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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Race Preview: Rockstar Adventure Race (8 hour) 2017


We're back!

This race is so much fun.  Unlike a traditional race that follows a set course, this is a points race - you are given maps detailing the location of various checkpoints, each worth a certain amount of points.  Get as many points as you can in 8 hours!

Paddling, running, and mountain biking.

It's designed so that getting to all of them is not really feasible, so you have to strategize a lot - which checkpoints to go for, what route to take, etc.  That's part of the fun.  Oh and some navigation.

The Past

In 2015 we actually won our category in the 4 hour.  Managed to plan a pretty smart route and had a little luck while other teams faltered!

We did the 8 hour in 2016 thinking it would be a lot of the same, just at a slower overall pace... but we got lost in some really nasty brush areas and spent hours and hours bushwacking.  It was not fun.

So we have some revenge on our minds as we line up again.

Ch-ch-ch-chaaaaanges

Usually this race starts with a marked mountain bike course, then you have only the canoe and running in your toolbox for the rest of the race.

This year they will still start with a marked course - but they're not telling us the discipline until race day.  And then the rest of the race for the first time we can use our bikes!

This adds a whole new dimension to things.  Some of the trails in the area are very bikeable, some are very not bikeable... we don't know the whole system, so it's going to be a bit of guesswork at times.  We want to maximize the time in the boat or biking, as running for 8 hours is not something we're looking to do.

Should be a hoot trying to figure it all out!



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