Ok, so I'm going to do an Adventure Race

“dhutch, how'd it go??!!!!”

“Fritz thanks for the thought. It went well. My goal was to finish and not be last. I came in 4th solo female and learned a lot for next time. Both big wins.

The first running section ended up to be only 3.5 miles. Much less than I trained for or expected. It went smoothly and I gained about 5 places.

The biking was 12 miles mostly on singletrack. They gave us no maps but indicated the course with signs. I made 2 wrong turns due to unclear directional signing but figured out my mistakes fairly quickly. I probably biked about 2 miles further than if I had stayed on the proper course. Only had one minor fall when my fron wheel hit rocks and sand on the 12,532th uphill climb. lol. Pretty good bruises today but I barely felt it at the time I was so focused. Many people got lost on this section and I gained several more positions.

Next came some "orienteering". There was no compass work involved. They had marked general areas where orienteering flags were hidden throughout the park. Skill was not the issue, it was ingenuity. Because the flags were not marked precisely and there was not a detailed map, the best way to find them was to ask picnickers in the area and watch other racers. Everyone was helping each other. I'm sure at the front this was not the case. One checkpoint was on an island we had to kayak to. But the ropes holding the kayaks only went to within 15 yards of the shore. No avoiding getting wet. I think I was about average on this portion of the race. It was about 4 miles long and I should have run more of it. Mostly I walked uphill and ran downhill.

The skill challenges were easy. Just an irritating portion for the spectators and probably to test the racers' patience. Some swimming, potato sack races a puzzle .... There were 6 skill tests.

Kayaking was approx. 1.5 miles out to a buoy and back. It looked easier for the two person teams. Especially those with a larger paddlers. I'm a small woman and my kayak blew around alot. But I finished that portion in about 15-10 minutes and ran to the finish line.

When they handed me a tropy, I laughed in disbelief and relief. Overall a fantastic experience. Met lots of really nice people and am looking forward to the next race. I'm hooked! Hoping to see pictures this week some time.

This was nothing like the SMAC race I volunteered at this Spring. I think it was made to be adventure racing for the average Joe (or Joanne?)

Good luck to you this weekend!!!”

“hey Congrats. 4th place is pretty good now!!”

“Congrats, dhutch, sounds like you had a great time. Good experience. And good finish, too!

Did you say you have a 24-hour race the end of September?”

“NICE JOB Diane!!!!! 4th place rocks, and is a great achievement!!! I look forward to hearing about the next race you do, and congratulate you on a job well done.”

“Congratulations Diane! You are a stud! Good job.”

“Hey Diane, awesome Job!!!!

I know you trained like the dickens and it paid off bigtime. Sounds like you've been bitten by the bug for sure. I will try to call you soon,I need more details!


Fritz, good luck at your race. Be safe have fun and GO GO GO GO GO !!!!”

“Thanks all. Yeah birch I'm hooked all right. Now for the tough part. The Sept race is described as 45-55 miles biking, 18 miles orienteering and ?? miles canoeing. No real technical climbing though, just a zip line. Better get riding. Fritz, don't forget to let us all know about your race this weekend!!!”

“I won't forget. This will be quite an experience for me.

I have never done rapelling, and I expect there will be a 100-foot-plus rapell in this race. I told my teammates to just tie me in and tell me where jump. More likely, they will have to push me over the edge. :)”

“How did it go???”

“Fritz?”

“Hi! It was a great experience. We completed 27 hours of non-stop hiking, canoeing, mountain biking, canoeing, and hiking, plus a 250-foot night-time rapel.

Wait, I gotta confess we did stop for a 20-minute nap.

Thanks for asking!

More later. :)”

“Congrats Fritz!!! Can't wait to hear the details.”

“Hey all, Dhutch is embarking on an 88hr race across the state on Mi in a few days. Her team is Blind Leading Blind. You can follow her teams progress at the leaderboard here http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=dashboard.showDashboard&eventID=94. Good luck Dhutch on your biggest race ever!!!!!”

“If they already know it's going to take 88 hours, why even race?”

“Dhutch you forever have my admiration for your ability, tenacity and desire to finish! I hope you have fun, do well and find your team to be the best ever!”

“That was a serious question by the way. Why do they call it an 88 hr race instead of giving distance? What if someone takes longer or shorter? I've run in only a couple races before, and they were not named by a time. Thanks!”

“That is the alloted time to complete the race. If you make it in less time your chances of winning are better. If you do not make it in 88 hours you are DQed. Many teams will not even make it to the finish line.”

“Interesting. Thanks Sass!

Good look Dhutch. Very impressive!!”

“She's one tough cookie!”

“Just finished my 2nd race this year. One 24 hour (first place 3 person, go team "No sleep til Brooklyn with Indiana John and gf) and this one a 12 hour (great finish "Bolivia Right!) It was my teammates' first finish of anything over 6 hours and that, is the best part.

I've now done 18 races and still am soooo hooked. It'll be over 20 races for me by the end of 2007. To think it all started with a little 6 hour fun day?

The race this weekend was in Wisconsin at South Kettle Moraine. Interesting terrain with lots of little, well, kettles. Good technical trails much like MI hiking with less sand :-P

Started with about 3 miles of running trails,swamps and road to locate 6 CP's. Hopped into canoes for 6 laps around a small lake. Canoes everywhere! After the 5th lap we had to change places in the canoe without leaving the water. No splash!! Me steering....not so much but the new canoe tried her best to make up for my zig zagging. Lots of lessons for the next paddle section of a race. With the right paddles we would have been screaming through the water. Made two bad strategic choices here using a whitewater paddle in front (too short for a canoe) and bentwood canoe paddle in back (my teammate had it backwards) You learn something every race.

Out of the canoes with a run back to the start carrying paddles and wearing PFD's under the packs (2 mi?) to transition to bikes. 9 miles fast riding roads to the singletrack trailhead and 6 miles of technical mountain biking I skinned both knees but only actually tumbled once sliding off a gravel edge on an uphill.

Then it got interesting. I ran off in the midday heat to locate 2 checkpoints on foot while my teammate rested and waited. Then he went off to find 2 CP's while I rested in the shade, ate and filled water bladders. But instead of topos we were given aerial photos. No problem but a lot of teams failed to find all 4. I prefer topos.

Back on to bikes for 10 miles on pavement through some really tough crosswind. This is where we passed a bunch of teams including one of my self proclaimed arch rivals. Whodathunk I was strong on the bike :-)

13 Orienteering CP's on foot and we were rocking em. It is my favorite part and I did the nav. This race organizer is known for tough orienteering courses and it felt absolutely fantastic to nail each one and punch that little card. It's addicting I tell you. Not many teams had time to find them all and we did really well finding 8 in 1 1/2 hrs. It would have been fun to get them all but race cut off time (damm that paddle split) had us spinning toward home another 2 miles on bike really fast and almost all downhill. Then, we had to shoot a ringer at the horseshoe pit??????? I rather dislike the little games and would rather do more nav. Part of a regulation finish is to know when to head home.

No official placing as of yet but the nav was strong, the biking good. Just got hurt with time on the water (dhutch needs canoe steering lessons).

Funnest stuff ever! I'm re-motivated to train hard again and get off my sorry butt. Could somebody please just call me in sick for the rest of this year at work?”

“How did the kids 8-12 take it that you beat them so easily?

LOL!”

“Ha! No JimmySan, that's me in a road running race.”

“Sounds like a blast dhutch. I'm intrigued. keep us posted.”

“Where was your first race, hutchy? dry foot saw some of an adventure race in Red Wing, MN 2 or 3 weekends ago. Wondered if you were there, as he happened to wander onto it when it was almost done.”

“DHutch, I think we need an intervention here...you really need to get off your sorry butt and start getting into some kind of decent shape.

;)

I am starting to get back into a little shape myself, spending some time on the bike and some slow 30 minute jogs. I'd really like to do another 24 hour race or two before I get too old. hee hee”

“hehe, congrats hutchie!”

“Sounds great Dhutch! Thanks for the report.”

“Good luck Dhutch! Maybe I will come up there and repay you for the Quiche you bought me in Leadville! I wont pay any attention to ENS's comment that real men don't eat Quiche. Ha!”

“delta! you owe me nuttin. Thanks for driving me around :-) In fact I owe you the recipe for that sushi dish. Come on up though, anytime and yeah, don't listen to ENS. lol

lizs. The first race this year was in Southern Indiana, on the Ohio River. I wasn't at the MN race 2 or three weeks ago I was either in Co. or buying my canoe in Madison. But did he hear the name of the race? Maybe next year.”

“Hutchy, you're nuts. but, I guess in a good way. :-p

Here's the Red Wing info:
http://www.wildadventurerace.com/

And more:
http://www.zdap.com/racereports/viewtopic.php?t=5762

Looks like there's a MN area series. Dave said the inflatible kayak thingees looked interesting.”

“Go Diane!”

“Inflatables do look interesting until you have to paddle one.

Thanks for the link lizs! The fall 24 hr sounds like my style. The others are a long drive if they don't give me at least 12hours of fun. The race is the weekend following the Chequamagon (sp?) Fat Tire mountain bike race and I got a starting spot in the lottery. hmmmm, it would take some logistics but.......

Thanks SS, but your race back to the trails to hike with us is much more impressive and important. YOU GO!”