James and John Take on the K2O 202km paddling race

When I first decided to do this race, I knew that I would want to do it in a canoe with a team mate. I don't quite have the balance and skills that Nathalie has in a kayak so I would have either swam a lot or been in a very slow but stable boat. Instead I enlisted the help of my longtime adventure racing teammate, John Ranson. We've done many adventure races together and I knew he had a lot of experience paddling and boating on the Rideau, so he was an obvious choice.

We spent a fair bit of time trying to decide which canoe to rent for this race, and opted to go with the advice of the folks at the rental place. We picked up our boat in Ottawa on Friday afternoon and then spent a little bit of time trying to figure out how to carry both the canoe and Nat's kayak on the car all the way to Kingston.

We started the race at 6am with the rest of the racers - a beautiful morning for paddling with what would be a steady, all-day headwind blowing in our faces. The first half of the race was actually somewhat uneventful - just a long paddling on a nice sunny day in relatively good conditions. We moved fairly well and were quite efficient at the portages around the locks. This was in part due to the fact that we opted to go without a support crew for the race, so there was no reason to stop at the lock stations, except to refill water and go to the washrooms.

As we moved into the night, things got quite a bit tougher. Not only were we tired from having completed over half of the 200km of the race, but night time made it harder to find our way through the snaking channels. We had good nautical maps with us, but we didn't have a GPS unit, so although we weren't all that worried about getting seriously lost, the difficulty of finding the buoys at night was a big risk for slowing us down considerably. We were very fortunate to have another canoe not far ahead of us, so this made our lives much easier as we paddled on into the night.

As the night wore on, we eventually ended up paddling completely on our own. After about 30 minutes of detours and playing in the weeds, we finally found our way back into the channel. The thick fog made it increasingly difficult to spot the buoys and fatigue - both muscular and sleepiness was adding to the challenge. As we crossed under Highway 416, it was a few hours before dawn and both John and I did a few head bobs as we nodded off briefly.

When morning finally came, we were finally in the narrowest section of the race course, which meant not having to focus too much on the navigation. Despite our tired muscles, John and I were able to increase our pace and have a strong last portion of the race. We finally arrived at the finish line after 30+ hours, weary and beaten, but very happy to have completed such a tough test of our mental and physical abilities. We ended up finishing in 8th place overall. Considering we were not well trained for this length of paddling and we were not in a racing canoe, we were happy with the result.

Going into the race, I wasn't sure what to wear, particularly on my legs as I knew I would be dealing with a whole host of changing conditions - heat, water, cold, wind, chafing issues, etc. I opted for my 2XU tights and a light pair of shorts over top - which turned out to be the perfect combination. No major chafing issues and I was never too hot or too cold (I did put on rain pants as well for the night). In terms of nutrition, I was very happy as well. Since we were unsupported, we had to carry all of our food for 30+ hours, so this wasn't much different from our usual adventure racing food selection. Once again, the StrongBars were an awesome and filling treat at various points on the course while the NUUN kept us well hydrated. I had also brought a few Pacific Health Labs Accel Gels and 2nd Surge gels with me for those moments when I needed a boost of energy and they delivered right on cue - I really like the fact that these gels are more liquid than most, so it makes it way easier to take.

So other than the brutal beating that comes with doing a repetitive activity (paddling) for so long, I was very happy with how the race unfolded. If I ever do this event (or any other marathon paddling event) again, I will definitely need to put in more long training hours beforehand. The Rideau River system is very weedy, but very beautiful nonetheless and I'm glad I had the opportunity to do the race and to get back in a canoe with John again.

James.     

Cowboy Tough 3,5 days Expedition race 2015-7th overall (1st of the Adventure class)

Jason, James and I decided to do Cowboy Tough a few months ago but we didn't have a 4th.
We needed a 4th but most of all we needed a navigator so Jason wouldn't be on his own for the entire race.
That's when the race director put us in touch with Fritz (racer of Rev3).
We didn't know Fritz before and Unfortunately didn't have time to do a race all together prior the expedition.
We all flew to Wyoming on the Tuesday, Jason, James and I meeting up in Denver and then driving up to Casper while Fritz was supposed to meet us up there at about the same time.
After taking possession of what must be the pick up with the roughest suspension on earth, we started our drive and stopped on the way to do our groceries.
Fritz got delayed and delayed again and finally made it to the hotel past midnight...without one of his bags (that he got the next day on time for the race).
Wednesday was the check in and gear check, then race briefing and packing the boxes.
We managed to have a decent night of sleep before the race which is always a bonus in those races.
On Thursday morning we took the bus up to Buffalo where the race started.

 

Day1:
The race started with a small Orienteering course in town with different challenges: a shot of whiskey, punching a CP at the bottom of a 10-12 feet deep pool, collecting a telegram and a bullet casing. The orienteering was on foot and as soon as we were done we ran back to the TA (start), took our bikes and left for a couple of hours on the bike.
The first CP on the bike was a challenge. We got to a corral and were told that one of us needed to get in there and pick up a ribbon from a cow's tail (they were babies).
I heard a start of conversation in the team to know who was going and decided we didnt have time for that, so I jumped in...and then realized that I'm scared of cows :S but hey, I was in there, so I did my best and ended up getting one without getting hurt :)

Jumped back on bikes to get to the paddle.

There were two kind of canoes laying there and we picked the first one we saw that looked ok...big mistake. We ended up being passed by everybody who had the other kind of canoes. We thought they were about the same but there was actually 15 and 17 feet long canoes (if i'm correct).
Anyway the paddle was kind of painful because of the CPs not being exactly where they were supposed to be and one was not in place at all, which made us turn around for a while.
We saw the Yogas, Nuun, and Swiss Army turning around but we decided to try a little more to find it...without success.
By the time we came back, those teams were gone on the bike and we met them back up at the next challenge. In that one we had to guess a 3 letter word by flag signals. One or two persons were running to a far away field and were doing flag signals to make us guess a word.

We did relatively ok at it and were back on the bike quickly.
A couple of hours more and we were in TA ready to tackle the first big Trek that would take us up to 10 000 feet.
We started the trek with the Yoga and left them behind as we were climbing (one of their team mate wasn't feeling great). We had a great climb, passing a few teams on the way. Jason's navigation was awesome and we got all the CPs without any troubles up to CP 18. On the way down from CP16 we met Dart Nuun going up, which meant we had passed them somewhere on the way. We were moving well. On the way to CP18 Fritz started to have feet problems so we stopped for him to fix them. As we kept on going he started not feeling very well with GI issues that went on for the whole night. CP19 ended up being the race breaker for us.
The trail disappeared and we turned around and around for 4 to 5 hours. We were by then at 10 000 feet or close. I was feeling sicky from the altitude and just wanted to get back down. I really wanted to find that CP quickly. Fritz wasn't feeling any better at this point, so he couldn't help Jason which didn't simplify the situation.
After finally finding the CP we made another mistake going to CP20 that cost us another 2h+...the race was kind of over...we had missed a cut off.
The morale of the team went down and by the time we got to transition we didn't know if we would be allowed to keep on racing or not.

Day2:
They decided to put us on an "adventure class" course, which only meant that you had missed a cut off and were not forced to get mandatory points from there on but could get any CPs (mandatory or optional).
We decided to go for it and get as many CPs as we could, like if we were still on course.
After a sluggish 1h45 transition, we left on the bikes. We reached the rappel CP pretty quickly and decided to go for more CPs instead of just riding to the End of day transition. So we kept on going on the regular route and picking up CPs. One of the CP was on the top of a mountain. It was so windy.
We decided to go to the end of day after CP32 (I didnt want to but got outvoted). That ride was ssssooooo long and boring. We did it all at night and it was just a repetitive gravel road with not much to keep you awake. That was our second night awake and we rode all night until early morning (we actually stopped for a 15min nap on the side of the road).
Day3:
We got to TA and decided to go for some Optional CPs since we still had a bit of time. We hit two of them pretty quickly and messed up one in a creek that cost us a bit of time.
We got back to TA just on time to leave for Day3..on the bike again.
We rode a part of that bike ride with the Yoga. I guess we were kind of just following but we had to stop after a while and then we didn't know where we were. After turning around for a while we finally made it back on track...for 10 minutes before my first flat.
My tire was pretty new but had so many little cuts it was unbelievable.
The rocks were sharp I guess. We changed the tube just to get a second flat 2 min later.
James decided to cut open a punctured tube to make a protective layer for the new tube inside the tire...it worked.
We got to a CP at the canyon that was really pretty and even got burgers thanks to NYARA :)

Leaving there was again pretty hard (as every transition or stops we did) but we managed to get back on the road and picked up more optional CPs.

 

We struggled for a while and ended up not finding a CP at a well and decided to go to TA.
We got to TA end of day 3 after 63 hours of racing or so...and no sleep. We agreed on having a 2h stop which would include getting changed eating and sleeping. Alarm was set for 2am and we were supposed to leave for the orienteering course at 2:15am sharp....After barely 1h15 of sleep I was awake, looking at the map to see which CPs we would have time to get. By 2am I had a plan and was ready to wake the guys up.
That last TA was a nightmare to leave, and we ended up not getting out of the transition until 2:45am. But Hey at least we went...We picked up the first 3 Cps easily and decided to go for a couple more...problem is we went way too far and ended up picking up a CP we didn't plan to pick and missed the two others that we wanted to take closer to us...it was a bit of a rush to get back in the TA right on time to not be cut off and jump on our bikes.
Day4:
The bike was a 70 mile bike ride back to Casper with some elevation, especially at the start. We managed a good pace and within half the bike ride we had passed many teams.

The second half of the ride was my favorite.
We rode in an echelon formation with Nordic adventure racing team for a while and that was very cool. After a while we decided to go just our team and we took off. It felt fast and great.
By the time we reached town we had reached and passed a lot of teams. We got to the last TA where we took our packrafts and ran to the put in 3 miles upstream. We picked up our last CP and went down river in no time thanks to the current.

Arriving at the finish line, Jason and Fritz decided to race James and I to cross the line first :)

In summary a lot of fun but very disappointed to not have stayed on the full course. We were fit and fast and I am more than sure that we could have done great if only we could have helped Jason with the nav a little more when he needed it. This is the second race that Jason, James and I have done together and once again I loved racing with them and would do it all over again anytime.
I didn't mention it too much but I did spend my time freezing my butt (I really thought it would be a warm race) and when i wasn't freezing I sunburnt real good :/
On a super positive side I loved my Altra Lonepeaks to bits. I didn't have any feet pain which is really rare for me and my 2XU and Pearl Izumi clothing and equipment worked really well. We rode 392km in 3,5 days and I didn't get a rash. First time ever and I only used cream once prior to the race...I am stoked!!!

Frenchie

Photo credits: Michael Sero and Randy Eriksen, two kick ass photographers

UltimateXC 60km Trail Race - James' Race Report

I was not approaching this installment of the UltimateXC 60km in the same way that I have prepared for this race in the past. The main reason for this was the fact that I am still recovering from an ankle injury sustained close to a month ago. I had done two adventure races since the injury, but I was able to walk or lightly jog for the trekking sections of both of those races. I knew from having done the race before that this course is an all-out assault on your body – particularly the quads (from the climbing and the descents) and the ankles (from the technical terrain). So I was quite concerned about tackling the trail at full speed. I considered skipping the race altogether but ultimately decided to approach it as a training run. I’d been running with a little bit of pain in the injured ankle, but it seemed to be stable in the technical trails, but I could tell that my fear of rolling the ankle again was making me hesitant at higher speeds. But during our Natural Fitness Labs Tuesday night run the week before the race, I chased a pack of runners at pretty high speed a trail that I knew pretty well, so that gave me a little more confidence that my ankle would hold up. But I still didn’t think I was going to have a very good race since my training specifically for trail running had also suffered over the past month and I was a little on the heavy side for a pure trail running race. Regardless, I was excited to be getting out into the trails once again.

The night before the race was a little more eventful than we would have liked. We stayed with a friend at his friend’s cottage about 30 minutes from the bus pick-up and had a great dinner and relaxed evening, up until just before bedtime when the owner realized that the water pump for the house was not working. After unsuccessful attempts at trying to fix it, we all went to bed without any opportunity to use the washrooms or have access to potable water overnight or in the morning. So Nat and I toughed it out (read: held “it”) through the night and decided we’d have to get up early and try to find somewhere in town to have some oatmeal for breakfast. It was a pretty quick transition at 4:40am as we got changed and hurried out the door to try and find a bathroom and some food. We were delighted to find a Tim Horton’s on our way to the bus pick-up but they only had enough oatmeal for one of us. So for me it was a Tim Horton’s hot breakfast sandwich and bottle of NUUN for breakfast! The rest of the pre-race morning was thankfully uneventful.

We got to the start line and after a few instructions we were off. I am always terrible at pacing in a race and I always go out too hard, so this time I purposely tried to place myself closer to the middle of the “mid-pack”, rather than the usual back of the “front pack”. I tried to just let myself warm up and payed very close attention to the trail so that I wouldn’t roll my ankle while following closely in a pace line. As the trail started to climb I found myself wanting to pass people (as climbing is generally my strength). So I tried to hold back for a bit and then I decided I would just slowly make my way to the front of the small group in front of me, mainly so that I could see the trail better in front of me. As the hills kept coming, I caught up to a few more people and proceeded with the same logic of getting ahead so I could see the trail better. To my surprise and delight, my ankle was feeling pretty good. I wasn’t sure if it was the adrenaline or something else, but I just decided I would go with it and see what happens.

As we got the first aid station, I figured I was probably somewhere in the 5^th – 10^th place range. As I got there, one of the volunteers asked me if the race had started late. I said “yes, about 15 minutes” and then asked him why he was asking. He said, “you are the first one here”. I was quite surprised and quite skeptical – particularly since I’ve heard this before in races, only to find out that it’s because the leaders were so far ahead that people hadn’t even seen them. There were 4 of us running pretty close together, and 2 of them left the aid station before me.

I eventually caught up to the third place runner and then finally caught up to the leader – someone I know quite well: Benoit Letourneau. I knew Ben has been training hard in preparation for the Harricana 125km race in September, and he was certainly in fine form for this race. I followed Ben for a while and then finally made a move somewhere in the middle section of the race. I was feeling quite good on some flowy singletrack that was slightly downhill, followed by a long gravel road downhill. I had pushed pretty hard and thought that I had built myself a little cushion on Ben and the other runner. But as we started to climb again, I looked back and saw Ben reeling me in. He was looking very strong and steady as he caught up to me and pulled ahead. I tried for a while to keep pace with him, but he was moving very well on the downhills and kept making ground on me until I couldn’t see him anymore.

The second half of the race was challenging for me. The ankle was still feeling pretty good, even after a few close calls on it. I was getting tired and was struggling to keep a good pace. My spirits were lifted when we finally rejoined with the 38km runners again, as I was able to see plenty of people in front of me and I felt stronger as I passed them. The “Vietnam” section (a very rugged and wet section of the course) was easier than in past years due to drier conditions, so that was a mental boost as well. I suspected at this point that Ben was long gone ahead of me and I started to be thinking more about who was chasing me. But when I got to the aid station after the Vietnam, I was informed that Ben was only a few minutes ahead of me. I quickly gulped down a Surge All Natural Energy Shot and headed out.

The last 18km of the race were really tough. I was really starting to feel the lack of trail running training in the past month and I was having trouble eating anything substantial at the aid stations. At this point I struggled but still managed to get down a Pure Strength Protein Bar from StrongBars Nutrition and an Accel Gel from Pacific Health Labs (two of our new sponsors), which helped give me some much needed energy to keep going. I was still feeling pretty rough and was looking over my shoulder more and more, waiting to get caught by someone else as the kilometers dragged on and on. Then I got to a part of the race I had totally forgotten about – a ski hill climb with a sign at the bottom calling it the “Hell Climb”. This is a quad-busting, soul-breaking, monster of a steep hill that lures you into believing you have climbed it, only to make a sharp left turn and reveal that you are only half way to the summit. From the bottom, I didn’t even really want to look up to see how much climbing there was ahead of me. But when I did, I was very surprised to see Ben about half way up the first part of the climb. This brought me some hope that I wasn’t going much slower than him or the other runners behind us. So I put my head down and just tried to climb at a steady pace. After a while I looked back up the hill and realized I was gaining some ground. So I tried to put in a steady pace to fully close the gap before the top of the hill. I managed to pass Ben somewhere near the sharp left turn (I think… my memory from this part is a little fuzzy!) and tried to put a little distance between us on the second half of the climb. I found out afterwards that at the previous aid station Ben had done an in-race test of a meal replacement shake (in preparation for Hurricana) and it did not sit well with him.

Once at the top, I was informed that it was about 8.5km to the finish, mostly downhill. All I can tell you is that it felt like anything but 8.5km or mostly downhill from that point onward. I was sure I would get caught by Ben and/or somebody else at some point before the end of the race and I was sure that I was going slower and slower as the kilometers wore on. The last 8+ kms felt longer than the whole rest of the race. I just kept looking back, expecting to see someone gaining on me at any moment. But when I finally got to a few long open road sections in the last 2 kilometers, I could see that I had a little cushion to work with, so I just put all my focus on getting to the finish line, all the while just wanting the fatigue to be over with. I was very excited to cross the finish line and finally stop running, all the while taking in the spectacle of the winners of the 120km race who had crossed the finish line shortly before me. I quickly exited the finishers area with as many pieces of watermelon that I could fit in one hand (and one in my mouth) and went to celebrate with a few friends/training partners who had finished their races earlier.

After getting some food, taking off my shoes, socks, and 2XU compression calf sleeves, and chilling out fora little bit, the awards ceremony started. Just as I was getting off the podium I heard what sounded like a familiar scream, followed by Dave McMahon telling me “your girlfriend just came in second place!” We weren’t expecting Nathalie to arrive for at least another 20 minutes, so I was ecstatic to hear she’d finished already – and a little disappointed that I wasn’t at the finish line to greet her. I quickly ran to the fence line to congratulate her on her 2^nd place tie in the women’s 60km race. The pictures of her at the finish line I think tell the story for both of us – a little bit of surprise, a ton of excitement, and even more relief to just be finished such a tough race.

It made a HUGE difference out on the course to know that I was well equipped for the race from a nutritional (NUUN Hydration, Pacific Health Labs, StrongBars Nutrition), clothing (2XU compression), gear (Osprey Packs), and training (Natural Fitness Labs) standpoint. Dave McMahon and Lise Meloche (Natural Fitness Labs) have been outstanding coaches and have helped me to get stronger, faster, and technically better every year. My new Osprey Rev 6 pack felt great through the whole race. And while there were plenty of food options at the aid stations, I carried a few specific nutritional items from our sponsors with me for particular moments in the race and they performed great when I really needed them. And as always, I am convinced that racing (and recovering!) in 2XU compression gear makes a big difference in my performance… and it looks great too!

Nat and I will spend the rest of the week recovering from the race and preparing for a weekend mountain bike weekend at the Kingdom Trails in East Burke, VT next weekend. All this is in preparation for our next big adventure race - Cowboy Tough - in Wyoming in a few weeks.        

  

Ultimate XC St Donat 60km trail race- Nat's first podium on an ultra finishing tied for 2nd place in the women's.

I haven’t been doing much ultra runs. Actually I have done 1 pure ultra last year, the Endurance challenge 50km in Utah and that is it.

I have done many ultra distances in Adventure racing but the pace is never the same as in a single discipline race.

I went to the Ultimate XC back in 2011 when it was at Mont Tremblant and was participating at the time in the 3 days event. My 58km run then was very slow (10h38) and I thought I would die for the last 30km which is a considerable amount of time when you think about it.

James and I packed our stuff and went to a friend’s cottage 30 min from the race on the Friday night.

Really nice little place and good company made it for a pleasant and not too stressful evening…except that the water pomp broke and we didn’t have water…or bathroom.

James and I were racing the 60km so we had to wake up pretty early and we made our way towards St Donat, praying to find a Tim Horton open to be able to get breakfast and a bathroom stop.

I was pretty stressed and wasn’t feeling 100% but I had put all the chances on my side to have a good race. I had my 2XU compression shorts and socks, my Altra LonePeak 2.0, my osprey Rev 1.5L, my nuun tablets for hydration and I had my PacificHealthLab gels and strongbar nutrition bars ready to be eaten.

At 6:15am we were in the buses in direction to the start. I was frozen as we couldn’t leave anything in the bus so it was either carrying the sweater the whole way or freezing for 40min…I froze!

 A last quick kiss to James and off we went. I tried not to go too fast but was frustrated to see myself walking the up hills very quickly. My calves started cramping and I had no electrolyte tablets with me. I only had a little bit of Nuun in my camel back so I started drinking. It was a lot steeper than expected. For the first 5-6km another girl and I kept on passing each others. Then the downhill arrived and she blew blast me. Then a group of at least ten people and another girl passed me.

I didn't like the first 20km. I found it a little too technical to my liking and I kept on rolling my ankles on loose rocks covered by leaves. It didn't help that my knee was hurting a little bit preventing me from bending it too much.

I, for once, didn't think negatively but tried to think positive. It was a beautiful day and yes people were passing me but I still had lots of people behind and hey I was catching up to those people as soon as it was climbing.

I started setting up small very achievable goals. To the next aid station then as my legs were starting to be a little sore I was dreaming of the Vietnam section that was at 40km in where I'd be in the water.

At the feed station just before the Vietnam (35km) oh surprise I caught up to one of the two girls that had passed me in the first few kms. I was pretty happy and decided to not let her go. She looked like she was in a down moment and we left to the Vietnam a minute apart. Quickly I caught up to her and we did the section together, helping each others.

It is really nice to be able to run with someone who has about your pace but different strength. By the end of Vietnam we passed a bunch of people who were seating there changing their socks and all. We travelled Joelle and I together for the rest of the course. 18km before the end we made a deal. If we were still neck to neck by the time the 2km came we would go to the finish together. We kept on pushing each other's and passed people on the way. In the last climb some girls told us we were 2nd and 3rd which we didn't believe at first. I could remember the first girl that passed me at the start and I knew there was at least another girl ahead but Joelle told me that we had passed the girl from the start a while ago..oh well we were having a great race and we agreed that finishing on the podium or not we would be happy with our race.

We ended up crossing the line together in 8h37 (on my watch-8h39 on the timing machine-we started late) in second position in the women category.

The organization not wanting to have a tied found out a way to look at the hundredth of a second and called me third. We were 18th and 19th overall out of 51 finishers.

I was more than happy.

I was expecting 9 to 10 hours and mid field and was an hour faster and on top of the field. James crushed it and won the race in 6h57. He is my hero!!!

Nothing felt better than seeing friendly faces at the finish (Dave,Augusto, Amanda and of course James).

Dave and Lise brought me a long way and I'm thankful to Natural Fitness Lab for it.

Nat

Equinox Traverse 2015-44h AR- 3rd place co-ed, 5th overall

Jason, Nathalie and James as a 3 Person Co-ed Elite team.

Map handout began at 7:00am where we had 90 minutes before the pre-race meeting to transfer all of the off-limit roads, allowable crossing locations and the control/TA locations from a master map set hanging on the wall to our own version. In addition, we had to divide up the gear, batteries and food into a small team bin and a paddle bag and come up with an optimal route for the next 44 hours. In theory a 3 person team should be faster than a 4 person team racing but we certainly could have used a 4th set of hands to get everything done prior to the start. As we lined up I was confident in the first bike route and the following trekking leg but was uneasy about the route I had partially planned for the huge second bike leg. The rest of the course was to be divulged later on the course.

A neutral start helped keep things sane until we hit the first climb when we were allowed to take off. We kept the pace somewhat comfortable on the long climb out of town as we paralleled the Laurel Highland Trail and managed to open a gap on everyone but one solo racer. Once at the top it was a fast rip downhill passing 2 cp’s and yelling out our team number as we went. The route was pretty straightforward with the exception of a short powerline bikewhack, then onto a rail trail I had not been on previously which took us to TA1 at Camp Christian. Within a few seconds we were joined in the TA by Rev3, Odyssey and AAS.
Mtn Bike 1:47:00 [3] 30.0 km (16.8 kph)

All teams left at about the same time but with different route options so it wasn’t long before we were by ourselves on our way to the first cp on the island. From there it was a 6k rail trail run to the remaining points on State land. The USGS map only showed a few old logging roads but we soon discovered a number of unmapped versions that we followed to a majority of the points using the ridgeline as a handrail.

Clue: Top of boulder


None of the points proved too difficult aside from the fact that they were 1000’ above the rail trail. Once we punched them all we descended down to the river and retraced our steps back to the TA along the railtrail which we noticed was slightly uphill the entire way. Something that went unnoticed on the way out.


As we approached the TA we ran into Odyssey where two trails merged and we ran into the TA together. AAS was just a few minutes back and the arrived as we were still transitioning.

Trek 5:17:00 [3] 31.0 km (10:14 / km)

While in the TA we put together the rest of the route for the second bike leg and headed out.

This was a big bike leg, both distance and climbing. We used the USGS map to get us to the Roaring Run Natural Area where a majority of the controls would be. We had transferred the control locations from the USGS map to the park map which had more options for roads and trails making getting to the area of the controls easier. Unfortunately it also made locating the actual controls once near them a little tougher as there location had been transferred (quickly) 2x from the original map at this point and we had to do a little more hunting for them than we should but fortunately James is quite the bloodhound. We were still seeing AAS and Odyssey every now and then so we were making good progress regardless.

"Looks like lots of climbing"

Around 1:30am our plan began to fall apart. We had just punched the Warming Hut control, our last control north of rte 31 and were heading towards one of the southern controls when Odyssey rode past us going the opposite direction which told me we were ahead of them. Then to our surprise as we were riding endlessly downhill towards TA4 we saw Odyssey and AAS heading uphill towards the southern controls from TA4 which was confusing. “They couldn’t have punched all the southern controls already…”. The clue sheet indicated that all of the controls north of 31 had to be punched before checking in at TA3 at 4am. We took this to mean that no other bike-O controls could be punched after leaving TA3 which wasn’t the case. All of the points south of rte 31 were still in play on the way to TA4 but for some reason in the fury of getting everything together we didn’t grasp this concept and tried to clear all of them before punching at TA3 (Cogo’s). We nearly pulled it off as by the time we hit TA3 we had all but 2 punched.

At this point we knew we had thrown the chance at the win away. In addition, Nathalie was extremely cold from the downhills so we spent some extra time at the TA (why did they call it a TA anyways??) eating 2 slices of pizza, a bottle of Gatorade and a bottle of Musclemilk each before heading back out to climb past a number of the controls we had already been to on our way to TA4. I’m sure it took a lot for Nathalie to walk back out into the cold for more biking given how cold she was with little chance for the win but there was no apprehension when left. We quickly warmed up with more climbing and the sun came up just as we rode past Seven Springs Resort and punched our last 2 controls on our way to Bear Run.

The entrance to Bear Run was at a marked waypoint and the route was flagged which we found to be the case until it stopped at a trail T intersection before reaching the TA. The USGS map didn’t show a clear way to the TA4 from there and I took us on a circuitous route with 2 bikewhacks to get there.

Mtn Bike 17:40:00 [3] 177.0 km (10 kph)

Bear Run O-course- When we arrived we were given a Bear Run trail map (would have been handy about 1 hour earlier) with 6 controls. At this point AAS and Odyssey had been on course for 2 hours so they were out of touch and we were now racing against Rev3 who had just headed out when we arrived. They had elected to drop two of the bike-O controls so we had a slight cushion to work with. At the TA we were also given the details for the rest of the course. After the O-course we would ride to Confluence to the paddle put-in, paddle to Ohiopyle on the Middle Yough followed by a 4 control trek back to Confluence and then a rail trail ride to the finish. We had to put-in by 6pm and be off the water by 8:30pm.

Hot TA!

Given all this info we decided to drop one out-and-back control on the O-course to ensure enough time for the biking and paddling. As we arrived back to the TA Rev3 was there getting ready to take off towards Confluence. Orienteering 3:47:00 [3] 12.0 km (18:55 / km)  

Despite having spent 4 hours on the Bear Run map I still tried to make it longer than necessary before hitting the flagging tape which led us back out to the waypoint. Rev3 passed us somewhere along the way but then we ran back into them again just before the put-in.

Mtn Bike 3:27:00 [3] 24.0 km (7.0 kph)

With the heat of the day on us the paddle down the middle Yough was very enjoyable. Our reward for the fun was the requirement of carrying the rafts 1k into town from the take-out.

Kayak 1:45:00 [3] 14.0 km (8.0 kph)

Back in Ohiopyle we were given 4 trekking controls to transfer onto our maps, two of which I’d been to before near Sugarloaf and the firetower. Knowing that we had one less point than AAS and Odyssey and one more than Rev3 we were pretty well locked in to third place. Nathalie transposed the control locations onto a park map and entertained us while brushing up on her navigation skills. Near the firetower we ran into Rev3 again and made the descent down to Ramcat and the bikes together.

Trek 6:58:00 [3] 23.0 km

Due to a flat rail trail ride and the enticement of sleep we quickly transitioned and made quick work of the last leg finishing up just after 2:30a Monday morning as the 3rd place Co-ed Elite team.

Mtn Bike 45:00 [3] 14.0 km (18.7 kph)

Thanks to American Adventure Sports for a challenging and fun course. All three of us have raced in the area previously and agreed this was the most-enjoyable version we’ve raced on in the area.     

Jason

Raid Pulse 8h AR Mont Ste Marie Qc-1st place solo female for Nathalie

For the first time in a couple of years I learnt that there were 3 girls racing solo so we would have a category of our own (I was racing against the guys up to then).
I was excited and nervous at the same time.
The race was a bike start on the road and up to Mont Ste Marie to ride pretty much all the single tracks there.
The rain started as we lined up at the start line. My stress level increased a little knowing that we were going on single tracks with roots and wooden platform that would become very slippery quickly.
I felt good and stayed with the front pack leading to the trails. I decided to climb up to the advanced CP first and make my way back from there. On the way down I missed a turn which forced me to go and do an extra loop. I wasn’t super happy with that but pushed to the TA to the trek where I arrived after 3h of biking (and pushing the bike up that monstrous gravely and sandy road).
When I got to transition I noticed that another solo girl was there. I had kept her behind me on the bike and blamed the fact she passed me on my extra loop. I did a pretty quick transition and left with her to the first CP. After that I decided to take a different route so we wouldn’t be racing together and maybe I would make some time. Orienteering when it’s pure bushwacking is not my strength. After a few CPs I lost my passport so I waited at a CP to see someone and punched my map. My moral went down a lot at that point. Nicky (firend and other solo female) showed up at that CP and we went to the next one together. After that CP she decided to go and do some of the CPs I had done before whilst I had to go and pick up two advanced CPs a bit further away.
I left transition a little too quickly and forgot my map case on my bike. By the time I reached the advanced CP my map was crumbling apart and I couldn’t see much. The transition dot had disappeared and I couldn’t tell the numbers of a few CPs. At that time I was racing along with a coed team and decided to stock with them since I didn’t know how to get back.
When we finally reached the TA the volunteers told me the other girl had left an hour prior. The cut off to do an advanced bike was supposed to be at 2:30pm but they decided to extend it so she was able to go, even if she got there at 2:35pm.. I wasn’t happy but I learnt that she didn’t do all the advanced CPs on foot so maybe I had a chance to catch up. The way It worked is that each CP regular and advanced worth 25 points so if she didn’t get the two CPs on foot but got the two CPs advanced on bike I could still maybe catch up on the paddle and still finish ahead. So without hesitation I took my bike and went away.
That’s when it got better…I left so quickly that I didn’t put my map in my map board on the bike but on top. Going down the massive hill pushing the bike I didn’t realised but I lost my map. Once at the bottom I tried to look where to go and Oh surprise..no more map. So once again I tagged along with some guys until the paddling section where a volunteer gave me his map so I could navigate on the water.
I am ready to go in the boat and I am decided to have a good paddle to compensate all those mistakes.
Where is my boat??? I am looking around, my boat isn’t there! Then I realise that James’s boat was there. James being shorter than me I had to do the paddle section with my knees in my face (didn’t have a screw driver to move the pedals) not very stable with power boats round.
I met James on the water and wasn’t happy…he didn’t realised until I told him what happened even if our boats are two distinctive colors (he did apologize and cleaned my bike at the ned of the race so we are all good :D).
I saw the other girl just a little after seeing James and I knew it would be hard to catch up. She was maybe 10min ahead. At the end of the paddle I jumped on the bike and tried to hammer it to the finish but didn’t catch her. I passed the line not super happy with how my race went and the many mistakes I had done during the day slowing me down so much. To my surprise I finished first solo female. What I didn’t know is that she had missed another CP on the first bike. I had then 25 more points woot woot.
Pretty happy with the result at the end of the day despite all the mistakes I made. I t was a tough course with lots of up and downs…literally…Can’t wait to see the overall results. Thank you Raid Pulse for once again a great and well organised event.
I will be back in August, a little less distracted this time.
Thanks to Nuun and Pacific Health Labs products for keeping us fueled and hydrated throughout the day. I also tested out my new Osprey pack REV6 and I loved it to bits. Perfect AR pack for short races (4-12h).

Nat

James takes on the North Face Endurance Challenge - Bear Mountain 50km again

On May 2^nd, James returned to the North Face Endurance Challenge at Bear Mountain, New York to run the 50km race for a second year in a row. After a strong 3^rd place overall finish last year, his expectations were not quite as high, owing to being a little less well trained compared to last year. However, anything can happen in a race like this and no matter what they are always a great challenge and a lot of fun. As with the previous year, the race was extremely well organized and it was an easy time getting to the start line with plenty of time to get warmed up and ready to go. The race conditions were favorable, with a cool morning leading into a fairly hot afternoon for early May. Also the trails were much drier than last year.

The race started out fast as usual and people settled quite quickly into their rhythms and positions in the race. Not many people sped up or slowed down much in the front end of the pack leading up to the first feed station.  From there onward, there was a little bit of back and forth between James and his competitors as the kilometers passed by. James struggled a bit through the middle portion of the race but managed to get his legs back for the last 3^rd of the race. As he approached the final feed station he could hear the volunteers yelling “only 2.8 to go!” So he opted to blow through the feed zone and hammer out the last 2.8km of the race… only to figure out a short while later that the volunteers meant that there were 2.8 MILES left. So James’ sprint to the finish was a very long one! The hills kept on coming and James kept on thinking “this HAS to be the last one!” The good news is that he passed a couple people in those last 2.8 miles to finish in 7^th place overall with a time of 4:45. A tough and technical race, but very happy with the result. Thanks to Nuun Hydration for getting me through this one!