Birch's Adven. Race Report

“Saturday 6am meet the shuttle for transport to start point (as of yet unknown).
We arrived in downtown Portsmouth Ohio and were assembled at the towns park. Race packets were handed out with maps for Check Points (CP) 1-5 plus instructions. Race began 15 minutes later. Navigated through historic Portsmouth looking for the first 5 CP's,only took about 30minutes, a nice warm up.

Next was a 20+ question form about Portsmouth history. all the answers were from a series of murals painted on a flood wall that was 20ft high by 1/3mile long. That took 30min or so. Kinda frustrating but physically easy.

Arrved next at the boat point to start the paddle. Race officials signed me off and away I went. It was VERY foggy on the water maybe 100ft visiblity so I hugged the right bank knowing that CP 6 was ahead. Paddled about 90min through a vile smelly river grateful not to have to swim. Passed a HUGE barge and tug and saw the marina shortly after. Pulled in to a cheering crwod made up of Sass, Abby,Niga,Misses Nigal and Binks. Found out I was 7 minutes out of 1st place. Checked in at CP6 and was issued maps for the next 17 CP's. After a short reorganization I headed out. I stuck to roads to CP7 mainly dirt country roads that wound through dense woods devastated by winter ice storms. It began to get warm but I felt good. I ran and walked trying to pace myself. Arrived at CP7 with a hotspot on my left foot. Got checked in and did a quick sock change and moleskin patch. Linked up with 2 other soloists and a four person coed. We all scooted on down the road (we could take any route we wanted and founds the roads faster though longer). About 10 min later the road got ugly. Massive windfalls blocked the road for as far as we could see. To our left was a steep up, to our right a steep down. So we clawed,crawled and climbed through the bruch for a half mile. Finally I saw the road far below us and after checking the map bushwhacked down to it. The road had been cleared to this point. CP 8 was located under a bridge and could only be gotten to by gettin wet. After consulting the maps Jake (the soloist I linked up with) and I decided to stick together for a while. We also decided to bushwhack 3miles along a river bottom instead of 7 road miles. Into the thicket we went. To say it was hard would be a lie. It was h@ll. Briars and thorns covered the hillside and windfalls slowed us. We bumped into another 4 person team and all 6 of us went on. I doubled checked all of their navigators work and noticed he was overly optomistic about our progress. About and hour later we met another 4 person team (the ones I did the first road from CP7 to CP8 with). Jake and I split off and joined with them. After 30 minutes we decided to head up the north side to a bridal path. Upon our exhausted arrival we saw a third soloist. He left CP8 at the same time as us. So we gained no time and wasted much energy..mistake number one.

Hit CP9 (a cave) quickly and head down a service road to a rivercrossing ,stopped by a rest area to fill waters from the spigot. Crossed the river,ran through a campground (saw my camp) and boogied down a trail to a dam pond. Followed the pond to the main transition area (TA) and CP10. Checked in saw Sass etc...and readied my bike for the next 9 CP's. Plotted my course for the next for and got ready. Grabbed Jake and were off. Lots of hills,and more and more. I still cant figure out how and area can go up more then down. the next few CP's were uneventful. Met some horse camper who were nice enough to provide water and encouragement. By the time we met them it was 430pm ,about 9 hours of racing done. Continued on to CP15. It was located on a bridal trail so we went back off road. It was VERY rocky and steep. Lots of walking. The downhills were too steep so we walked many of them. Found CP15, and got the maps out. I told jake that I though the quickest way would be to continue south on the bridal path and not backtrack to the road. He said okay and we left...mistake number two. In my hast I had neglected to study the countours on my map. the Path was horrible. It took 1hr to go 3 mile. If we had backtracked we would have ended up on a road that went downhill for 1.5-2 miles. Found CP16 and left immediately. Flew to CP 17, started to feel good again on the flats and made some great time. After finding CP17 we were getting ready yo go when Jake noticed his front tire was low. As he inlflated it the valve broke off. He had never changed atire so I did it. Feeling a bit behind we left ASAP. The next 2 miles were uphill and awful I had to walk the last .5mile. On the downside of that hill I got my fastest speed for the day. 31mph on a gravel road not safe but fun fun fun! CP18 was my fastes bike CP of all maybe 45 seconds. I had left Jake on the descent. I continued on and stopped by a house to ask fro water, they obliged and chatted for a minute. I then met back up with jake and left. Then mistake number three. The map showed us taking the first left ahead...excpet the first left was labled and said "no outlet" I passed it by. Jake was tired so we parted. I made awesome time averaging 20mph for the next 3-4 miles. when I discovered that was all the way back at CP9 and had missed my road. I saw many others who made the same mistake. So we all turned back and raced back. Fortunately the dogs were tired and couldnt chase us to well. Finally got to CP 19 and were advised to pedal like crazy and let it rip as it was only 3miles to the last bike CP #20. It was now 915pm and dark. I let it rip and raced with a four man team. We flew, it was freaky as my headlight wouldnt stay in place so I jsut followed the taillights ahead. Pulled into CP20 dropped the bike,drank some mt dew (flat) and headed to the lake. stripped down and hopped in I tied the kayak to my PFD and swam as hard as I could to CP21 across the lake. Got through CP21 and got in the boat and paddle with my hands back to CP20 (race rules,1/2 swim,1/2 paddle with hands). Changed and headed out for the last stage a 7 mile night hike/run. Hit the hills nd cussed and scrambled through countless windfalls and brambles to CP22. I noticed lots of teams really struggled withe the night stuff. I think being a BPer who night hikes was a big help. They kept loosing the trails so I passed em by and was a alone. I had 2 hrs to the race cutoff. I made it to CP23 and was leaving at 1120pm.I took a road back to earn time. I walked and jogged a bit. I was really tired but the end was close and I was excited to finsh. I saw the finsh line 30 minutes later. I mustered all the strength I could and ran. I ran like I hadnt run all day. I felt horrible, my legs were numb my feet like burger and my brain was smoked. I approached the finish line to see Sass and all cheering wildly. I told the finish controller my name and age just as a coed 2 person team came in and gave their info. It was dark and I heard the staff say congratulations you are 1st place in your division. I turned to congratulate the other team when he said " no its you Joe. you made first in your divsion". I almost passed out. I couldnt belive that I had made it,let alone taken first in my bracket debatably the hardest solo bracket for men. I found out then that only 15 outta 70 teams had come in so far. I sat with my friends, ate a burger and basked in my 15 seconds of fame.

Total distances...
kayak they say 12miles I say 7
Run/trek about 20-22miles
Bike 45.4miles.

injuries...
literally hundreds of scrapes on my shins/calves
3 blisters on right foot
Prolly loose 2 toenails
Badly macerated footbeds

Thanks to Sass,Abby,Binks,Nigal and Misses Nigal for the encouragement!!!

I will link photos and official results when available.”

“BTW hey Bacpac, when you said "DNF" on the other thread did you mean "did not fail" or "did not falter"...Have some whipped cream with your humble pie. Also start writing some checks.”

“congratulations birch, I got tired just reading about it. I knew you could do it.”

“Birch - You are awesome. I'm very proud of you!!! Sounds like hard work but lots of fun!!”

“My knees hurt just reading that. Great race, superbly told! Very cool that you finished 1st in your bracket. Which was...what? I can't wait to see the pics!”

“Tango, his group was: men, 30-35.

HFP racing has a website that will have the official results soon, (Benchmark Appalation Adventure Race). And there's another website that has photos taken of the participants crossing the finish line. I'll post links when the stuff is up.

I still maintain that Bacpac knew just what to say to give Birch the extra incentive to finish and finish strong.”

“Ooops, I may have the age group wrong. It may be 26-30? I don't know, one or the other.”

“joe....

congratulations!! and many thanks for sharing your triumph with us via the great report!!”

“Excellent. way to go!!”

“Great job again Joe!

It was great to see you guys again and to meet Nigal and wife.

It was awesome to be there and to see one of these races. It was a madhouse and very exciting even for the spectators.”

“AWESOME! Congrats on a super achievement.”

“Turns out my bracket is 25-34, I just checked the site (results for another race).”

“Way to go, Birch! That was a good read!”

“He|| yeah!

Way to go Birch!”

“That is fan-frickin'-tasic! What a feat! How proud you must be!

This just goes beyond words!!!!”

“Who da'man, Birch?

YOU DA'MAN!!!”

“Way to go, birch! Amazing achievement. Thanks for sharing the story.”

“Totally and absolutely 100% kick ass. Congrats man, that is beyond awesome.”

“Awesome Birch!!!

Great Job!

I'm sure you are going to be on a high for a while....”

“WAY TO GO DUDE!!!!!!
YOU DA MAN!!!

I'm proud of ya!!!

May your blisters and scrapes heal quickly.”

“Good job bro. Something to be proud of.”

“Good job, Bro'. Sounds like a blast!”

“I have to say something here.

1. I know Joe, and know his psyhce. he had trained hard for this race, and just finishing is an accomplishment.

2. I ran an adventure race half this legnth last fall and busted my knee. The ups and downs on the hills are endless and grueling. I've hiked trails that had ascents of 4'000 feet that were easier. Shawnee is nothing but up, down, up, down, ane up again.... no ridges here.

3. The training combined with the terrain, and me not being a kiss a$$ - this is a huge goal met. Joe's stanima, and will are unmatched by anybody I've ever met. Word!

Nice job bro, I'm both impressed and proud to know you.”

“heck yes, i never doupted you for a minute! you are the king, there is none higher!”

“I have to add to the well wishes here. Sense Birch has begun doing these races he would drop me a note once in a while telling me what kind of training he is doing and what kind of gear he’s been getting. It’s always cool to watch someone you know get so amped about something. He took an interest, worked his ass off and achieved what he set out to do. As the group stood around Birch as he sat down after the race he was jabbing away (par for the course) and he was just so exhausted but still so excited. He had finished, which was his goal but he exceeded his own expectations. As he sat there and said, “I’ve never won anything in my life.”. I felt so proud of him just then. Not some type of vicarious pride like as if to say I’m a friend of the guy that won, but just because I know how hard he worked for it.

I’ve told Joe many times that he inspires me and this holds true even more so now.”

“birch---
what a TremendouS accomplishment!!! tons of congrats to you!!”

“nigal, well said....”

“good job birch!”

“Great job, birch!!! Congrats.”

“Congratulations. Check is in the mail.”

“Congratulations!

Now we have proof that you're twice the man Buddha Bear is.”

“Congratulations, great job!”

“More than just congrats Birch! You're an inspiration. Great report!! Thanks for all of the details.”

“Dang, Birch! This is so cool....dang! Way to go!”

“Thank you all sooo much for the kudos!!! It was an awesome time for sure. I ended up taking today off work too, needed a bit more recovery time LOL.

3 months to my next one...”

“Where's the next one at?”

“Up here somewhere Nigal, Dhutch is putting together a four person team.I dont know exactly when or where...

My official time 16hrs 25min 45 sec

22 teams finished.”

“Birch, Way to go. And goood luck on your next one. Yo bear!”

“Way to go Birch!!

Guess you remembered my advice from the other thread: "Don't forget to win."”

“Three months? Pick me! Pick me! :)

Congrats, sounds like a great accomplishment.”

“Outstanding! Good job.”

“Fritz, DHutch already has our 4 person team setup...Next time??”

“Dang...guess I'll have to bring my own team and kick you guys' collective butt! ;)

But really, good luck to you guys...what race is it?”

“Its the " 24 hour adventure rage" put on by SMAC (smacworld.com). It looks to be a good one, especially since I only have to drive 90min to get there.

Seriously though fritz, if we plan ahead enough we can do this.”

“Here ya go Le Subtil!”

“Wow...awesome. Good Job!”

“Thanks LeSubtil, now if the poison ivy would just heal...”

“I am not allergic to poison ivy.

Nanny, Nanny, boo boo :-)

Good Job on the race, by the way.”

“I doubt I could even sit upright on the couch for 16hrs 25min 45 sec!”

“Thanks bacpac

LeSubtil, sitting felt sooooooooo good after that,LOL!”