Long Runs on the Beach

After an exciting drive down to Cape Henlopen State Park in the mountainous state of Delaware, Jon and I rolled into the parking lot to meet Ann for our first adventure race of the new season. We had struggled to find food and gas, our search leading us to a pit stop at a small gas station which had been broken into overnight. A bit of a foreboding start to the Delmarva 8 hour Coastal Challenge, a new race here in the Mid-Atlantic and it would be my first race with Jonathan since our podium finish at Untamed New England slipped away from us several years back. Ah the memories…

The field was a decent size at 24 teams, but there was some speedy competition with fast Rev3 and Odyssey teams, a second Rev3 team that looked competitive for sure (and was), and the fast local foursome of Too Many Kids. We received no information before the race, so our preparation was relatively relaxed, and I spent some time on the Hawk Watch looking out over the dunes to the ocean and taking a couple of pictures with my bracelet in honor of injured friend and competitor Scott Pleban.

 

When the race started, we had to plot a handful of CPs, on the clock, and it became apparent that this race would not benefit us as there was very little navigation. Some route decisions, but all controls appeared to be on trails, roads, or on the beach. Disappointing for us as we knew we’d be at an immediate disadvantage to our faster opponents, but we were expecting this, so no surprise there. We set off at a run for the first two controls, located along the beach to the south of the central TA. We made good time, turning around in fourth, maybe fifth place. Here we gambled a bit. While all teams jumped up on the road to run the pavement all the way back through the TA and further north to the third CP, we elected to run the beach, staying on the firm sand along the water line. Sure enough, this strategy paid off since the beach was a bit more direct, and we reached the third control first.

Unfortunately, Odyssey, Rev and Too Many Kids all appeared shortly thereafter, and Rev3 managed to make it into the next TA quickly enough to launch on the bay first. We pushed off at the same time as Odyssey with Too Many Kids several minutes behind. The TA was along the gentle curve of a half-moon bay. There were three points along the beach, with the furthest point roughly 5-6 km across the bay in a straight line. Rev started paddling along the shore while we elected to paddle across. The wind was at our back and the water was rough with three foot swells occasionally swallowing boats from vision. Ann and Jon took a double, and I had a solo sit-on-top, and we actually made good time across with the wind and surf pushing us along. Our logic was simple: Rev would have to either paddle back across the open water into the wind or go out of their way to paddle back along the bay. Unfortunately, we fell behind on this leg as Odyssey crept ahead. Too Many Kids, a four person team unlike Rev3, Odyssey and us, came cruising by as we reached the far side of the bay (I think it was probably more a sign of superior paddling ability than their boat configuration). By the time we punched the first CP on the water, Odyssey and Too Many Kids had taken off back along the shore line and were pulling away.

After pushing off, we found the water to be brutal, slowing our already mediocre progress and threatening us with the occasional crashing wave and tireless winds. After some time struggling against it, we elected to head for shore, and from then on, we towed the two boats, Jon towing the double, I the single, Ann cheering us on and lugging paddles and other items. We rigged our tow ropes up to our packs, tied into the boats and set off along the surf, the boats somewhat floating, somewhat dragging along behind us. Once again, our strategy paid off, and after bagging the two points on the beach, we rolled into the TA essentially tied with Odyssey and only minutes behind Rev3 and Too Many Kids who appeared to be running away from us on the water.

 

A quick run back to the central TA, a fast change, some food and water, and we set off on our bikes in fourth place. The next leg was a road to bike-trail ride with three controls. We made good time, actually reeling in Too Many Kids. When we reached the third control we seemed to have two options. Ride back out the way we came (something we saw Odyssey do) or try to complete a loop back into the park, something Too Many Kids was apparently doing. We had no idea what had become of Rev3 (we suspected they had either tried the complete loop or maybe had ridden route 1, which was off limits…which is what they did not realizing it was against the rules). After a fair bit of debate we elected to try for the loop, but 10 minutes into the ride, Jon realized that one of our supplementary maps noted that this part of the park was closed at this time of year. I was stunned as usually things are closed in the winter, but sure enough it was marked off limits. So we turned around and headed back, losing 15 minutes or so to this decision.

From there the ride back was a haul as we had to fight the wind a fair bit, but other than a scramble up a steep underpass, we had no issues finishing the leg and getting out onto the optional foot rogaine. Once again the points were all along trails, so it was mostly a question of route choice and how fast we could run. While we would have liked a bit more nav once again, our run was enjoyable, with scenic marshes, additional running along the beach, and a quick climb up to the top of one of several towers looming above the tree-line in the park. We encountered Too Many Kids and the second Rev3 team who seemed to be moving well, and hence kept pushing through the section, clearing it with few issues.

Back at the TA we jumped on our bikes for the final optional bike O. We knew that Odyssey and Rev3 were too far ahead to catch, but we weren’t sure about Too Many Kids or the second Rev3 team, so we moved out quickly and made decent time around the park, electing to skip one of the five points, a wise decision as we crossed the line with 5-6 minutes left. We crossed paths with the second Rev team in the woods, and they were moving well, so we had an anxious few minutes at the finish line waiting to see if they had cleared the course. Thankfully, they too had dropped one point, so we eked out third based on time.

Ultimately it was a great first race of the season. For not being the speediest team on the course, we made some good decisions that allowed us to hold our own. And even then, we lost a fair bit of time on a couple of issues related to route choice and a mechanical. Despite these problems, we managed them well and kept on moving, all I want early in the season.

As for the race itself, the park and course were generally wonderful. Throwing a handful of points off trail to make the nav more interesting would have made it even better, and it would have made the competition a bit more interesting as well since it really turned into a race largely based on speed. That said, there was enough route choice to keep it fun and exciting. Great event overall, and congratulations to Odyssey and Rev3 for their top two finishes.