TEAM thebackpacker.com 77hr Adventure ra ce

“I've been checking the site peridically. If you hear more, Sass, please pass it along! I've got some adreanaline flowing just from hearing about it all! LOL!

GO TEAM THEBACKPACKER.COM!!!”

“they are like in 30th place now, but place doesn't matter at this point, many of these fast teams are burning themselves up. Its a stamina race.”

“How are you figuring out what place they're in?”

“Count the teams with slower times posted and subtract.



Just heard from Nigal!!! They passed through TA#1 at 3pm, stayed for 1/2 an hour. Everyone ate and they were in great shape.

Dhutch had burned her hand on a carabiner from the zip line over the Manistee River (with their bikes!). She iced it in a cooler for a bit and then they went on.

Hyway you're absolutely right. The strategy they talked about was a good steady pace, no matter how tempting it might be to fly on the first day.”

“Let's go guys! Enough saving your energy now ...

Go! Go! Go!”

“Count the teams with slower times posted and subtract. Yeah, and I'm a math minor. Apparently, I couldn't figure that out on my own. :)


Ok, keep us posted today!”

“Nothing this morning. That board is frustrating! I'll wait awhile longer and start trying to get Nigal on the phone.”

“Some of those team names are pretty good.

Rage Against the Terrain
Four Cheese Explosion”

“I like four cheese too, lol.

It was pretty darn dark up here last night. Thick clouds and very windy. Low of forty-two where they were.”

“The name sounds like the voice of experience. 2 days running full out with one goal in mind and then post race meal.”

“Talked to Nige. They haven't seen them at TA2 yet. He did say that the skies were clear up there, thankfully. So they had some light.

The area they are trekking is a tank practice ground near Grayling (camp Grayling). It is miles and miles of unmarked two tracks that go through forest. My Dad has a small plane and has taken me up over the area before. It's amazing how vast it is.

Nigal says 19 teams have come into TA2. If they're hanging in the same place they were yesterday or slightly improved they should be coming into transition soon. Next leg is canoeing the Ausauble River.

The River Rats will have a HUGE advantage there as they have done the AuSauble river canoe marathon for the past 12 years or something. They'll know every curve and stump in the river (the marathon is 300+ miles long and begins in the dark).”

“Two teams have dropped (Meat and 4 Cheese explosion). Two teams are DQed (Ginsu and Gutsy).”

“I had high hopes for the Cheese”

“The cheese got mentioned as an early front runner. They must have imploded”

“That update board sucks. The 5:50 update says that all teams have been cleared through CP8 (except #20) but they don't have all teh times up.”

“Keep us updated, this is exciting! Its time to start digging and moving up through the pack?”

“We just found out that we have internet access here so I thought I'd give you guys an on the scene update....We're still waiting to see them at TA2.... only 20 teams have made it here so far so this stage mst be a little tougher than everyone thought.
According to our best guess they should be showing up any time!
Also we've hearing that as many as five teams have dropped now so that should move them up a little!”

“unless they were teams behind them :).

I expect that they will still have plenty of go toward the end of the race while others start falling back, or out.”

“Hi guys! Nigal here.

This just in...they just went through CP 12 and should reach TA2 in about 1/2 hour.”

“Nigal is Up's luver”

“Keep it going Team TT!

Nigal, let them know we're all pulling for them and behind them (way behind in my case).”

“same here, but a big behind in my case”

“Life around the old support trailor is fun. We spend a few hours getting the equivilant of a month's worth of gear for four ll set out and perfect. Then when they come in they do what they need to, let us know what they need nd then when they're gone it's like a tornado hit the camp. LOL!

We're ll getting long great and birch's sister Linette is so much help. She is Head Ho and a great organizer. We'll post the update fter we get the tem back on there way.

Nigal”

“Good work UpLuver, love the on scene reports. Seriously, let them know everyone is following this and pulling for them. Slow and steady wins the race. Go Team TT”

“I"m an internet junkie at work as it is, but I keep checking this thread for updates ALL the time!

Go Dhutch and Birch and the rest of the team and the Ho's! GO TEAM TT!”

“Looks like they are still around position 30. Still plenty of time left to move up or for other teams to fall out”

“How much time is left?”

“Damn, I am getting tired just waiting on the updates.

Team TT must be exhausted by now.”

“I just got a phone update and they got into TA2 at 11am and are now sleeping. They'll be back on the go by 2pm. They managed to move up a place through the night. They said some of the CP's were really far out of the way. They didn't sleep at all through the night.

Everyone's in good shape. Birch has a blister, Dhutch has some chaffing but they're in great spirits and doing well all-in-all.

The race finishes at 12:00pm Sunday.
last edited: 6/03/05 11:34:41 AM”

“I cannot wait until 5pm tomorrow when I can head up there; it's making me crazy being here not knowing what's going on!”

“Well Sass beat me too it :p~~
But yeah they're all sleeping now trying to get a little rest before they head out again.
They are pretty beat and have all the aches and bruises one would expect them to have, but they all seemed to be in pretty good spirits and I think they'll be fine after their naps.”

“Hey UP, give Birch a big kiss for me K? ;)”

“Sass - interesting dilema, would you prefer Nigal or UP administer that kiss?”

“Congrats on moving up a spot. One at a time!”

“I vote for Nigal.”

“Wish there was individual leg times and not just overall times. Be interesting to see how they are finishing in each of the sections as the race moves on.”

“(Shhh, don't talk so loud - the team is sleeping!!)”

“Naw, they're canoeing 48 miles right now.”

“Dang, how long did they sleep??? 20 minutes?

Or has the day just gone by that fast here...”

“They came into TA2 3 seconds behind "Blind Leading the Blind." Kinda funny.”

“dh, I am fairly sure that is 3 minutes behind. The time is hours/minutes since the race started.

Absolute Endo and Eastern Mountain Sports are smokin”

“yeah, hope they burn out by Sunday!”

“You're correct, it's still funny though.”

“i'm "watching" just not posting...”

“hate to tell you gem, but somebody just posted under your name : )”

“Evidently, the Blind is no longer leading the Blind, or anyone for that matter. They dropped.”

“28th

Guys, you're of the select few of people that would even qualify or attempt an event such as that. Congratulations on that and I hope you guys had fun out there.

Next year ... Top 10!

Looking forward for those Trip Reports.
last edited: 6/05/05 3:09:21 PM”

“Very impressive. I dare say that I would have trouble staying awake for 77hrs, much less racing for that amount of time. Way to go!”

“most impressive!”

“Whew, we're home! It took the team 72.5 hours to go 242 miles. They did great! It was wonderful to see them cross the finish line.

The support Hos (Nigal, Upluver and Lenette) were invaluable. The team couldn't say enough about how well organized they were and how much help they were when they really needed it. They looked just as exhausted as the racers to me. I got to see them in action at the last TA. It was impressive!”