Race Report team Wahiro!

[ODB]

The following is a race report from Eric Saggars of Team Wahiro on the 2004 Ozark Challenge:


I’ve finally recovered enough to write a little bit about the Ozark Challenge Adventure Race, which took place on and around the Mulberry River near Cass, Arkansas last weekend. Byrd’s Adventure Center serves as race headquarters. It was my 5th time trying the long course version of the race. I keep going back because the race always goes through some of the most amazing terrain, sites I’d never see or even know about it I wasn’t a local.



The advanced category race started with 32 teams at 6:35 am with a 20 mile bike ride. We then returned to Byrd’s for an 18 mile canoe down the Mulberry River. The water was a little bit low, but it was actually quite fun, we didn’t drag. The weather was beautiful and it actually was probably the best paddling section I’ve ever experienced in a race. Towards the end of the canoe leg, we had to come to shore, ascend 300 feet to a bluff on the hillside for the rock climb. It was pretty basic, but the 80’ vertical rappel was great. Back to the boats and finished up at Campbell Cemetery.



Next up was trekking, it was now nearly 4 pm. This segment was about 8 miles long. Most of it was straightforward, but I struggled with a few points. They were difficult to find in the deep walls of Nix Hollow. We lost lots of time on this leg and I wasn’t happy with my navigation. Around midnight, we finally reached the next transition area. Back to the bikes! Another 30 miles, mostly gravel roads, but some very steep ascents and hike-a-bikes. After a long night, we reached our final transition area at about 8 am.



Fatigue was setting in. The final leg would be trekking. I started out navigating well, but by noon, I think I was losing it. We descended on the wrong side of a ridge and it cost us a lot of time and energy. To make matters worse, it was getting warm and we were running out of water. Eventually we made it to the finish about 3:45 pm. After a penalty was assessed to another team, we finished 9th.



The advanced teams had to carry GPS tracking devices this year (not for real-time tracking, but rather to make sure teams stayed off certain roads and for post-race analysis). Go to Topotrak.com and download some trial software if you want to see the course and how different teams navigated the course. I noticed that even the winning team makes mistakes, it’s just they catch them quickly.



Eric Saggars

Wahiro!