With a 27 hour race in two weeks, another 24 hour race a few weeks further down the road and then a 72 hour race for me in early July, we decided to keep it “short” and elected for the 12 hour event. After sorting our gear and food, we were given the maps about 45 minutes before race start and so had some time to strategize; while I have done plenty of Adventure Races at this point, I have only done one 6 hour rogaine, and the Snowgaine, which has been anywhere from 7-8 hours each day. So while the length of the day was not daunting, the task of trying to plan 12 hours of routeless travel was new to u (abby has similar experience minus the 6 hour rogaine).
We quickly scanned the maps and realized an obvious truth: from the start, the eastern half of the map was filled with lower value controls though more of them in a smaller area. There were significantly more higher-valued controls to the west (anywhere from 50-85 points). We talked briefly about strategy and drew ourselves a course that would keep us on the western half of the map, and we would also be hitting much of the higher, more challenging terrain “early” in the race. The gamble here was that this would likely take us farther away, and by committing to this route, we would have to have a cleaner run, and we’d have to move!
Well, the trip out to the western ends of the woods was indeed long, and while we generally moved well, especially when we could use trails or roads, and hit everything right on, the terrain and woods proved to be more challenging than we anticipated. We spent far more time under the cover of trees, ploughing through low laurel and other stunted woodland growth, frequently being torn at by brambles and thorns, and finding ourselves generally either climbing or descending wooded hillsides, all of which slowed us down as long as we traveled off-road. At times we elected for more distance in exchange for less time in the woods, but in general, I spent far more time roaming free than I have in any race before. While this undoubtedly cost us down the road, it was also rewarding to constantly hit what we were looking for, whether it was a smile-inducing and “Got it!” holler upon finding the orange and white controls or when we would finally emerge from our leg bruising bush whacks to find the trail or road bend we had been seeking.
By the time we were nearing the half-way point, we realized we would have to start dropping controls, but we still managed to hit some of the farthest points which we committed to before devising our plan of action as night fell. As the sun settled into the hazy horizon, we both were nearing the end of our second full bladder of water; neither of us had ever consumed so much water in a race before. 200 liters by eight hours in, not including the water we had consumed pre-race. We found a welcoming creek where we filtered water, donned our headlamps and discovered that Abby’s was no longer working. Fresh batteries wouldn’t get the old engine started, but thankfully we had brought a spare and were soon off into the night, hoping to bag several more controls on the way to the finish. While we did quickly find two of the higher controls, we were later dismayed to find that these were the only two controls we collected over the final 5 + hours of the race. This was in part due to a missed turn we decided not to go back for, which would have earned us over 100 more points, but it’s not clear whether we would have been able to get the higher two controls anyway. After the final control of the night, we did have time for one more, but we ultimately decided to call it a night and head back a bit early to eat and get off our feet.
We both had held up quite well save for some blisters Abby had developed early on. For both of us, it was the longest foot event of our racing careers, and we were both surprised to find that we were still running at hour 11 when we caught friends from Team Satori, at which point we walked it home with them. We covered a respectable 30 miles, and while we were out for 11+ hours, most of that time was consumed by bushwhacking, creek crossings and scrambles up and down hillsides. When on roads we ran well, eating up some serious distance as we ran the huge loop around the western half.
Ultimately, even had we bagged the 2 controls we blew by, it wouldn’t have mattered, and thankfully, skipping the last control we COULD have gotten also didn’t matter. Saturday was ARMD’s day as they ran a strong race by the sounds of it, and they ultimately finished with 842 points. We finished second with 707, barely eeking out the third place team who racked up 694 points.
Lessons Learned or Left Unfinished:
1) Not a new one, but strategy is oh so important. This is quite similar to AR, except usually AR rogaine sections are much smaller and a bit easier to judge. When you have 12 hours and endless route choices and only a short while to make a plan before the gun goes off, you’re a bit more limited with time for strategy. We ultimately decided to go for the big money, and I think we were closer than it seemed to pulling it off. A few decisions could have made this race different for the better. That said, ARMD clearly made the wiser decision, I think, going for closer groupings of controls. They had lower point values, but they were able to nail 6 more controls than we did, which is a bit staggering as I think about it now…We definitely went a bit too far and for too much it seems…Balance is clearly something worth considering!!
2) An ultra is not out of the realm of possibility. Granted, we weren’t running constantly and had a lot of time where we were trekking. I’m sure after running for 30 miles on trails, I will feel worse than after 30 miles spread over 12 hours, but the potential of a winterish ultra is not as daunting as it seemed three days ago.
3) We’re both getting better at NAV. Abby is clearly getting better at reading maps, and this was a much harder map to read than the ones she is used to. With one exception, I ran as strong a race as I have, and I definitely felt the confidence rise. But as Lesson One taught me, I’m still learning strategy. After having it pay off at the Yough last month, this was welcomingly humbling.
4) I love rogaining.
5) Despite the fact that our love and feelings for one another are still fully intact, Abby and I still haven’t figured out if racing together is something we want to do much of.
6) But we also do generally race quite well together for much of the race, which is more than many people can say…And on that note, check out her write-up for a fantastic comparison between racing and marriage. It might not the most romantic way to celebrate an anniversary, but maybe it is fitting and keeps you honest!
1 comment:
I really was planning on reading until I got distracted by your write-up :)
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