Just got home...drove from finish in.
The race started with maps being handed out at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning in a mist of rain. First up was paddle, only there was a 3 mile portage. We put into the water and paddled a total of 20 miles, although our team opted to run parts of the shore instead of paddling. At TA 1, we were 10th overall, 3rd Co-ed. I had moderate hypothermia and had to warm some before taking off again.
The mountain biking began at 11:45 and was treacherous. Really, we were flip flopping between 15-18 the entire 45 miles uphill with serious elevation gains. The unmanned cp's were approximately 600-800 meters off the forest service roads with elevation gains. At 6:30 we finished at 18 overall all on the leader board, 6th co-ed.
At 7:00, came the trekking, urr, 14 hours of bushwacking with major elevation changes. We were hoping for 2mph, but with the drastic elevation gains, we're happy. It was brutal, serious elevation changes. During the bushwak, I fell into a creek, cracked a hip on a log, and basically got my ass kicked. We got turned around once and lost quite a few hours (7) while bushwacking with a team who finished Suburu Primalquest earlier this year. But we finally found the cp, and all was well.
Overall, it was a brutal race, and I can't wait to go back next year. We made a hell of a showing for our first long race, and it's a good setup for the Ozark Challenge. I'll post a better report later.
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