Wingspan Adventure Racing/Team Fat Otter

Illinois Coast 2 Coast - Written Review!!

2009-05-07T20:10:00.002-05:00

Never in a million years (I'm only 27), did I think that I would be doing a race from one side of a state...to the other. Sure enough though, there I was, with my hand in the Mississippi River, getting ready to start a 179mi race across Illinois and ending on the north side of Chicago at Lake Michigan. The race was plotted to cover 103mi on bike, 29 by kayak/canoe (caw-new...heyo!), 15 on rollerblades and about 16 running/trekking...but due to a raging thunderstorm and potential injury (death by lightningcould count), we decided to stop with a little over 60mi to go.

When you train for a race like this, you're expecting it to be difficult. You condition yourself to bike, paddle, rollerblade and run...literally for hours on end so that you can make a quick transition at the checkpoint. What is extremely hard to condition yourself for is nasty weather. It's takes a sick mind (and I'm getting there) to see a storm roll in and say, "Hey I think I'll go run, bike and blade with my rain gear on!!!" That's when Angie looks at me like my head is falling off, and to her credit, it usually is.

Kristen Karnowski, Heather Kluch and I were the racers, and Angie Wing (my lovely wife) and Tim Wing (my...burly(?) father) took care of all our support needs, suchas moving gear from one checkpoint to another, laying out fresh (Smartwool) socks and food at each of the legs, etc...They performed marvelously despite never having done anything like this before, so a huge thank you was/is/always in order for them.

We started on our bikes and headed for the Slurp N' Burp in Loran, IL...a short 25mi bike ride...and I'm not kidding...all uphill.

There may have been a downhill somewhere in that journey, but it felt like were climbing uphill for the entire section. Quick check-in and a reload on energy bars and we were back pedaling to Freeport, IL where we'd start the paddling section.

To our utter (otter?) surprise, this 20mi leg started with a huge hill! Luckily we were able to get over it and were treated to some flat(ter) roads where we could stay in a faster gear and pick up some time. Wrong turn set us back a couple of minutes, but since it was my fault, I'll blame Heather...

Once in downtown Freeport, we asked some locals coming out of a bar where Tutty's Landing was and shockingly, those locals coming out of the bar actually gave us the correct directions. Mental note though, liquored up locals may actually give incorrect directions to dudes in spandex. Should file that somewhere. Batting a thousand for now though...

The paddle was pretty uneventful. Imagine, well, sitting in a canoe for three hours and doing nothing but paddling. It was on the Pecatonica River that we discovered a few things:

Milan Kratka has superhuman speed in a kayak (see related article)
Milan Kratka infringed on Fred Flinstones copyrighted vehicle (see above note)
There are a lot of poo-ticles floating around in the air near farmland
Gallagher (the guy with the mallet and watermelons) drinks beer along the river

We also learned that we should have adjusted Heather's sling-seat before we got into the canoe. We needed to tighten it and move Heather forward so Kristen could stop hitting her, in the head, with her double bladed kayak paddle. That and since Heather was in the middle of the boat and low riding, it made it next to impossible for her reach over the gunwale and paddle, she wasn't able to do much except laugh at my constant witty banter and singing. Heather also suffers from Rhodes Scholar Disease (see Raynaud's Disease) where the blood vessels in her fingers restrict/contract, not letting any blood flow to that extremity. This happens anytime she gets a chill and she's cold...so naturally adventure racing in cold climates is the best option for her. Oh I'm supposed to be being serious?

After we landed 8mi west of Sumner, IL, we changed clothes, had a quick cup of coffee, threw Heather in the Civic to warm up...we were off to run down those 8mi to Sumner where we'd check in and hop back on the bikes for a quick (notice how I keep saying 'quick') 25mi ride to Rock Cut State Park. Uneventful run, except Kristen was in writhing pain, but pulled through and covered those 8mi in unbelievable time. She's had five knee surgeries and somehow manages to lead us on every bike section of the race!

Those last 25mi to Rock Cut were by far the hardest. This is where all the exhaustion, fatigue and self-doubt starts to creep in. It's getting dark so navigating is harder because you have to slow down to see the county road signs. You get hypnotized by the red, blinking tail light you're staring at on the back of your teammate's bike...all these things add up for one heck of a craving to stop. Those miles weren't necessarily the hilliest (word?), but it'sopen farmland and you're not able to hide between the trees and dodge the wind. We were battling all the things I mentioned, plus a 20mph headwind (you'd THINK the wind would be at our back travelling W to E) and light rain/hail. It's funny how your body works though. I can remember three separate times at where I wanted to launch myself off the bike, and make the dull, aching pain go away, but you...just...keep...going.

I've pin-pointed it down to knowing that no matter what happens, that next checkpoint is coming, that there will be a smiling support crew willing to offer you words of encouragement to keep going...sounds small, but it REALLY does make a difference knowing that there will be an end to the misery! Yes, I just plugged our team's motto, for the LOVE of MISERY!

We decided not to continue when we came into the rollerblading transition area. We'd just spent 15min collecting ourselves at the I-173 & I-90 underpass when the rain really started coming down. Kristen had taken a tumble on her bike when she was drafting me and I shifted down too quickly so her shoulder was geeked. It was violently lightning...ing out and the two other teams that had rollerbladed had taken a couple of spills...safety always being number one. The IL Coast 2 Coast race for us...was over!

Not a single thing to regret though. We covered our ground exceptionally fast and were behind two very experienced 2-person teams and a 3-person relay team (only team to complete moving Coast to Coast!). It wouldn't be an Otter race without worst case scenario weather, so I'm proud of what we did! Can't wait to do it again next year!

Fat Otter Spring Training Camp - Devil's Lake

2009-05-05T13:58:00.004-05:00

Review of this camp waiting to be written...

The Truth About Milan Kratka

2009-04-29T10:40:00.008-05:00

Have you ever done a race that involved paddling and seen someone pass you like the Roadrunner does Wile E Coyote? You see that spray of mist off the water? You taste that humiliation of being a chump compared to the human-outboard-motor that you just witnessed...

Well stop being so hard on yourself! My fellow teammates on Fat Otter and I were ready this time. Since we were the third team to launch in the paddling section of the Pecatonica River during last week's Illinois Coast 2 Coast race, we had some time to set up our sting. Thirty minutes into the paddle, we pulled off to the side of the river and secured a motion activated camera that was able to see THROUGH the murky waters and look under the hull of any kayak passing by...and what did we see? That's right. Milan Kratka and his devious ways! This friendly, down to Earth, selfless philanthropist hasn't been completely honest with us, and the truth is exposed in this unaltered, un-Microsoft Paint-ed, high-resolution snapshot.

In doing some background research on Kratka, this investigative reporter who's currently on vacation from his day job and has a limitless amount of time on Wednesday morning, found irrefutable evidence that Milan and his equally impressive and well-mannered, delightful son share a love of the Flintstones. This technology of affixing wet-suit legs and slip-on flippers to the hull of his kayak is a direct connection to Fred Flintstone and his mode of transportation.

A Little Media Attention!

2009-04-28T13:23:00.003-05:00

This is a little overdue, but I've been preoccupied with being lazy and gearing up for some races. Matt Stewart was kind enough to drop my name to Scott Richardson, a reporter for The Pantagraph (nothing satanic, although it sounds a lot like it). Scott got wind of how I quit smoking to focus on adventure racing and training for races like the Redbird, so he did a little Human Interest piece on yours truly! It's pasted below, but here's the link to the article. Some friends up here in Monona were visiting their family in central IL and saw my face staring at them during breakfast and brought the article to me, strangely random and convenient at the same time!

HUDSON -- Evan Wing was a former high-school athlete who picked up a cigarette habit in college. His fitness went up in smoke with the tobacco. The only exercise he got was mountain biking once in a while.

But that was before the 27-year-old Wheaton native and branch manager at a bank in Madison, Wis. was introduced to adventure racing on a trip to the Bloomington-Normal area last year. Wing snuffed out the butts to train for the Illinois State University Red Bird Challenge Adventure Race held at Comlara Park near Hudson.

The three-part event, which will be run again April 19, requires teams of two or four to canoe on Evergreen Lake and maneuver a course through the woods on foot and mountain bike.

In 2008, Wing's team came in dead last. But the experience was life-changing. Since then, he's raced in several adventure races, including a grueling 24-hour endurance test that covered more than 70 miles on bikes, 15 miles on foot and seven miles on the water. He's joined a team of adventure racers. His goal is be a motivational speaker to encourage people to give up smoking and invest the money they save wisely.

"I have a very addictive personality," said Wing. "I traded adventure racing for smokes."

He's not alone, according to Alissa Pywell, coordinator of the ISU Outdoor Adventure Program, the race sponsor. ISU Red Bird Challenge has launched others besides Wing into the sport that is growing in popularity throughout the world.

"Our event is a great gateway to try this new activity," she said. "Ours is open to everybody, pretty laid back, but a little different than other ones people have done. I know several people who have started here and gone on to pursue other adventure races. That's great."

Features that make the Red Bird Challenge a "little different" are the mystery challenges sprinkled through the course. Last year's race, which attracted 25 teams, started with a three-legged race from the start line to the canoes.

The competition and fitness aspects of adventure racing attracted Wing. After being a captain on his high school volleyball team in Wheaton and playing defensive lineman for the school, his exercise focused mostly on mountain biking and commuting to work in Chicago.

He heard about the Challenge, and asked some friends to make up a team.

"I just said, 'Hey, I want to do this race. Who's in? Who else has a screw loose?" said Wing. "I just kind of fell in love with the idea of doing an outdoorsy triathlon."

He jettisoned the cigarettes, started running and biking with a backpack filled with canned soup to add weight, and got as ready as he could.

"I loved it," he said.

As proof, Wing can cite his later entry in a 24 hour race near Fond du Lac, Wis., that featured a bike ride both on- and off-road of more than 70 miles and about 15 miles trekking on foot.

He joined an adventure racing group called Fat Otter, which sponsors races, and launched his own Web site atwww.wingspanracing.blogspot.com. Among 2009 events, he plans to take part in a 36-hour race from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River via mountain bike, kayak, trekking and roller blades the week after the Challenge.

One day, he hopes to do even more rugged expedition, including the Primal Quest, a race in South Dakota spanning 600 miles and 10 days.

Forget nicotine, Wing is addicted to another chemical now.

"It's the adrenaline," he said. "It's getting out there knowing you're not in a gym, being out in nature and seeing things you've never seen before. It feels like you're back playing GI Joe as a kid."

Upcoming Races

2009-04-28T10:20:00.010-05:00

The below are the races that I'll be doing in the next six months or so. I'm having trouble getting my schedule clear for the GMRAS, the other ones I'm confident I'll be in. Dances with Dirt will be my first attempt at a marathon distance, but it's actually about 30miles total (listed as a 50k)! Why wouldn't I try to automaticaly go for something more extreme my first time?

Let me know if you have any interest in trying one of these. The CAARA All nighter, Warrior Dash, Muddy Buddy and Fat Otter Fall Sprint are all very doable races for beginners! I'd love to put together a training schedule for or with you!

GMRAS - Greater Mississippi River Adventure Series -- May 16th

CAARA All Nighter - 12hrs of night navigation and AR -- June 12-13

Dances With Dirt - Trail Running at Devil's Lake -- July 11th

Warrior Dash - Joliet, IL 6k with 13 obstacles -- July 18th

Muddy Buddy - Great race for beginners -- August 2nd

Sweaty Otter - 24hr race -- August 8th

Thunder Rolls - 24hr race -- August 29th

Fat Otter Fall Sprint - 3-5hr -- November 14th

Redbird Challenge 2009

2009-04-20T21:31:00.024-05:00

This year's Redbird Challenge definitely proved that Matt Stewart and the Outdoor Rec group at ISU are excellent at putting on races! Everything from the grab bags to the mystery events were well thought out and considerate. Actually, in lieu of t-shirts, we got Sigg like water bottles from H2Go that said, "Give me a map and get lost!" LOVE IT!

Good start to the race with a popcorn filled kiddy pool to find a numbered button that told us which canoe we were taking. With 40 people looking for 40 buttons, Heather and Nate got pushed/shoved/kicked/punched and stabbed trying to find ours! Couple of knife wounds later and we were good to go.

It was pretty burly carrying the canoes through the mud to the boat launch. We figured out pretty quickly that if you walked on the grass, you could not only have better footing, but you can pass a bunch of other teams! That's right, never underestimate our sneakiness. We split our canoes into Nate and Angie in one

and then Heather and I bringing up the rear. The plan wasn't necessarily for Heather and I to be in the rear, but apparently Nate and Angie can paddle like Otters (whaaaaat? team name plug!?)!

Where we landed the canoe is where the trail running started. I guess there was some confusion when the first few teams out of the canoe made a wrong turn, but by the time we got there, volunteers were directing us to head right after jumping over a hay bail...which was awesome because there was a nice, deep mud pit waiting for you. SLOPPY!

The race crew put an army crawl before the last duck into the woods and we agreed that Matt let his dog fertilize the slop we crawled through, but he maintains his innocence. Right. Sure, Matt. We all know Cassius does what you tell him.

Although I had to let my dreams of good, Comlara-style singletrack go, the road section was still fun, especially with the addition of the obstacle course! Once we rode our bikes there, we ran into the woods to find rope criss-crossing the path and we had to duck and weave through it to make it to the tight rope. The combined weight and repeated use of the two ropes stretched across the water made it pretty slack and tough to hang on. The preferred way was to get on the rope and shimmy out to where it was safe enough to drop in the water and then wade to the other side. There was a big bottle neck here as no one wanted to bypass the obstacle and take a time penalty, so we found ourselves waiting for the team in front to get all the way across. I wanted to Tyrolean the line, so I went out head first and hooked a leg on the top rope and pulled myself over. See? Wearing tights helped me NOT get some nasty rope burn on my leg. Booyakashaw! FYI tights rule in all racing situations...never thought I'd say that...

We found out five or so miles from the finish that Angie's bike was riding on some seriously low tire pressure! I guess I'll take the blame for that since I just grabbed my old bike from the basement and let her ride it. Hey! I at least checked the pressure before the race! It wasn't long after I switched bikes with her that the back tire was completely flat and was coming off of the rim. We got into a small stretch of woods and the tire and tube were hanging off to the side, making me pick up the bike and carrying it to the race tent. Flat tire fixed and mystery puzzle solved, we were off!

And by fixed I meant the new tube briefly did its job. Two miles later and we were in the same spot. My added weight sped up whatever the hell was happening in that rear wheel and we had another flat. YES! Exactly as planned!...

I wasn't about to waste another tube on something that we didn't know WHY was happening, so I picked that damn 30lb, extremely awkwardly balanced bike and hulked it from the last turn to the finish line, just shy of a mile.

I don't think I've ever finished a race that tired before. I was pretty wiped at the end of the 24hr Sweaty Otter, but I wasn't carrying an F'ing bike on my back.

Matt helped us clean up by squirting liduid dish soap and water on some tarps to make up a slip n slide. It got in my eyes and burned for a few hours but that's all right. Next year use Johnson's baby shampoo, Matt! Just kidding, no eye burning.

He told me a bit ago that it was actually baby oil, but that doesn't fit the whole burning joke, so it's sticking. All in all, an excellent race...so a big thank you is owed.

It was awesome that Angie and Nate did a race as Otters. Angie actually logged her second Otter experience this past weekend running our support crew for the IL Coast 2 Coast with my Dad. (I'm writing that review next! Wow, that race was about as gentle as a feral dog). Whether or not Angie ends up having the same obsessive compulsive affliction revolving around AR as me is still left to be seen, but my wife did a RACE!

A big thanks to Rod for handling the dogs while studying, and ultimately passing, his personal trainer exam the following week. You da man! Heather, I'll race with you anytime. You're crazy coming up here yar yay ha!

Thanks to Matt and his crew for hosting the event. You can expect a first place in multiple divisions next year, pal! Next year though, leave the dog poo out of the army crawl, yay ha?

HEADCOLDS AREN'T FUN!

2009-02-19T20:26:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately, I won't be racing the 2nd Annual Klondike Days Snowshoe race on Saturday. I'm not sure how I got sick, it might have been from running in mid 20 degree weather with not enough layers on, but it doesn't really matter now.

Missed a day and a half of work, and I'll be sidelined for one more, but it's worth it to get the rest so we can still have a good time up in Eagle River. Hell, there's going to be enough chainsaw carving and lumberjack competitions to keep us all busy. Angie's promised to bring me back a medical mask and some latex gloves from work so I won't pass along the germs while we're playing cards up north. I'll wear the mask because it'll be funny, but I may be reaching a bit on the gloves part of it.

Seriously. I was really looking forward to that race.

Arches National Park - Moab, UT

2009-02-17T19:47:00.007-06:00

It's safe to say that I've never been to a place quite like Moab. On the same trip that Christian and I hiked down into the Black Canyon, we did us some Moab. Arches National Park is just north of the town and actually had some scenes from The Incredible Hulk with Eric Bana (not Edward Norton). But you're not here to ready about The Incredible Hulk, you're here to read about me and my crazy adventures.

The great thing about this trip was that I learned you can drink roughly two liters of water and still be dehydrated at the end of the day. Moab is a high elevation desert, so the air is thinner and the heat was that of...well, a desert. The real shocking thing is that it was so dry and hot, that you didn't sweat at all, the second any perspiration hit your skin it was wicked back into the air.

CRW (aka Christian Roberts Wing) and I camped out along the Colorado River, where I learned the term "missile drop." A quick one night camp with some delicious backpacker meals and we were passed out. You know, those meals are actually really really good, and the desserts were really really desserty.

We were shuttled to the top of the Gemini Bridges Trail with our rental bikes and were among all the other tourists taking the beautiful scenery in. I fondly remember my brother and I laughing at some shmoe erratically riding his bike across one of the twin bridges. We definitely weren't expecting the length of the ride, but sections of that trail looked like how I would expect the surface of Mars to look like. It was awesome.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

2009-02-16T20:51:00.011-06:00

The Black Canyon is 1800ft deep, which is a full football field longer than the Sears Tower in Chicago. The Black Canyon is accessible in Montrose, CO which is 40-some miles from the mouth of the Gunnison River in Gunnison.

The first time I hiked down into the canyon was with my brother back around 2000 or 2001. Starting up in the treeline, you use a lot of switchbacks to get down the extremely steep canyonside. We knew we were in for a good time when we came to an 80ft chain that lowered us down to the rocky section of the descent. Although we sound extremly tough and rugged by mention of this chain, kids do it every year (of course they don't have cool hats and developed chest muscles).

The loose rock scree was a mix between "Hey this is kinda like surfing" mixed with "Oh SH!T." One second you're sure-footed, the next you're on your backside scrambling to get back up onto your feet.

To make sure you're still on the correct path down toward the river, every five minutes or so you'd spot a stack of smaller, square shaped, stacked rocks that mark the trail. I always thought they were called "karns," but I haven't been able to find anything to back that up, sooo...yeah.

Once down on the riverside, there's not too much to do except relax and look up at the gigantic canyon walls. It's quite humbling to know that you're looking up at the edge of the canyon, and that the Sears would comfortable fit inside. Christian and I grabbed a quick picture out on a rock in the river, and headed back up. Awesome work out, awesome time.

I came back a few years later with friend and co-worker, Tim Williams, and we actually camped out overnight at the base of the canyon. Pretty amazing time, especially when I fell in the freezing river after trying to traverse a section of rock in full-out hiking boots. Not too nimble.

Highly recommend this. This was the most difficult hike I'd ever done at that point in my life (and then I found adventure racing!).

Training for Klondike Days in Eagle River

2009-02-16T20:00:00.002-06:00

Tonight (yes tonight), I started training for the 5mi snowshoe race in Eagle River's annual Klondike Days. It was pretty cold out, but I was trying to reach the point of nausea while exerting yourself, so my body temp rose pretty friggin quickly.

FYI, you can use Gmap-pedometer to get a handle on how many miles you've run, hiked, biked, etc...Sweet Trav showed me this once upon a time, and I've used it a countless number of times prepping for a race or trek.

Anyway, using Gmaps, I've charted a rugged, nasty, sidewalk path from my duplex to the local Walgreens, measuring exactly one mile of the harshest mixture of sand, crushed stone and water (ie concrete) that Madison's civil engineers could come up with. I ran four, and I'm happy with that. Conditions being what they were, I'm imagining this Saturday to have warmer temps with the sun than what I was running in tonight.

I may not win this thing, but I'll be out there promoting AR, Wingspan Racing and of course, my fellow Fat Otters, so wish me luck and make it a point to get out and do something fun this weekend other than sit inside and remark on how cold it is. Vaseline will shield you from the wind and insulate your body heat. It's less than appetizing, but very true. Just ask Bruce "shortpants" Munson.

What's Your Wingspan?

2009-02-04T20:53:00.004-06:00

While I was talking to Scott Richardson today of the Pantagraph, he asked me why I picked the name Wingspan Racing. I answered by saying that my last name fit pretty well with it, but it got me to thinking a little more about what it does mean to me.

I've been toying with the idea of getting into public/motivational speaking and targeting audiences for a) promoting adventure racing, b) quitting smoking (well over a year for me now!) and c) using my banking knowledge to help non-smokers budget their savings into a long-term savings plan. Especially in crazy economic times like we're currently in, saving $100-$120 per month, could save you thousands a year, could save you hundreds of thousands over the next 30-40 years if invested, even in a conservative fashion.

Wingspan now means to me, how far my reach goes. Not literally the distance between my fingers, but how much I can push myself. How far can I really push myself as a man, a husband, a future father? Can I somehow help inspire someone in my life, or a stranger, to do great things in their life or do something they never thought possible? Can I reach my full potential as an athlete, a professional, a friend? These are the things that I'm associating with Wingspan now. Wingspan Racing will be one venue, but I'd like to see Wingspan branch out into other areas leading to more than just a hobby.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions on how I can put all this into action, I would love to hear it!

Klondike Days Snowshoe Challenge 2009

2009-02-04T20:33:00.004-06:00

If anyone will be around the Northwoods of Wisconsin on February 21st, join me for the 2nd annual Snowshoe Race, part of Klondike Days, which is put on by the town of Eagle River. This will be my first a) snowshoe race and b) time at the festival! It's heralded each year by local residents and visitors that come to watch lumberjack competitions, frontier re-enactments, chainsaw carvings, dog weight pulls, arts & crafts and of course, the snowshoe race!

Racers get free entry to Klondike Days as well a free long sleeve t-shirt. You choose between the 1mi, 2.5mi or 5 mile race. I'll be doing the 5miler, so I'd appreciate any help or companionship if you're up to it! My family and Angie's family will be up there along with the dogs, so even if you do the 2.5 miler, you won't be alone for long!

Thanks for reading, and please forward the link on to anyone that might be interested in this race, or future races with me!

Wingspan Gets Interviewed!

2009-02-04T19:31:00.004-06:00

Today I had the pleasure of talking with Scott Richardson about Wingspan Adventure Racing! Scott is the editor for the outdoor section of the Pentagraph newspaper in Bloomington, IL. He's going to be doing a piece advertising the Redbird Challenge and interviewed me on my progression from races like Muddy Buddy and the Redbird, to more extreme, long distance races like the Sweaty Otter and the CAARA All-Nighter!

Scott's expecting to have the article published on April 12th. I'll be sure to post a link to the article when (and if) the article goes through. I'm hoping that leads to more site traffic, and of course, more interest in racing!

ISU Redbird Challenge Registration OPEN!

2009-02-02T15:22:00.005-06:00

AR Junkie's and Future Racers!

Read last year's review and come join us this year as Wingspan Racing and Team Fat Otter rally and do our best to break the course record! Sign up for 2 person (men, women or coed) OR 4 person (coed only) teams. Race director Matthew Stewart and the Outdoor Adventure Deartment at ISU, host this year's Redbird Challenge in Comlara Park outside Normal, IL.

For anyone that's heard me talking about adventure racing the past year or so, this is an EXCELLENT chance to come out and literally get your feet wet. Matt's races do not include orienteering, so getting lost in the woods would actually be difficult to do. Canoe, trail run and mountain bike your way to the finish line! Email me with any questions or suggestions!

Don't forget to subscribe to the blog for all future race notifications and reviews!!

What to expect:

Camping

Canoeing

Trail Running

Mountain Biking

Mystery Events

Prizes and free giveaways

What NOT to expect:

Beer (no alcohol at the campgrounds)

Unneccessary bullet point, but I heard somewhere if you have one, you need to have another

Fat Otter Fall Sprint 2008

2009-01-30T22:27:00.012-06:00

The Fall Sprint took 4hrs to complete in and around Maple Lake in Palos Hills, IL. The course was designed to take racers on a journey through foot trails, dense forest, singletrack bike trails and, of course, open water. Racers gathered from around the Midwest to test their speed in this quick, decisive sprint race. Congrats to Rod McLennan on another successful (injury free) race!

Team Wingspan Racing was joined by first timer, Travis Pettijohn. Travis and I were one of the eight teams able to ride the mountain biking section first, an advantage because of the muddy conditions. Palos Hills' Bull Frog Lake singletrack section is extremely popular among locals because of its unique terrain in a traditionally FLAT Illinois. Complications in shifting and gear settings held us back a little, but we picked up ground by following the trail markers successfully. We rode out of the mud, and back to the starting area for a quick transition to the kayak section.

With limited coasteering experience, Travis and I set out on the water as an A-team. Teams lined up at the launch with a compass bearing to follow in their kayaks and set out to paddle. We found the first of two milk jugs easily, but I took an incorrect bearing, leading us to the wrong second milk jug! Taking the time penalty, we moved on to the orienteering (or Nav) section of the race, which is really my favorite thing in AR.

I pretend that I'm a kid playing GI Joe, which usually helps mask any discomfort I'm feeling. You get tired out there! Map reading is probably the most important part of any race. If you can zip around on a bike real fast, run marathons, play Euchre while racing...well that's lovely, but if you can't read a map and find a checkpoint quickly and confidently, well you're just not going to win!

Sweet Trav, as my wife and I have dubbed Travis, really took to orienteering. Using the topographic map and compass, we estimated distances and used the lay-of-the-land to gauge our whereabouts on the course. A great example of this was when Sweet Trav and I were looking for a checkpoint (CP) on the corner of a small pond about 50 meters off the trail. Looking in the direction of where that pond would be, Travis and I observed a downward slope. Knowing that water gathers at lower elevation led us to that pond and we quickly found that particular CP. Backtracking to the trail, we saw a few other teams that had been in front of us, still searching for the checkpoint.

Overall, Team Wingspan Racing (Sweet Wings) finished 9th for the Fall Sprint. Which is a great finish considering it was Travis' inaugural race. Also, to the right, a picture of my friends, April and Ellie Hernann of Team Chupacabra!

Don't forget to Subscribe to this blog to stay up on all of Wingspan's Races!!!

Frozen Otter Ultra-Trek (1st Place-Team Division)

2009-01-18T12:52:00.025-06:00

The Frozen, as it's called, takes place along the Ice Age Trail near Cambellsport, WI, in the North Kettle Moraine Forest, and it was absolutely the most grueling, physically demanding and mentally draining race I've ever done...and I can't wait to do it again next year!

The race director and our team captain, Rod McLennan, organized the event into four divisions: solo or team (2 person), half or full distance (32/64miles). Half distance racers started at 12pm and full distance racers were let loose at 12:15pm. My partner and fellow Fat Otter teammate, Kristen Karnowski and I, signed up for the full distance, team division.

The temperature reached a balmy 19 in the sun, but hit zero degrees after dark; resulting in 23/40 teams being shuttled back and not finishing. Kristen and I only finished half of what we had signed up for, but with all other finishing teams stopping at 32miles, that left us with the fastest time. There were a total of 8 checkpoints (CPs) that racers had to get to, check-in with race volunteers, fill their hydration bladders and reload their food (reloading the food is always my favorite).

The terrain was, hands down, the toughest I've ever covered; especially for the conditions we were competing in. The trail was wide enough for one person, so Kristen and I took turns setting the pace, giving the other a chance to follow in the footsteps, allowing a break from navigating and looking for the yellow Ice Age trail markers.

The Ice Age trail is 99.9% backcountry trails with only exception I noted being a half mile stretch alongside County Hwy P. That section left us exposed to the bone chilling wind that froze my second layer from my elbow to my shoulder on both arms. The hills we climbed and descended would have been hard enough on dirt, but since we were sometimes in knee deep snow, it made it all that much more difficult and tiring.

Kristen and I kept a remarkable pace right from the start. Within the first few hours, we passed the half distance racers and were behind only two of the solo racers that averaged 3.35mph (32mi finisher) and 2.56mph (48mi finisher) on the trails. Kristen and I finished with a 2.71mph pace for the 32miles.

We were having trouble staying hydrated after we left the second checkpoint (CP2) because the tubes to our hydration bladders were completly frozen. I forgot to shake-up the electrolyte powder in my bladder, rendering my sipping tube useless by sucking nothing but powder through. In that temperature, with no running water, I couldn't clear the tube, so we just kept moving, always making forward progress. It didn't help that from the constant tinkering of my water, the sipping tube slowly unscrewed itself almost all the way off. More than 80oz of water had slowly spilled down my back, freezing the DNA windproof jacket tied around my waist and the entire backside of my ski pants. Luckily it was so cold out, the water didn't penetrate my layers and froze almost instantly to my clothing. My jacket held that frozen shape until I did laundry Sunday morning.

Kristen and I started to hit our wall. Without being able to regularly hydrate, we would have to: stop moving (which is dangerous to let a sweaty body sit in zero degree weather); remove, unscrew and drink from our bladder; repack, reglove and set out again. This gave two solo racers the chance to pass us. Taking big gulps of water and forcing down food left us with a very full, and very nauseous, feeling that sped up our exhaustion.

It was during the final leg from CP3 - CP4 (back to the starting area) that Kristen and I decided that we would end our race at the 32 mile marker. Our fatigue, lack of communication and near frost bitten toes almost convinced us to give in. Unspoken but very much on each of our minds, we wanted to call Rod and give him our location and relieve us from our internal struggle. Luckily, we had each other for motivation, but those last four miles to the end were by far, the most difficult of the race. We had both checked out mentally, at one point were both near tears and ready to sit in a warm car to defrost our frozen, hurting bodies. Kristen is the reason that I made it those last four miles. She even asked me to tell one of my patented dumb jokes, and I couldn't. My mind couldn't break away from the pain in my feet and my desire to be done. My spirits soared when we came to the last trail crossing and realized that in a 1/2mile we would be heating up the car and eating a cheeseburger and hot soup.

Back in the car and out of the wet clothes, I was looking at my bruised and battered toes, I couldn't help but smile at what we had accomplished. 32 miles, uphill, downhill, through ungroomed snow, constantly fighting the urge to give up, constantly reassuring yourself that if you can just keep moving your feet, keep pumping your arms and poles to get you up this hill, constantly putting more and more distance between you and the teams behind you...that you will cross the finish line. It's that feeling why I race. It's that feeling that drives me everyday saying no matter what kind of finish line you're working towards, that it is absolutely possible for you to get there.

This was my first win in an organized race, and I loved every second of it.

Congratulations to everyone that raced and a big THANK YOU to the volunteers!

CLOTHING/GEAR
Salomon Gore-tex Ultra Pro trail runners
Seal Skinz waterproof socks
Smartwool Socks
Smartwool glove liner
Smartwool beanie
The North Face Himalayan mittens
OR Sonic balaclava
OR knee-high gaiters
Petzel Tikka headlamp
REI base layer tights
Under Armor base layer shirt
Columbia fleece mid layer
Mountain Hardware Vest
DNA Windproof jacket
LEKI trekking poles
Clif bars
HAMMER HEED electrolyte sports drink

TIPS/TRICKS/KNOWLEDGE GAINED
-Using liberal amounts of Vaseline on your toes virtually eliminates blisters (I have a little one and my feet have never been put through anything like this race).
-If you add a powdered drink to your hyrdration bladder, do not forget to mix it up.
-Kristen's trick for food is bacon. It's delicious, lightweight and full of calories.
-Use telescoping trekking poles if you have them. It takes weight off your knees, prolonging your ability to ascend/descend hills. Collapsable ones are easier to store when changing race disciplines.
-Use Ziploc baggies to keep extra socks dry and ready for use if you need them.
-Dryer lint can be used as kindling in an emergency if you need to build a fire (we didn't, but it's true)

Ray's Indoor Mountain Biking

2008-12-19T15:19:00.001-06:00

Unique to Cleveland is Ray's Indoor Mountain Biking. Mountain bikers and BMXers come from all over the world for a chance to ride in this renovated warehouse. The building shuts down during the summer so the planners can change up the course, that and the building is brick so it gets nice and hot. Traveler's can rent bikes for $10/day, get hotel deals at the Holiday Inn, even find a shuttle to take you from hotel to riding. All in all, if you like to ride, you have no excuse!!

Racing buddy and Redbird Challenge race coordinator, Matt Stewart, invited me on a roadtrip to Cleveland to check the place out. Matt has been to Ray's before and vouched for the quality of riding. I scheduled that weekend off, got the bike ready and drove to Chicago to meet up with Matt and his brother in law, Max Zuniga. My brother, Christian, met us up there after dinner Saturday night and was able to share in this place. Cincinnati's not too far away, so I think he'll be back before too long...

Saying that you can ride your bike indoors at this place is an understatement. When we pulled up to the warehouse, I wasn't sure if I was going to have to unload meat on the loading dock, or ride my bike. We stepped inside and saw people whizzing around and launching themselves into the air, not just adults, but 10yr olds with no sense of fear too. Because this was December, and the place isn't really insulated in any way, it did at least feel like a meat locker.

After gettings situated, we took a tour of the warehouse on our bikes and warmed up in the beginner section, getting our muscles ready. The craftmanship that went into this place blows my mind. There are 103,000sq ft in this place. Absolutely huge. There are ramps leading up to catwalks hanging over the warehouse floor. The street section that lets free-riders do what they do best (spin their bikes around really fast, etc), an expert section with weight triggered elevators that drop you 5ft back down to ground level, opening up to a 2x4 that you have to balance and steer your bike on.

The biggest section of Ray's is in the picture to the right. Essentially a balance playground, you get to choose from riding on beams of wood no wider than 4in, to riding up a see-saw designed to jolt you from your pedals. All of these routes are designed to twist and turn, pitch and dive, play tricks on your momentum, etc. Riding slowly over these hones your skills and makes it more fun when you're out in the woods, but sometimes it's more fun to pedal fast over a see-saw and hear the loud BANG! as it spits you out the other side.

We also got a little brave in the foam pit, and I will admit, it took me a little while to warm up to the idea hurdling myself into the air and trying to do a full 360, but you land in foam...and foam doesn't hurt, it just tastes like...well, foam. Asking the locals some technique questions, I tried to do my first 360 on a bike ever. I quickly found out that a person's shins CAN bend the metal water bottle holders on the frame of a bike if you don't try to move. This hurts, but you're in Cleveland, away from any loved ones willing to give you sympathy. Life goes on. Max has the best pictures from this section. He wasn't able to master the getting in the air part of the ramp, but he kept trying and trying, so we have to give some credit where credit is due.

A pump track is a series of rolling humps that you push and pull your bike over. Doing this at the right time will let you finish the track without doing any pedaling whatsoever. We got to be pretty good at it, even able to catch a little bit of air here and there, but not without a few crashes and sending each other into the sidewalls. Surprisingly enough though, the entire weekend went by, falling on/off wooden platforms, crashing into barriers, I didn't get a single splinter; blisters yes, splinters no.

Mens Health Urbanathlon 2008 - Chicago, IL

2008-10-18T11:43:00.000-05:00

I first heard about this race from Muddy Buddy race partner and long time friend, Nate Gawel. Racers have the choice of putting together a three person team, with each member running one of the three legs, or racers can opt to go it alone and run the full 10.5-11mi. I chose run solo and see how well I could finish. I was even included in the Men's Health video highlights! You can see it around 1min 53sec on the following link (find Chicago '08 Highlights under Video Highlights). Don't blink, you might miss me! Overall I finished 752nd out of 1604 individual racers, so by schooling standards I got an F, but my standards, I got an F+...

I'm not a big runner, don't really like it, so I think the majore allure if you will were the obstacles that we got to do in between the three different legs. After doing an obstacle, teams would transition to their next racer, or the gluttons for punishment (us solo racers) would just continue plodding along the course. Navy Pier's obstacles were the yellow construction barriers in the picture to the left. There were three barriers and then a tunnel you crawled through, repeat once and then start hoofing back down the pier toward Lake Shore Drive.

Fast forward to Soldier Field where we had to crawl under a cargo-net and then do some monkey bars...the picture to the left shows me after catching my shoe on the net and having to hold up a couple racers behind me and grab the thing. My sunglasses were also rudely stripped from my hat, but the photographer didn't catch that Nobel Prize winning moment.

I wasn't sure what was next, because I knew that we had to run up and down three aisles of the upper deck at Soldier Field, but race staff had us running down toward McCormick place. I was starting to get a little winded and my legs were getting jello-esque, so I found a guy running whose shirt said SWAT on the back. He and two other SWAT (special weapons and tactics) buddies were running and he was waiting to meet back up with them. Perfect, you're a badass and I can ask you questions about how you get to play GI Joe everyday and I'll distract myself until the next fun part of the race, MARINE HURDLES!

Man! I wish I had pictures of these things. Placed in the sand so you effectively have no solid ground to jump from, these large wooden hurdles were easily chest high and you had to clear each hurdle individually, touching the ground in between each beam. Definitely difficult to do, but a lot of fun regardless. Wasn't a huge fan of getting sand in my shoes, but the point of this race is to prove you're a toughguy, so I didn't tell anyone.

Soldier Field. Picture at right. Not easy. First you had to get up to the upper deck, which made me feel like I was having a broken femur set in traction with each step. If the race directors had to pay any money for getting into an empty Soldier Field, it was absolutely worth it. I didn't see anyone pitch over backwards and fall, but I know I thought I was going to a couple of times. After the third ascent and when I was back on a ramp heading back north to Grant Park, I saw a couple of friends that rallied my spirits a little and gave me enough of a push to carry me to the finish line.

Oh that finish line. One of the trademarks for the Urbanathlon are parking two NYC cabs hood to hood and having the racers jump over their front ends. That was fun. Never done the Dukes of Hazard slide, and sure as heck didn't do it with any type of style that day. Kind of skidded, but somehow the picture they got of me looks rather graceful, so thanks to the photographer for that! The last obstacle of the day, is a nasty, mean-spirited 8ft wool with a rope attached to it. I, to this day, do not know if someone, somehow, coated me in wet cement when I jumped and latched on to the top of that wall. I could not for the life of me, lift myself over that wall. I sat there, listening to the a-hole with a bullhorn 3ft away yelling at me to get over that wall, for a solid 20 seconds, TRYING, BEGGING, myself to just straighten my arms and get a leg over the wall. Someone answered that call, or maybe my body was hurting more from the bullhorn from the damn wall, but I got over. That's right, bullhorn guy, I made it.

What a great race though. I proved to myself what I was made of, that I could finish an endurance foot race, so I gues I have to do a marathon next...maybe I'll skip the marathon thing and go straight to Ironman competitions, more my style!

Muddy Buddy 2008, Gilberts, IL

2008-08-22T22:38:00.006-05:00

Is it time for Muddy Buddy again!? It sure was. After placing respectable 9th in our divison in 2007, Nate and I brought our game to the 2008 table in Gilberts. Gaining some serious notariety, this year's Muddy Buddy was the largest crowd of participants for the organizers to deal with yet. More than 3,000 racers showed up to leave it all on the course.

A little different this year because of the dry conditions. Of course, there was still the infamous mud pit at the end, but it didn't storm the night before, leaving the course in a very doable state. For those of you not familiar with how Muddy Buddy works, there are two people racing and one bike between them both. One starts on bike, the other on foot and they do NOT race next to each other. The race is approximately 6-7miles long, split up into five different sections, with obstacles seperating each of the legs (a climbing wall, Army Ranger frame where touching the ground sends you back to the start, inflatable slide, etc) and a final waiting area where the teammates finally meet back up and enter the Mud Pit!

Angie, Connor and I picked Nate up at the Elgin Metra station and headed out to the farm and set up camp. This year's weather was a nice change from the previous year's, so enjoyed some relaxing in the lawn chair, nervously waiting for morning.

Nate and I said our goodbyes at the Start since we'd be splitting up for the race. We would see each other at every other checkpoint, trading the bike, trying to even out each other's speed. As in 2007, our combined age and weight kept us in the first wave to be let loose. Countdown done and cap gun fired, I was first out of the gate. Lucky me, the race director wasn't ready for me and was still talking to his crew at the road when I showed up to blaze down the dirt fireroad to the first checkpoint. I was pedaling myself silly behind this guy's Blazer, breathing in the dirt his tires were kicking up. BUT, I was first to the checkpoint and was soon running as fast as I could to the second CP.

There were some tough, still muddy climbs on the course which wet my singletrack whistle, and I took some pride in staying on the bike where other people were walking their rides up the hills. I love biking, and I love that feeling making it up a grueling hill that you see other people struggling with. It's that drive and using the proper gear that usually helps me get the edge on some of the faster riders, although I'm pretty quick myself!

Looking back on the race, I remember feeling more nauseous than the year before. It was definitely hotter, and I think I was pushing myself more on the running sections, but not finishing in the top five left me with a sour taste in my mouth. The mud pit though, was more fun this year for some reason. Maybe it was deeper, maybe there was an extra hump we had to get over, but I definitely enjoyed crawling through muck more in '08.

RACE: Sweaty Otter 24hr Adventure Race Aug 9-10 2008

2008-08-10T12:00:00.004-05:00

Well, well, well, I did my first 24hr race this weekend, and yes, I was exhausted. We finished 5th in our division, and 10th overrall, which I am extremely happy with. I raced with team Chupacabra, who are April and Ellie Hernann, and we turned out to have an extremely efficient and consistent team, always making forward progress, even when we hit the proverbial "roadblock," and had to re-orient ourselves.

Total mileage for the race was around 73miles on/off road on our mountain bikes, 15 or so miles on foot and between 5-7miles in canoe. Other highlights were the zip-line, riding singletrack in virtual darkness with nothing but headlamps, and of course, just the general running around in the woods.

After the pre-race meeting, there was a ten second countdown and we were off on our 3mile trail run and then back to the transition area (TA1) for the first set of maps. Three miles in the woods put a nice distance between a lot of the teams to spread things out. We got moving on our bikes and headed out to the New Fane trail head for some singletrack. Nothing crazy to write about, it was definitely fun and had a few good, rocky climbs, but a smart, intermediate trail.

Next was the first orienteering course (o-course) and this is where we felt our first pangs of frustration. Three of the checkpoints we found quickly, but the other two, well they took us longer.

Canoeing was awesome. It really felt like we were in a planetarium during the three hours that we paddled to the checkpoint. We saw four or five shooting stars while we were out on the water. With the temperature dropping like it did, April was almost hypothermic and we followed some other teams' suit and wrapped her up in her emergency blanket. Trouble is, when you're going downhill on a bike in excess of 30mph, the wind doesn't care how many layers you're wearing, it's just effing cold.

Time for some more singletrack!!! This route was a little harder, or maybe it was because it was 4am when we started. The trail took us about an hour, but it was a first racing in pitch black with only a few lights showing the way.

The zip line, how 'bout it? I did it twice.

Back at the Zilmer trail head is the start of the final and optional o-course. We end up getting four of them and my knees felt every single step we took.

I would say I ate 10-12 energy gels, 7-8Power/Cliff Bars, a few bananas, a full bag of beef jerky and drank 250oz of water and electrolyte drinks.

Thanks to April and Ellie Hernann for welcoming me to Team Chupacabra with open arms, and thanks to all of Team Fat Otter and the volunteers for putting this race together. I will absolutely be back next year!

RACE/TRAINING CAMP: CAARA AR Potluck, Spring Valley, IL July 19-20, 2008

2008-07-20T07:50:00.005-05:00

First off, I need to congratulate Angie on her amazing PATIENCE and random excellence in doing the singletrack section of the race on Sunday. More on that in the following paragraphs, but nonetheless noteworthy up front.

What a fun idea for a newcomer to the sport of Adventure Racing (AR). The potluck weekend is designed to "get the feet wet" (oh man I'm good) of beginners, and help season an experienced racers time and orienteering. Chad and his wife Cortny and fellow teammate of Team POLeR, John "Code" Morse put on a fantastic weekend.

With camp set up under a park shelter, racers were able to attend different clinics specializing in different areas of AR. From ARFE (adventure racers for the environment) to a rep from Salomon on what to look for when buying footwear, covering everything from when to use Gortex to talking about arch support and which brands are best (somewhat bias coming from Salomon, but it sold me).

The clinics took place after racers made one of two choices. Either kayak down the Vermillion River, or go on a ~30mile bike ride to/from Starved Rock. Angie and I did the kayak, which was surprisingly fun despite it being at the end of the whitewater season with very low water levels. The majority of the time we were paddling, but there were some good spots on the river where you could position yourself in the current, or pick a line and go over a 3-4ft drop. I survived one of the two here, while tipping on the second next to a HUGE cement factory downstream. Angie had the best quote because she made it past everything without tipping, "Guys are so funny, you get out, look at the other side, talk routes...I just go," and of course, she came out unscathed. I would love to go back and do the river again at the start of the season where the rapids can reach upwards of Class III. Thanks to Vermillion River Rafting for the rentals, and for smoking non-stop in the storage barn.

Sunday was great for the race. Angie and I teamed up with Chupacabra (the Hernann family) which was some foreshadowing as I would go on to race with April & Ellie for the Sweaty Otter in August. We all agreed to take a more lax approach to the race and pick up the checkpoints after we'd found them, cutting down on course clearing time for Chad and Team POLeR.

We have some fun pictures from the first CP on top of a hill where John was waiting for us with camera in hand, and the swimming part where Neil "The Tax Dude" was waiting for us 50ft from the shore line with the CP attached to his kayak. Luckily, he wasn't sadistic and stayed where he was. I do anything to get to a control, so I would have tipped him if he'd gotten cute! Maybe not...

After CP1 (the hill), we found a footpath that was next to some power lines that we were using as a handrail (something long and familiar that you find on a map to help stay oriented and keep tabs on distance traveled). The CP was at the top of a berm covered by bush and other foliage, and at the top waiting was Jeremy Van Ek with a length of rope. Time to get wet! We had to hang on to the rope and shimmy down into the river that would take us a quarter mile to CP2. The deepest this creek/river got was just below the waist, so it was nothing crazy or extreme, although cold at first...it was welcome due to the temperature rising. Found the CP and made our way to Neil, which we already talked about.

After that section, we had to make our way over to the orienteering course (o-course) which ended up throwing us for a loop. Had a decent bike to that section, but the kicker was the quarter mile or so bike up the STEEP gravel hill. Drew (Hernann) and I made it to the top pedaling the whole way, while the rest of the gang had to keep their pasifierers in and walk to the top (HEYO!). Tough climb, but felt good at the top like anything difficult and deserved.

After that exhausting display of manliness by Drew and I, we were able to hang out a bit and let the other teams put some more distance between us. Really cool bar/grill/PAINTBALL valley that I would love to check out next year. We look at the map and get ready to set out. Looking for a trail about 150meters from where we're gathered and then looking for a some type of man-made structure, from there we'll take a bearing on the map and find our way to the first CP, take another bearing and find the second and last of that section. Well apparently, we missed the fact that a) our map was last udpated in the 90's, and the trail/road we followed, was less than six months old. We had looked up ahead, saw road turning into the direction we were supposed to go and bit hook, line and sinker. Craziest part was that we still found a man-made shelter that helped us find a CP, but the CP was actually the second one we were to find, which COMPLETELY threw us off. Huge learning experience on map reading and pace counting (a way to measure how far you've gone without use of a pedometer or bike computer). Finally Chad came and found us and showed us where we made our mistake. The "sweeper" team had gotten a little too confident and zoomed past the fundamentals of orienteering. Big no-no.

Found a remaining CP in the area and headed off to the singletrack part of the race, which we detoured once or twice (again). To get to the next CP, we had to follow old railroad tracks where the beams had been removed. Once we were on this, it was awesome. Nice, TIGHT, trails that at times left us looking over a 30ft drop. This trail's used more so by ATVs, so you at least know that as you're going over an extremely old and dilapidated rail bridge (again, 30-40ft drop), it'll support your weight. I would say this a good six or seven miles, and Angie held her own. It probably also helped that I had swapped the world's largest Gel bike seat for her, but hey, whatever gets you out there!!!

I REALLY liked this part of the race. It took us through an old rock quarry where we had to keep our eyes peeled for Chad's bright orange spray paint that would keep us on the correct trail line, otherwise throwing us to a creek that would just serve to get us lost! We did find some nice locals that let us fill up our CamelBaks with water, otherwise dehydration would not have been fun.

At least now we were back on road until we hit the finish line, where burgers and BEER were awaiting us. Enjoyed the different war stories that other people shared, or the post-mortem, as some call it. Re-hashing mistakes made and just talking about AR in general. One team did suffere a broken clavicle, which we think is attested to because gym shoes and clipless pedals DO NOT MIX, but hey, lesson learned and she was smiling, so she's tougher than I am. Tough "break."

Great event and can't wait to do it next year!!

CAARA All Nighter - 12hrs

2008-06-13T19:11:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately there are no pictures from the All Nighter. This race, presented by Jeremy Van Ek, board member for Chicago Area Adventure Racing Association (CAARA), was my first experience with adventure racing. The ISU Redbird Challenge was the first multi-sport race, but the All-Nighter added orienteering to the mix, which is something I had never done in competition.

My partner in grime Nate Gawel, had turned me on to the CAARA Web site (http://www.chicagoadventureracing.org/) and I found a navigation clinic at Blackwell Forest Preserve. Nate couldn't make it, but I still wanted to learn the basics of orienteering. This is where I met April, Ellie and Drew Hernann, who would end up teaching me so much about orienteering and racing in general. Jeremy did an excellent job of relaying the basics of "nav" and map reading, which will make or break any team in AR.

Well none of my friends thought that doing a race like this sounded like any fun. So I turned to Matt Stewart, director of the Redbird Challenge, and asked him. Simple answer from Matt,"Sure."

I have NEVER had as much fun as I did gearing up for this race. The anticipation, the course route planning over the phone with Matt, meeting the Hernann's at Millenium park for Blues Fest and plotting our UTM (universal transverse mercator) coordinates on the topographic map and especially BUYING NEW GEAR! Aside from replenishing food at race checkpoints, buying new gear is my absolute favorite thing to do. Since this was a training event and we had the checkpoints in advance, we went on to Google Earth and looked at satellite imagery of the course, which covered between 5-6 different towns within DuPage County.

I won't go through each checkpoint (CP), but there are some very vivid memories in trying to find some of those checkpoints that I want to go over. The first being when we finally found the first CP and then decided to ride on the railroad tracks to the back entrance of a Forest Preserve, which to this day I'm not sure if that was legal, but hey, in the name of adventure racing. Some guy even asked us if we were lost when we got off the tracks, I can only imagine what was going through his mind staring at two dorks with headlamps staring at a topographic map. It's moments like that I remember though, cutting down railroad tracks, checking behind you to make sure that a train isn't barrelling down on you!!

This forest preserve was a little tricky because when we plotted the course, and looked at the maps on Google Earth, we were convinced that Jeremy placed the CP on an island with a bridge leading to it...but after 45 minutes of searching this tiny little island, we found nothing...except a wet pair of boxer shorts...AH HAH! Looking back to the map, we surmised that the CP had to have been on the other island. SO! I took off my pack and hopped into the lovely, algae infested, stinky pond water that sits adjacent to a highway and power lines!

My wife makes fun of me for this memory, but I'll swear by this being one of the reasons that I subject myself to this constant state of punishment that is AR. We were walking through high prairie grass in a large, open meadow, on a bearing that would take us to a hillside where we'd find CP5. With the night being damp to begin with and the grass leaving us sopping wet, the fog was actually something you could reach out and touch. Easy CP to find, but as we're standing there at midnight, on this hillside and I'm looking from my compass back to the horizon, I'm seeing the headlamps from the people that are ahead of us in the direction of CP6, and the headlamps of the beams coming from the people that were headed toward us at CP5. It was amazing really. I never would have thought I could stand in a field somewhere, about to cross a wide open field for half a mile, hit a river, stop, travel upstream until I find a milkjug wrapped in reflective tape (this race's CPs).

This race was also where I realized another beauty of AR...that you get to eat as much as you want. You need energy and your metabolism is running faster than a Jamaican sprinter in Beijing, so break out the jerky, bacon, gels and Nutter Butters!

RACE: ISU Redbird Challenge 4/20/2008 - Comlara Park, IL

2008-04-20T19:42:00.003-05:00

This little surprise turned out to be my first taste of a multi-discipline adventure race. I had done Muddy Buddy with Nate in 07, but the RedbirdChallenge brought canoeing into the mix and MAN was it fun!

We got a Coed team together: Nick Eriser, Meagan Witt, Will Sostand and I comprised my second race under Team Tripod! Will's fiance, Renata, and my lovely soon to be bride, Angie, were our support crew and mascot handler! Thanks to them for getting the camp site in order and transitioning our bikes to where we needed them.

After the gun went off, the four of us were tied together, shoulder to shoulder, ankles tied with rope. We had to make our way to the canoe launch, seperate into our two canoes and then start the two mile paddle to the trail running section of the race. We do extremely well getting to the launch, but Nick and I, all in a hurry, launch with lightning speed, and tip in two feet of water. Hey, at least it's not 55degrees out...oh wait that's right, it was. Luckily the initial adrenaline hasn't worn off yet. We "right" ourselves and get to paddling. As luck would have it, we look back expecting to see Meagan and Will close in tow, but they're up to their PFD's (personal flotation device aka lifejacket) with a cap-sized canoe!!

So we circle back and are sitting there for a good ten minutes trying to "right" their canoe before the guy's in the safety boat show up. Meagan is shivering in the cold, Will's sweatpants probably weigh close to ten pounds. The guys in the boat show up and yoink them out of the water, but since Meagan's hyperthermic and Will's almost there, we're disqualified already, but Nick and I press on because what are they going to do, we already paid!

Nick and I make up some serious time with him in back steering while I'm up front, brainlessly paddling to Nick's calls. We kept a relatively straight line, which I applaud Nick for the driving because we've never been in a canoe together. After finding the landing (it was pretty much a straight two mile stretch with one or two bends to the left on the open lake), we portage the canoe a short 50 meters and set out for the trail head on foot.

This is where the race picks up for me, I LOVE trail running and singletrack. Couple of nice big puddles to stomp through and get the mud splatters on the leg to prove you were doing something cool. Knee starts to ache and Nick gets a little winded, but what are you going to do, we have at least a three mile run with six miles left on the bike. Run finishes up without much else happening and to our surprise, we see Meagan and Will waiting for us at the final transition area (TA)! We're already DQ'd, so we all meet up again and start out on the bikes.

I have to give some serious credit to CORBA (Concerned Off Road Bicyclists Association) for putting together and maintaining Comlara Park's singletrack trails. Awesome trails with some serious switchbacks and ravines to dive in. Of course there had been some rain, so I'm sure us racers did some damage around the puddles, but it is what it is. The proverbial wrench was thrown in our spokes when a) Will got a flat and b) Will's right pedal broke at a 45degree angle, leaving virtually no surface area to fit his size 14 shoe!!! It took us some time to get his back tire up and running, severely underinflated of course, and on our merry way.

I seriously recommend riding the trails in Comlara Park near Bloomington, IL if you're in the area with your bike, or taking a quick trip to get some riding in. Technical, but not so bad that a beginner couldn't have fun. It also matters how quickly you go.

The race support team and volunteers at one point thought we were lost, or dead, in the woods. But we did finish, dead last of course, but we finished. For putting together a team of people with virtually no adventure racing experience, I think we did an amazing job considering the multiple mechanical failures we had. I think next year we'll be able to do some serious damage.

I'd like to get a nice sized group of people down for the race and compete in both the 2-person and 4-person coed teams. Never hurts to get some more camping in as well!!

RACE: Muddy Buddy 07, Gilberts, IL

2007-08-05T07:42:00.002-05:00

So...this is what an adventure race is, eh? Okay, I'm hooked.

I was still a pack-a-day smoker when I trained and competed for/in this race. I take my health and training a bit more serious now, but this is the race that made me think to myself, "Okay, if you can finish decently in this race, imagine what you can do if you quit smoking." Thankfully I gave up the habit a few months later and haven't gone back since. Yay me. Cornflaks pinned on boobs, let's rock.

The term, "muddy," doesn't do this race any justice. Of course the race organizers want the racers to get muddy, but that's USUALLY reserved for a couple of spots on the trails, and at the end of the race in the infamous Mud Pit.

Of course, as we pull in to the campground the night before, it's lightly drizzling as we put up our tents and start to build camp. By the time we went to bed, there was a full-blown torrential downpour cascading off the sides of our tents. Angie, Kelly, Connor (our three-legged stud of a dog) and I are in my four person tent while Nate is next door in his. Up at 3am trying to soak up the water creeping in from the ground (we did put down a tarp, but there was THAT much water that it still found its way inside). Whatever, Murphy's Law.

Though we didn't get much sleep, race time inevitably came and "washed" away any concern about being tired. Adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline.

Nate and I are in the first heat to go, and looking back we see THOUSANDS of people lining up for the race, but because of our combined weight and our age, we're in the first wave to start. Since this is my first race of any kind, my buddy is BEGGING to be let off the leash and to start cranking my pedals. Gun goes off and BAM! I am out of the blocks and pedaling like a madman.

Now for anyone that doesn't know about MBuddy, it's a leapfrog race. Nate and I are teammates, but we don't race next to each other. I start off on our one mountain bike while Nate is on foot for the first section. The course is the same for everyone, but we switch disciplines after each leg/section. For instance, I started off on the bike, but left it at the bike drop for Nate to come and pick it up. I go from biker to runner, and Nate from runner to biker. Simple.

The course is 75% mud. All of the fire/access/doubletrack roads that were once dirt...are obviously mud now. As you're trying to pedal your bike, its tires will literally not go through the forks because there is so much mud built up. Dismount, clear the fork and pedal pedal pedal. Trying to figure that the harder you pedal, the more mud you'll clear, doesn't work. You just have to keep clearing out your bike.

The mystery events were fun. A 10ft rock climbing wall, 30ft balance beam, 20ft inflatable slide that you have to cargo-net up to the top for the ride down, and an Army Ranger apparatus that you hoist yourself over and under the cross beams while avoiding contact with the ground.

No singletrack to really speak of, but there were some dangerous sections on the bike that most people opted out of an walked their bike. MB '07 was harder than I thought it was going to be, mainly because of the previous night's tropical rainstorm. You don't think that a mile, mile and a half at a time on bike or running will be that demanding, but once you're body says GO!, you're going full tilt, and the fatigue creeps up on you. Especially when you do it 6-7miles with a sprint mentality.

The finale of the race was the giant Mud Pit that you had to drag yourself through. I say that because at this point in the race, you're on Empty. More adrenaline kicks in though, and you're army-crawling under the race flags, no choice but to dunk your head in the muck, repeatedly, to get to the other side. How about it? It's so satisfying to play in the cool, soft, wet old mud!

I loved this race. It introduced me to racing and that's been my reason for getting my lungs back and sustaining a hobby that's both physically and mentally challenging, especially in later races when orienteering came into play.