 5 CPs left, based on our inability to stay awake and a projected 5 hours remaining to finish the race. This decision left us with a 10 mile ride down the gravel roads back to race HQ. We had more hallucination and more naps on the bike all the way back.

Looking back, I now know that dropping out was a mistake. Unfortunately, some of us were not thinking logically at the time. Were we in that situation again, we would sleep an hour or so and then continue on. Had we done this, we would have still posted a top 5 finish (only 5 of 25 teams finished). Furthermore, because of the high dropout rate, race officials cut the last 2 CPs off of the course, meaning we were only 3 CPs short of the finish.

Aside from a few kinks, I think this was great race. Our thanks go out to Keith Lay, his wife, and all the volunteers for putting on such a fun event. We will back in ’02!!!

2002 Memphis Tri Club Adventure Race

Pre-Race

We arrived at the Meeman-Shelby State Park at approximately 6:30 a.m. for the 8:00 a.m. race.  After signing in and picking up our race numbers, we began setting up our spot within the transition area.  We would not be receiving the course instructions or maps until the race began, so once we got the transition area set up we had some time to kill.  As we sized up the competition, it became obvious that the majority of the teams competing were all male.  Race time approached, and the race officials gave some final instructions before asking that all teams report to the transition area. 

The Run

Race packets were passed out to team captains shortly after 8:00, and the race was on.  The first task at hand would be to plot the 17 checkpoints on the topo map that we were given.  Since we had only plotted our own maps once before, we were not as quick as some of the other teams.  However, it was obvious that some teams elected to plot only their first few points before heading out onto the course.  After about 20 minutes, with maps completed and packs on, Erica, Matt and I headed out of the transition.  Of 27 teams, I estimate that we were about 20th to leave transition.  The first checkpoint was about 2 miles away via paved roads.  The course to the first point was pre-determined by race officials.  About a mile into the run, we began meeting the lead teams as they retraced their route. (CP2 was back at transition.)  We held our position through the first checkpoint and then back to the transition area.  A few teams behind us had bushwhacked back from CP1 and gained some time on us.  The entrance to the transition was blocked by a 9 foot wall that had to be scaled.

The Bike #1

From CP2 we mounted our bikes and headed for CP3 about 3 miles away.  All biking was on paved or gravel roads.  We easily spotted CP3 just off the road, since 3 other teams were standing right near it.  We headed toward CP4, which looked to be about a mile away.  As we approached the turnoff that led to the CP, we headed down a steep hill.  Matt braked hard as we neared the turn off, hit some gravel, and took a nosedive into the pavement.  After a short delay to examine man and machine, we were back on our way.  CP4 was a manned CP that required a gear check and a mystery event.  I did the gear check, while Erica and Matt began building a fire with pine needles.  Once their fire burned through the string suspended above, we were headed back to CP5, which was back at transition. We went over the wall again and into transition to prepare for the orienteering.

The Orienteering

We bushwhacked about a mile through the woods before crossing a road and heading down into a ravine.  We climbed up the other side, and after about 5 minutes, spotted CP6.  We had found the CP pretty quickly and we saw some other teams that looked unsure of their whereabouts, so we were feeling pretty confident.  You should never feel confident when you are a novice at orienteering.  This lesson was well learned on CP7.  After following a trail to creek about ½ mile away, we headed up a drainage to where we thought we would find CP7.  While we had plotted the point correctly, we had chosen the wrong drainage and ended up on the wrong hill.  After searching for about an hour, we headed toward a road so that we could identify our position and take another shot at the CP.  Erica spotted the flag before we reached the road and saved us a good deal of time.  We walked up the main road about a half mile before bushwhacking due south for CP8.  Once in the area, we found the CP within about 5 minutes.  CP9 was at transition, so we hustled back to find another mystery event awaiting us.  This one required us to relay enough sand to fill a 5-gallon bucket, using only the items we were carrying.  With Erica using the dry-bag we had brought for the canoe, Matt using a plastic poncho, and me using our space blanket, we filled the bucket in one trip.  We then climbed the wall and readied our bikes for another round. 

The Bike #2

CP10 was a mile away and just off the road - but hidden in a sink hole.  We found it quickly, as we had plotted it perfectly.  CP11 and CP12 were right next to a paved bike trail and barely required us to slow down.  We passed about three teams during this stretch. 

The Canoe??

CP13 was at the boat dock where we were to venture out on Poplar Tree Lake in our canoe. But, where are the canoes?  There were no canoes on this day.  We were paddling a Johnboat.  Out to the main channel and 3/4 of a mile up a cove we found CP14.  As we turned back toward the main channel, girth of the boat began to take its toll.  This thing was not easy to paddle, especially with an odd number of paddlers.  Across the main channel and 1/2 mile up another cove was CP15.  Two other teams were in hot pursuit as we left the checkpoint destined for CP16 back at the boat dock.  We finally got some rhythm going on the way back and reached the dock just in front of the other teams.  After another gear check we climbed on our bikes and started home. 

The Bike #3

It was about a 5-mile ride back to transition.  We pushed pretty hard most of the way, retracing the route we had taken to the lake.  We kept an eye out for teams challenging from behind, but cruised into transition with no one in sight.  We climbed the wall one last time into the transition area and then began the final obstacle course.  Climbing over, under and through about 20 obstacles, we completed the course and reached the finish line in 7 hours 28 minutes.  Eighteen of the 27 teams completed the course.  We finished in 11^th place overall and 4^th place among other co-ed teams.

This was a fun event and the organizers from Memphis Tri Club were very nice. Although a first-aid tent would have been a welcome addition after the race, the event was well run, and we look forward to returning. My only other suggestion for improvement would be for the organizers to make this race 4-person team event.

2002 Berryman Adventure Race

After being in the running during our past two 24 hr races, only to drop out after costly navigational mistakes, we had prepared well for the 2002 Berryman and had our sights set firmly on a respectable finish.  We arrived at the Bass River Resort on Friday evening, knowing this year that the race would begin between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Saturday.  We set up camp and chilled for a while before picking up our race packet at 8 p.m.  We had plotted all of the map coordinates by the time we had to go to the 9 p.m. race meeting.  After double-checking our coordinates, we retired for the night.

While we had received the coordinates for most of the course, the coordinates for the first trekking section were not distributed until race time.  At 5:30 a.m. one member of each team raced about 400 meters around the campground before receiving the coordinates. Matt was near the front, and we quickly plotted the three checkpoints for this section.  We left race HQ in the top half of the pack with several teams close by.  A ¼ mile up the gravel road we reached a long hill, at which point nearly all other teams began walking.  We continued running and soon found ourselves in second place. 

About 3 miles up the road, we reached a logging road, the turnoff for CP1.  We made the turn for the checkpoint, which was about ¼ mile away.  Since it was still dark outside, we missed the CP and began scouring the area.  After 10-15 minutes, nearly every team was in the area doing the same.  We finally located the CP and ran out of the area, but we had fallen back to the middle of the pack.  We backtracked about 1.5 miles down the main road to CP2, which we had already spotted on the way to CP1.   At CP2 we head up another logging road, winding our way to CP3.  We hit the CP and kept running.  Erica took a tumble down the hill, but barely slowed down.  Another mile down the trail we reached race HQ.

After peeling off some clothes and picking up some extra gear, we quickly ran for the canoe launch about half a mile away on the Courtois Creek, reaching the water in 11^th place.  The paddling leg is usually one of our strongest, allowing us to make up time on other teams.  While we held our own on this leg and passed a several boats early on, we were passed by a few teams using double-ended kayak paddles.   We paddled nearly 20 miles on the Courtois, Huzzah, and eventually the Meremec, before reaching the take out at Campbell Bridge.

We began the second, and longest, trekking section in eighth place, with 4 teams less than 10 minutes ahead.  We crossed the bridge and turned up a gravel road that would lead us to the Huzzah Conservation area about 3 miles away.  Checkpoints 6 through 10 were each about a mile apart and required some trail walking, as well as a good deal of bushwhacking.  We took the main gravel road about 3 miles to CP11 and got a look at some of the leading teams that had already left CP11; they were up to an hour ahead of us.  We reached the CP and backtracked up the gravel road until we hit the Ozark Trail, which took us to CP12 and CP13.  We continued on the OT to CP14 at Scotia Campground.  Since this was a manned CP, we learned that we were in 5^th place.  Through the campground and across the river we found CP15 at the mouth of Bat Cave.  From there, we bushwhacked to an old jeep trail that would lead us toward CP16, about 8 miles away.  CP16 was supposed to be at the junction of the road and an underground cable; however, the CP marker was actually a little bit off the road and we walked about ½ a mile past the CP before realizing we had missed it.  We turned around, hit CP16 and followed the markings for the underground cable for about a mile back to the entrance of Bass River Resort.  At that point, we took the paved road the final mile back to race HQ.

We checked into race HQ and learned that we were in 7^th place, going into the caving leg section.  After a quick break to grab some Gatorade, we walked across the campground – about ½ mile and climbed the bluff up to the cave.  The entrance to the cave was a tight squeeze and required that we take off our packs; however, the cave opened up quickly and we found ourselves in a large room.  About 100 feet from the entrance we climbed over a muddy slope and then down a rope to the checkpoint.  We quickly headed back out of the cave and to race headquarters.  We needed a break at this point to recharge, so we took about 30 minutes to get some food, change clothes, and restock our packs for the bike leg.

Refreshed, we headed out on the bike leg with confidence that we would finish this race and maintain our respectable 7^th place position.  The first 10 miles of the ride were on a gravel road leading to the Berryman Trail.  By the time we reached the trail the last bit of sunlight was gone.  However, having some done some night riding prior to the race, we didn’t let the darkness slow us down much.  We hit CP17 without incident, about 2 miles down the trail.  After another 5 miles of trail riding, we made a last minute decision to take the longer, but paved, route toward CP18.  We found the checkpoint easily and took the gravel road to CP19, where we would park our bikes and begin the final trekking section in 4^th place.

This trekking section was about 4 miles long, but included only 2 checkpoints.  We took the direct routes to each checkpoint, which involved quite a bit of bushwhacking.  We got back to our bikes at midnight and found ourselves in 3^rd place.  Several miles down the road, we reached CP22 at the Berryman Campground.  From there, we began the most treacherous, switchback-infested section of the Berryman Trail.  We hit CP23 and CP24 before seeing any other teams.  At CP24, we could see another team about ¼ mile ahead of us.  We left the CP and headed through the creek and up the switchbacks.  By the time we were about ¼ mile up the hill, we could see another team reaching the CP behind us.

A mile later, all three teams were within 50 feet of the others.  We moved into 2^nd place for a few seconds, before being caught from behind.  One more CP and several miles of trail later we reached the gravel road and began the 10-mile ride back to race HQ.  We arrived at 4:15 a.m. in 3^rd place and qualified for Nationals!! (23 hrs 14min)

2003 Mark Twain  Adventure Race

We arrived at the Twin Bridges campground, near West Plains, MO, on Friday afternoon and set up camp.  We checked in with race officials, and took a short bike ride around the area. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful.

 We awoke at 4:15 to pick up our race packet.  Unlike most adventure races, we were given written directions for the majority of the course.  We examined the photocopied maps we received with the instructions and compared them with the topo maps we had purchased ahead of time.  We prepared some extra food and gear to put in the designated transition area, along with our bikes.  At about 5:30 we got on a bus that would take us to the start location – about 45 minutes away.  There were not enough seats to accommodate all the racers, so even the aisles were packed with standees.   We arrived at the start location and listened to the introduction of race organizers and sponsors.

 We secured a nice position on the starting line, and at 7:00 the race began. The first section was a 7-mile run on gravel roads.  With written directions in hand, navigation was not a primary concern for this section.  By the end of the first mile, we had settled into a pace and were among the top 10 teams in this 90-team field.  About 2.5 miles into the run, 2 teams in front of us came to a stop and began running back the way we had come - apparently convinced they had missed a turn.  We began second guessing ourselves as well and stopped to check the map.  After a short delay, we concluded we were in the right and continued down the road.  The rest of the run was fairly uneventful, and we reached the canoe launch in 7^th place.

 Since 5 teams were only minutes ahead of us and a few teams were close behind, the congestion on the river was extremely frustrating.  The North Fork of the White River is not very wide, and passing was quite challenging.  We saw a few inexperienced paddlers get a scare as they turned sideways on a sharp turn, only to see several other boats barreling toward them.  We reached race HQ in 5^th place after about 2 ½  hours (10 miles) of paddling.

 We carried our canoes up the embankment and headed to the opposite end of the campground for a mystery event, where we found a row of hay bales – each with a balloon attached to it.  Our mystery event was to pop one of the balloons, shooting a child’s bow and arrow from about 10 feet away.  It didn’t look too difficult, but between our inexperience with a bow and the inaccuracy of the toys it took us several tries before Jackson finally popped one. 

 After grabbing a snack and our bike gear from transition, we headed out of the campground and began the 1 mile ascent east on Hwy 14.  Several miles of gravel roads brought us to the single-track portion of the bike leg.  The recent rains, downed trees, and undergrowth made it a difficult ride for several miles.  This section ended with a long climb up an old fire road to reach an area know as the “Fire Pit”, where we would begin the orienteering section.

 The orienteering course would consist of 3 checkpoints that were plotted on a photocopied section of a topo map.  We headed down the hill on a fire road, and as the road veered off we took a northeast heading toward the first checkpoint.  After a bit of bushwhacking, we reached a creek bed, which we followed for some time.  The creek bed eventually brought us to a road, which took us to the highway near the CP.  There, we were told that the other orienteering CPs had been cut out of the course.  Apparently the planned location for these CPs had been overrun by weeds since the course was planned, so they were just eliminated.  We began retracing our route back toward the Fire Pit to pick up our bikes.  Along the way, we accidentally discovered a road that took us directly to the Fire Pit.  Apparently, several teams had this knowledge ahead of time, as the road was not on our maps and many teams had taken it both to and from the orienteering CP.

 We picked up our bikes in 4^th place and began the 7-mile ride back to race HQ.  This section was mostly on gravel roads, but did have a short distance on ATV trails.  Before reaching the finish line we would be passed by 3 teams.  We reached the finish in 7 hours 25 minutes – good enough for 7^th place.  Because of the lack of navigation required in this race, it was one of the closest packs we have seen in an adventure race, with 3^rd through 11^th place all finishing within 10 minutes of each other.  In its fourth year, the Mark Twain Forest Adventure Race is still very poorly organized and managed.  However, the post-race party is the best - thanks to the free beer and massages.                      

2003 Mountain Sports Festival Adventure Race

The Mountain Sports Festival AR would be our first appearance in a race outside the Midwest.  A 3-person race, Erica, Matt, & I (Bob) had entered the race with hopes of qualifying for the USARA National Championships.  The unknown terrain and unknown competition left us guessing at how well we would fare in this race, as we began the 10 hour drive to Asheville, NC.  We arrived in Asheville at about 2 p.m. on Saturday.  After checking in to our hotel, we gathered all of our gear and reported to race HQ downtown.  Race check-in was much like my recent home refinancing in that we each had to sign our names numerous times for all the various forms and waivers.  Not even our support crew (Donna, Michael, & Joel) were exempt from this process.  After completing all of the forms, we completed the required gear check with one of the race volunteers and completed a basic navigation test with Norm, the race director.  We had some time to kill before the required race briefing, so we checked out a few of the other events that were part of the festival.  At the briefing we received a basic explanation of race rules and directions to the start location.  After a hearty dinner at Cracker Barrel we returned to the hotel for some bike adjustments and final gear preparation before retiring at about 10:30.

 The race was to begin at 6:00 a.m. Sunday and was an hour’s drive from the hotel, so we awoke at 3:15 a.m. to load our support vehicle and get ourselves ready.  We arrived at the race site around 5:00 and found several teams had already arrived.  We got out our packs, set up a table for plotting the maps, and waited for the start time.  At 6:00 the support crews received race packets from the race director, and the race had begun.  We quickly plotted the entire course on our various maps, a few of which were photocopies of Asheville city maps.  We left the start in the top half of the race and ran about ½ mile up the Blue Ridge Parkway to a trailhead.  Several miles later, after descending more than 1,000 feet, a short bushwhack and steep climb took us right to CP1.  We took the longer of two routes to CP2, thinking there would be less bushwhacking.  Unfortunately, the number of downed (but still living) trees and thick undergrowth made for a jungle-like trek as we followed a drainage for about ½ mile.  Still, we hit CP2 with no problems.  A short trail run to us the CP3, the first manned CP, where we found we were in 13^th place out of 51 teams.  After about 6 miles on the gravel roads, we reached CP4 in 11^th place, where our support crew had dropped off our bikes. 

 CP5 was also a manned point and located about 2 miles up the road.  A short trail ride along a creek took us to the ford where we expected to find CP6.  However, we scoured the area with no sign of the CP.  At least 7 teams arrived behind us during the 20 minutes we searched for the CP.  Some quickly gave up the search and continued ahead on the trail.  Others gave up and headed back to CP5 to report the missing flag.  Eventually, we too gave up on the CP and moved forward toward the next CP.  About a mile and 5 creek crossings later, we found CP6 hanging plainly next to the trail.  Race volunteers had placed it at the wrong crossing.  Disgusted, yet relieved, we headed for CP7 another 2 miles away.  We hit CP8 and CP9 without incident before beginning the grueling climb back up to the BRP.  After a short ride down the parkway we hiked our bikes a couple hundred feet down the mountain (no trail) to find CP10.  Apparently, most teams elected to leave their bikes on the road, even though this was a biking section.  The climb back up to the road was the toughest of the day.  CP11 was right next to the BRP and involved a gear check.  Roughly 7 mile further down the BRP, we reached the French Broad River and the canoe transition.

2003 Berryman Adventure

We headed into the 2003 Berryman Adventure with high hopes and a lot to live up to.  After placing 3^rd in 2002, we knew there was room for improvement, but anything lower than 3^rd would be somewhat of a disappointment.  The pre-race routine was similar to past years, with check-in on Friday afternoon followed by race briefings and course handout on Friday evening.  At the briefing we learned the race would begin at 6:30 a.m.

 At race time, we lined up to begin the first biking section.  This section would be less than 5 miles on a combination of gravel roads and ATV trails and would take us to CP1 and the canoe launch on the Huzzah River.  We were a bit uneasy about this type of start since biking is probably our weakest discipline and getting on the water with the lead group is of utmost importance.  However, we held our own on this leg and hit CP1 in 4^th place.  We quickly checked in at the CP, grabbed our PFDs and pulled the front wheels of our bikes.  We loaded the bikes in the canoes and we were headed down the river with the lead pack of about 5 teams.

 Each canoe jockeyed for position for the first mile or two before settling into a rhythm.  At the 5-mile mark we reached CP2 in 3^rd place, where we unloaded the bikes and then proceeded down river.  Two miles later, we reached the end of the Huzzah River, where it dumps into the Meramec.  At that point we had to turn up-river on the Meramec for over a mile to reach CP3.  After heavy rain on Friday, the current was quite strong, and we had to get out and pull the canoe up stream at some points.  By the time we reached the CP & turned back downstream it felt as though we had a motor on the canoe.  That feeling didn’t last long though.  The best thing about this out and back section of the paddle was that we were able to see where all of the competition was.  At the turn we were about 3 minutes behind the leaders, and the majority of the pack was at least 15 minutes behind us.  Another 4 miles downstream we reached the canoe takeout, still in third place, about 4 minutes off the lead.  The leaders were within sight as they headed out on the first trek of the day.

 We quickly transitioned and headed up the road to CP4 inside the Ozark Outdoor Campground store.  The next 3 CPs of the trek were fairly uneventful. We went directly to each of the points, using a combination of gravel roads and bushwhacking.  We arrived back at our bikes in 4^th place to find a flat tire on my bike. I expected as much, as I had heard it spewing when we arrived at the canoe launch.  I quickly changed the tire, while everyone else reassembled their bikes.  Everyone took a turn pumping the tire, and we were on the road without losing more than a few minutes.

 The next checkpoint (CP8) was on the Berryman Trail, about 15 miles away – most of which we covered on a series of gravel roads.  The last mile to the checkpoint was on a section of the Ozark Trail.  We found the CP at the parking lot near the Berryman and Harmon Spring.  We were presented with a choice of routes from CP8 to CP9.  We could take the gravel road from Harmon Spring to Hwy W, which would lead directly to CP9, or we could take the Berryman trail for about 5 miles to the CP.  The catch was that Hwy W could only be used once during the race, and we had been given 1 ticket to pay the “toll” to get down Hwy W.  We decided to use our ticket now and take the road.  It paid off big time, because the direction we were going was all down hill on Hwy W.  From CP9 we took the Berryman trail and ATV trails to the next 3 CPs and found each without any difficulty.  CP12 was our first transition area, to which race officials had transported our gear boxes.  We arrived in 5^th place, and our goal was a 5-minute transition.  With having to get our gear boxes off of the bus and into the transition area, it took us 9 minutes to get back on the trail – this time on foot.

 Now in our element, I was personally very glad to be off the bike.  CP13 was about 3 miles away.  We were limited in route choices, as we were only allowed to cross Hwy 8 at the Ozark Trail.  However, this was the most direct route anyway.  We ran the majority of the 3 miles to the area of CP13, at which point we had to leave the trail and bushwhack to the top of a hill, where we found the CP.  CP14 was about 2 miles away, and it appeared on the map to be a fairly direct route on some old logging roads.  Appearances are often deceiving with old maps and old roads.  The road we took disappeared, and we found ourselves in a thicket of Smylax, Briers, and Sumac.  We took a compass heading and kept moving toward CP14.  After trudging over two hills we eventually picked up the road again and ran to the CP.

 We easily found CP15 as it was on a main road and at the shore of a small lake.  When we arrived, we were told to complete a short paddling section on the lake.  We paddled a rubber raft around a series of buoyees to the other end of the lake then returned back to shore following the same route.  We chose to bushwhack around the lake and directly toward CP16.  We were rewarded with a road that was not shown on our maps.  By this time, evening was upon us and we felt a sense of urgency to get as many CPs as possible before dark.  We ran to CPs 17 & 18 on a combination of roads and trails and reached both before dark.  As we headed toward CP19, darkness and a rain cloud moved in – although the rain was short lived.  At this point, we were confident that we were doing well, but had not seen any other teams for quite some time, so we had no idea what place we were in. We found CP19 along the Ozark Trail just as it was getting too dark to see without our headlamps.  CP20 was back at the transition area about 8 miles away.  We took a gravel road for about 5 miles before hitting the Ozark Trail.  As we ran down the trail toward Hwy 8, we crossed many teams who were just heading out on the trekking section.  They told us only one other team was on the trail ahead of us and that they had about a 15-minute lead.  We ran as much as possible on the remaining miles back to transition.

 We reached transition in second place, about 15 minutes after the leaders.  However, the lead team was still in the transition area as we arrived.  We wasted no time in the area, and after choking down some drinks and a quick snack we loaded our gear boxes back on the bus.  We grabbed the bikes and hit the trail about 2 minutes behind the leaders.  A mile down the trail - about halfway to CP21 - we found the lead team stopped with a flat tire.  Apparently, they had broken their only bike pump and had no way to air up the tire.  We were faced with the difficult decision of being good sports and giving them our extra pump (knowing it might cost us the race) or making them return to the transition area for assistance.  We gave them the pump and kept moving, determined to hold on to the lead.  We hit CP21 and CP22 with no problems and headed down a washed out ATV trail toward CP23, the final CP before the finish line.  As we pushed our way up a hill before CP23 we began to see lights in the distance behind us.  We kept pushing and pedaling, and just before CP23 the team with the flat passed by us on the trail.  We reached CP23 together, but were not able to keep their pace on the final mile of trail riding.  Once we reached the main road, we had about an 8-mile ride to the finish line at Bass River Resort.  We put everything we had into that stretch, pedaling faster than we had all day, but it was not enough.  We reached the finish line in 2^nd place, just 3 minutes behind the winners. 

2003 USARA National Championships

2005 Lewis & Clark Urban Adventure Race

2006 Bonk Hard Chill