MNOC Adventure-O 2010

Sometimes, getting to the race with an intact team is half the battle.  At least you see it that way from a "before the race" perspective.  The 2010 Adventure-O, hosted by the Minnesota Orienteering Club (MNOC) seemed to be one of those races.  Coordinating training, getting crushed by rain when you do get a chance to train, and personnel swaps add to the excitement.  From an "after the race" perspective, that was all trivial.

MNOC puts on excellent events.  The group, composed of map geeks with a penchant for going deep in the woods, places a premium on navigation vs. outright physical prowess.  They don't mind getting dirty, and certainly don't mind it when you get dirty.  This years event was held at Savannah Portage State Park, near McGregor, MN.  The course was set and vetted by two members with a lot of Adventure Race and Orienteering experience, Jerritt Johnston and Ian Harding.  Special thanks to Pete Curtis for the photos he took and provided for our blog.

The TMMAR team was composed of Will Eddy, Clark Flowers, Suzanne Pfeifer, and Peter Wentzel.  The format:  short O-course, transition to bike for a medium length Bike-O, transition to kayak for four controls on big Sandy Lake, transition to bike for a longer Bike-O, and a final O section on foot.  The race was given a 7.5 hour time limit.  The weather was warmer than expected, highs in the mid 80's and a nice strong wind was expected to kick up.

We started out with a sprint for controls 1-4, right at 9:30 AM.  Clark and Pete sharing the nav, with Will and Suzanne following close behind.  Suzanne volunteered to be towed during the runs, admitting that running wasn't her strongest suit.  PROPS to Suzanne.  While the MNOC regulars sprinted the course with TMMAR practicing a fast follow, Suzanne volunteered to hook herself to a bungie cord while Will attempted to pull her over logs, rocks, stumps, holes and pits, so the team could get in front of traffic on the bike section.  Not for the faint of heart.  All went well until Will caught a root and twisted his ankle.  This caused a minor change in pace, but we pressed on and finished the first O section, a little over a mile, in good position.

We transitioned well to bike and headed down the trail, looking for control 5 and 6.  You knew it was going to be fun when there were already teams doing some head scratching as we left the first road and entered the XC trail system.  Jerritt had warned us all, "Take it easy on the trails, especially the downhills, as there are a lot of hidden obstacles." So, we didn't bomb the first downhill, or the second, or the third, but that was getting a bit old....  We followed a group bobble (control confusion, map error, group think) and dismounted to find the first bike control in an area I thought was way too early.  But, we did it non-the-less.  Remounting and recalibrating, we cruised through a rutty section where Pete almost bit it, and secured the first bike control.  We navigated the maze of trails, growing increasingly frustrated with having to dismount to cross trees and go slow through thick grass because, "you just don't know" what lies beneath.  Pressing on, we witness a fellow racer find what lurked beneath.  A quick stop to critique the triple flip (and ensure all his parts still worked) and we left with a new appreciation for "the junk below the weeds..."

We emerged from the woods, unscathed and did a quick road ride to the paddle put in.  A quick transition and we are floating... and eating.  Most of us had not been keeping up with our fuel and took a quick break to shove food in our mouth before pointing down course and trying to catch the five teams in front of us while seeking controls 7-10.  Pete and Will in one boat, Clark and Suzanne in the other.  Luckily, the forecast wind had not picked up yet and we followed a mild chop south to a sheltered bay where the controls were located. Pete, not being the smoothest motivator, responded to the other boats reminder that Will and he couldn't get too far in front, with a reminder to the other boat that they can't get too far behind.  They didn't.  You would have to go back nearly two years for TMMAR to have such a good paddle leg.  We were setting a good pace coming off the first control when we ran into a bay full of grass.  It looked to us that the whole bay was grass (we missed the channel) so we picked a thin spot, pointed in the right direction and let her rip.  We looked like a cross between the Swedish Chef and the Tasmanian Devil tossing a salad.  Grass, moss, fish, frogs, and unknown entities went flying in the air as we attempted to maintain pace through the obstacle.  Coming out the far side, we saw that we made some serious time on the other teams.  We hit the next control and did a U-turn, this time, it was more of a slap chop scenario.  Equally effective.  We passed a couple teams!  Dig deep team.  We quickly grabbed the last two controls and headed back to the transition point.  The wind on the main lake had really picked up.  Teams were struggling to get to the sheltered bay as we surfed the downwind waves back to dry land.  We returned as the 2nd team to exit the water, passing 4 teams on the leg.

Off we go on the bike, in search of controls 11-16, catching up on food and arriving back at the XC trails with two other teams who pushed hard to catch us.  Pete did a quick map swap and the other teams went ahead.  Will put forth a huge effort int his next section.  We tow when we run, we tow when we bike, and we tow when we paddle, only when necessary, but such is AR.  Suzanne, an accomplished racer, came out of retirement for this event and admitted that she would need help on occasion.  Towing is a team exercise.  You rotate, you collaborate, you communicate and you get it done.  Unless you forget to bring your towing equipment....  So the team had one tow rig, and will agreed to be the tow on the bicycle.  Again, Suzanne gets props.  Most people don't like to tow or be towed on anything but asphalt.  Suzanne, held on through thick and thin.

We progressed down the trail, watching for key intersections and more obstacles.  There were plenty of the later, and just enough of the former.  The first half of this bike O saw plenty of logs, one tricky intersection, a crazy bridge, and a chest deep beaver lake that we carried our bikes across.  Jerritt and Ian at their best.  The second half made the race.  Coming in to an intersection, it was clear that a lot of traffic went right, which was actually straight ahead.  There was a hidden trail entrance that require a turn of approximately 135 degrees, which TMMAR took.  A smile crossed our faces once we confirmed we were on the right path, some others were not....  Making the turn was half the battle.  What followed was multiple dismounts, some voluntarily, others... not quite as graceful.  Nobody got hurt, a few got laughed at, but the course was competed with TMMAR in 3rd place.

Final transition to the run went well.  On to controls 17-24.  We knew Orion was less than 10 minutes in front of us.  A bobble on their part and maybe we could capture 2nd.  We set off at a jog and found the first control with no issues.  Getting in and out of the next control was problematic.  Not from a navigation point of view, but the terrain between the controls was thick.  A lot of trees down, then bog hopping, and then more trees.  The flies were horrible. We got out of the thick stuff, grabbed the next control and moved east, deciding that trails may be a quicker route after all.  We jumped on the continental divide trail (who knew?) and gained the next two controls in short order.  A quick look at the watch showed we had to change strategy. Jogging the flats and downhills while walking the uphills was not going to get us back in time.  Switch to jog the uphills and make your heart pound on everything else.  Luckily, the controls and map were dead accurate and the next three controls came quickly.  The last involving wading through a river...twice.... all of us.  I am sure some other teams opted for a drier approach, but we didn't have the luxury of looking for that route.  One final bushwhack through the woods and we are on the road home.  A good pace to the finish led to a third place overall.  The last team to sweep the course.  Congrats to WEDALI and Orion for first in the 4 person and two person coed divisions.  TMMAR took 2nd in the 4 person.

Good race, good times with the friends, new and old, from MNOC.