Adventure Racing

Merry Christmas to all you Orienteers, Navigators and AR Racers! Well all is now set. The proposed Rogaine and Land Navigation event is happening. Block your calendars off for Sat Feb 27th, 2010. Registration info will be available just after the New Years. There will be a 3-hr Rogaine race, a 6-hr combined Rogaine and AR Land Nav race (w/ bikes) and a 12-hr combined Rogaine and AR Land Nav race (w/ bikes).

Format will be a traditional 3-hr pre-plotted USOF Orienteering Score-O Rogaine course EVERYONE has to do. Then, those doing the 6 or 12 would pick up a new map and coordinates, plot them on the map and go find them, all on one continuous clock.

Safe parking will be provided and a Hash House for Start/Finish/Plotting and after race food will be provided. We intend to have T-shirts for all participants as well as great post race winter foods. Maps will be 1:10K Orienteering Map for the 3-hr Score-O and 1:24K My Topo Map for the remaining 6 & 12 hr courses. Most of the CP locations have NEVER been traveled to before. Biking is all mostly flat and mostly on country roads and some dirt roads (NO single track).

We're trying to figure out how much food, maps, T-shirts, etc to order so if you are pretty sure you plan to come, please let us know.

Happy Trails!

Mark Montague

Merry Christmas to all you Orienteers, Navigators and AR Racers! Well all is now set. The proposed Rogaine and Land Navigation event is happening. Block your calendars off for Sat Feb 27th, 2010. Registration info will be available just after the New Years. There will be a 3-hr Rogaine race, a 6-hr combined Rogaine and AR Land Nav race (w/ bikes) and a 12-hr combined Rogaine and AR Land Nav race (w/ bikes).

 

Format will be a traditional 3-hr pre-plotted USOF Orienteering Score-O Rogaine course EVERYONE has to do. Then, those doing the 6 or 12 would pick up a new map and coordinates, plot them on the map and go find them, all on one continuous clock.

 

Safe parking will be provided and a Hash House for Start/Finish/Plotting and after race food will be provided. We intend to have T-shirts for all participants as well as great post race winter foods. Maps will be 1:10K Orienteering Map for the 3-hr Score-O and 1:24K My Topo Map for the remaining 6 & 12 hr courses. Most of the CP locations have NEVER been traveled to before. Biking is all mostly flat and mostly on country roads and some dirt roads (NO single track).

 

We're trying to figure out how much food, maps, T-shirts, etc to order so if you are pretty sure you plan to come, please let us know.

 

Happy Trails!

 

Mark Montague

     Mark Montague, Tim Dunkum and I set out for Covington, VA on Saturday evening knowing that for November 8th the weather was going to be perfect.  Bright sunshine and low 70s was predicted and the weather didn’t let us down.  Half way through the race, sitting down at Tuscarora Overlook and admiring the view was one of the highlights – perfect day in the mountains of Virginia.
     
    We left The Pinehurst Motel (maybe one star!) early Sunday AM, hit McDonalds for some biscuits, and were in Douthat by about 7AM.  The 24-hour racers had been going since 4PM Saturday but 20 teams were ready to start the 8-hour race by 8AM.  Ronny Angell divided our race into two zones, so half of us were given UTMs for ten CPs in Zone 3, and the others given ten different UTMs for Zone 4.  We started in Zone 4, quickly plotted our points, knew we had to be back by 11:30, and were the second or third team to head out.  True to Odyssey standards we went straight up immediately.  

    Tim and Mark initially gave me a hard time about bike shorts and short sleeves, but the tune changed as we soon started sweating even in the early morning temperatures.  We did a counter-clockwise attack to Zone 4 in the northeast corner of the park and spent the initial part of the race leap-frogging with crazy Dima and Team Calleva.  They eventually gapped us through excellent navigation and unbeatable running but we did keep seeing them throughout the first half.  They would eventually win the whole event.  We probably did about 2000 feet of elevation gain, about 6 miles of distance, and were done with Zone 4 by about 11AM.  There had been serious steepness, thick mountain laurel, beautiful trail running, and perfect weather so far.  Both Tim and I had some “hot spots” starting from all the steep climbing but they luckily didn’t slow us down.  Something got in my right eye and it was pretty irritating the rest of the race.  Larry, the great EMS guy, flushed it out at the end of the race and all was well by Monday.
 
    We transitioned quickly at the TA, plotted the Zone 3 UTMs, re-fueled, re-hydrated, and were out by 11:25.  Zone 3 proved to be a different kind of race.  We again planned a counter-clockwise attack in the northwest corner of the park but travel was a lot easier along well worn trails.  We tackled a couple of points going up the Salt Stump Trail on our way to a high point at about 3000 ft elevation.   Distances were longer than our previous Zone but we could run if we’d had the energy.  We were now on the Middle Mountain Trail and heading south along the ridge.  This took us to Tuscarora Overlook with its beautiful view and then back northeast down the Blue Suck and Pine Tree Trail for three more points.  
    
Now it was decision time.  We had two more points to find and time was getting tight.  We decided to go for the point to our south. It had more value but was on a broad spur with few easy landmarks to use as nearby “fences.”  We actually found it fairly easily by attacking it from the west off the Locust Gap Trail.  It was further in than we estimated but when in doubt, keep going.  Then it was down, down, down to the finish.  We got a little nervous as we descended a reentrant and ran into another hill, but finding a stream and knowing that water always flows downhill we ran down it and eventually found the road.  
    
A very ugly “jog” brought us north along 629 to the TA at the Douthat Lake beachfront.  We’d gotten all but one point and finished with 15 minutes to spare.  As is customary of adventure races, there was little fanfare, just showers, ibuprofen, some food, and a lot of tired people waiting for results.  Second place overall and first in division was a nice end to the day.  We were really third behind Dima’s winning effort but their team had babysitting issues (long story) which disqualified them.  Mark kindly drove us home. 
It had been a good day with good teammates.  Lots of good talk, mainly from Mark, kept us walking, running, climbing, and happy: best way to spend a gorgeous Sunday in this beautiful state.  What a great sport!   
    
 Phil Dawson-Richmond ASR

(Below is a report from Mark Montigue following the Odyssey AR Rogaine Orienteering Event)
Hello Odyssey AR Ogainers,

Wow! What a night and day to be in the woods. I heard a lot of great comments on how beautiful it was out there. No one got seriously hurt, or real lost and we all had a good time, my staff included. We feel the event was a success. This was a fun event for us to put on. We really enjoyed setting up and gathering all the flags and punches. This was the most laid back event we have had at HQ. We hope it transferred to a laid back, no pressure event for you all. Navigation is all about practicing and building confidence in your skills. Talking to a lot of you this laid back event helped to achieve that goal.

My staff and I would like to thank you all again for coming out to our second 24 and 8 hr orienteering event. We will mostly have this event the same time next year. Let us know what you liked and didn’t like so we can improve this event.

We would like to congratulate everyone in finishing and congratulate the top 3 in each event.

In the 24hr AR Ogaine: Total Points- 2000

1^st place- GOAL SOLO-Brent Freedland- 2000 pts- 16:34 Hr

2^nd place- (Tied)-Solo- Brian Thompson and Solo- Charlie Roberts- 2000 pts- 16:54 Hr

3^rd place-2 Person- GarMen- Scott Perkins, Hans Heeren- 1620 pts- 22:59 Hr

In the 8hr AR Ogaine: Total Points- 1000

1^st place- Solo- Tired Dad- Tim Miller- 1000 pts- 6:55 Hr

2^nd place- 3 Person- Richmond ASR -Mark Montague, Tim Dunkum, Phil Dawson-950 pts- 7:42 Hr

3^rd place- 4 Person- Mala Pollo- Bryan Harris, Brent Harris, Tom Nelson, Jeff Swayne- 840 pts- 7:23 Hr

A list of the complete results is on our website.

We would like to thank our sponsors , Hammer Nutrition, Headsweats, Zanfel, Jungle Balm and Texas Tavern. We would like to say a special thanks to Douthat State Park for allowing us to hold this event.

If you would like to take you navigation skills to the next level or know of someone that would like to learn how to navigate. We will be holding a land navigation clinic on Saturday, Nov. 14 and December 12, 2009. There is still room in both clinics. This clinic will be geared toward navigation in adventure racing. The field portion of the clinic will be similar to the AR Ogaine, but I will be working side by side with you to help you see the terrain features and route choice strategies.

Thanks again for coming out to our AR Ogaine and we look forward to seeing you at more events in 2010.

Ronny and the Odyssey Adventure team

That's right, Scott Turner (True Timber) & Matt Perry (RIverside Outfitters) helped me get my climbing circuit set up recently and now its ready to go. The techniques that Scott & Matt have taught me are very specific to tree climbing but my idea is to see how we can merge the two - tree climbing and adventure racing.
Once the rope is set up, the climbing gear needed is significantly less than that of typcial ascending/descending ropes. All you need is a harness, foot ascender http://www.rocknrescue.com/acatalog/Petzl-Pantin-Foot-Ascender.html, mini pulley and a presick loop.
What Scott did when he came out was to get the rope in the spot that would best support our weight, place the semi-permanent nylon webbing (or choker) that will hold the guide line AND the climbing line. Now, all I have to do when I want to climb, is to go out back, tie on the climbing line and pull it through the nylon choker and start climbing.
This is a great discipline and technique to use in AR since you can have mulitple stations set up that will avoid choke points in the race.
The potential is unlimited in that a control point could be placed at a point in a tree where the climber would have to "go out on limb" to mark their passport...and this isn't as easy as it sounds. Or, climb one tree, swing to another to access the control, then back to the first tree to descend. There are many, many options here.
Below are some photos of the set up.

This is a photo of Scott after he threw the line to the top of the tree. I obviously snapped the picture late.


Here, Scott is putting the final touches on the climbing set up.


Here is Riverside Outfitters shop; they are ready to help you climb trees, raft the James or even rent you some tubes do relax with some tubing on the James. You can check out their website at
http://www.riversideoutfitters.net/
OR - you can check out their shop located at
Riverside Outfitters
6836 Old Westham Rd.
Richmond, VA 23225

This course was money WELL spent. It is a 3 day course packed full of challenging adventure and wilderness medicine. The course instructor and owner is a life-long emergency room physician with a passion for adventure and sports – and she is wide open the entire time so be sure you are in pretty good shape when you come so you can full participate in ALL the activities she throws your way.

The first day we left the meeting area at a Montgomery County park and hit the trail at about 8:15 to 8:30; we didn’t return until about 5:45. We hiked and ran through woods, overgrown trails, long mud pits, creeks, streams. We climbed over trees and ropes designed to build team understandings. We learned proper horizontal tree crossings; how to build emergency shelters and who could build the best. Then, we would take occasional breaks (welcome breaks to be sure) to learn some really good wilderness medicine…with very practical application.

Once we were done with that, it was on to the fire house grabbing dinner on the way, for a 3 hour lecture on more wilderness first aid and basic physiology and anatomy. We got back our hotel at around 10 p.m. then had to do laundry, reorganize our gear for the next day’s climbing, orienteering and biking – all the while making sure we had our binder with the medical course syllabus (don’t forget – you’re here to learn practical application of serious medical situations in the wilderness…and can be applied to everyday life) with us and familiar.

The next day involved some really good climbing techniques and, for us adventure racers – a great review and opportunity to climb and rappel on some serious rock walls with serious height. This also included various rescue techniques for climbers stranded either by medical reasons or in general. The orienteering was pretty basic but it gave us some time to do some compass work and bushwacking in an unfamiliar area.

The biking was fun and we covered probably about 8 to 10 miles (a little over “advertised 6 miles but, I didn’t hear any complaints). The bike section included some really good, challenging medical scenarios that just about everyone had an opportunity (Dr.Smith likes “volunteer” individuals to play the doctor/rescuer) to participate in as the doctor. We started the day at around 8:30 and biked back to the cars around 6:45…a full day to say the least.

The third day involved a 3 hour lecture (it could have been 2 hours but everything is running together in my memory) starting at 8:00 a.m. We then drove to the local power plant on the Potomac River where a white water flume was built for the local kayak club to hold some very serious competitions on the water discharged from the boilers of the power plant. The water coming down the chute was a balmy 85 degrees. This is where we practiced our “Swift Water Rescue” techniques…and swift was the water. This was for me, the most fun as I love this kind of activity but many of the participants discovered they could do things they would never have imagined they could do. From there we learned kayak techniques – a review on many techniques we use but who doesn’t need a review…but new, and VERY important techniques for the newbie. We finished this section at around 4:30 and was followed by the mini-adventure race which included the “practical” exam of techniques that you HAD to get right before moving to the next checkpoint. Unfortunately, Marianne and I had to leave as we had a 3 hour drive back to Richmond so we also missed the written exam in order to receive our completion certificate but Dr. Smith told us to contact her any time to come up and we could complete the practical and written exams. I’m hoping we can do this, but even if we don’t, we will next year.

I say next year in that the course presented SO MUCH information, that retention will probably be around 30%. Mare and I definitely will be back next year as $120 for this course is more than a bargain – if you spend time in the woods, mountains and oceans/lakes – you need to take the time to be sure you know how to care for the medical emergencies that WILL present themselves (not IF they present themselves). There was also many survival skills that were learned and a review in a year will be a necessity.

My recommendations for the individual taking this course is to that you will need to take off time from work and the minimum is 2 ½ days. Since you start first thing Friday morning, you need to be in town that night and ready to go. The days are packed FULL – this is no exaggeration – meaning you get every bit of your registration fee and more so you need to be sure you are prepared.

Take ALL of Dr. Smith’s recommendations for preparation VERY seriously because if you don’t, you will miss some very important information.

Any adventure racer will be prepared for this course as will any endurance athlete but don’t come into with the attitude that you won’t be challenged because Dr. Smith lights the fire at the start of the first day and it burns all the way till you finish your written exam. Be ready for a bit of sleep deprivation as a well a ton of fun.

A STERN AND SERIOUS WARNING: MONTGOMERY COUNTY TAKES ITS SPEED LIMITS VERY SERIOUSLY AND HAS CAMERA SPEED TRAPS ALL OVER THE COUNTY. DO NOT STRAY MORE THAN 5 MILES OVER THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT OR YOU WILL GET BUSTED…I DID AND I DO MY BEST TO STAY WITHIN THAT 5 MPH DEVIATION. I WILL ADD THAT I AM STILL IMPRESSED WITH MONTGOMERY COUNTY, ITS PARKS AND SERVICES…SO PLEASE KNOW THAT MONTGOMERY COUNTY IS A VERY NICE PLACE TO VISIT AND LIVE.

Montgomery County also works with the M.O.R.E. (Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts) to maintain and build top quality trails systems in its parks; so when you are on the trails there, keep in mind the Richmond Area sister whom we lovingly refer to as “mother-MORE” helps maintain those trails.

You can check out Dr. Ellen Smith’s website at  http://wildmedmd.com/ ; and if you have any questions, she is really great about getting back to you so be sure to email her.

There is much more I could say but I need to try to keep this as short as possible (and as you can see, at a bare minimum, there is still much to discuss.

Carolyn and Sue make an emergency fire with a flint striker and a cotton ball covered in petroleum jelly (this technique worked extremely well!)

Dr. Smith assists Tom and Dave in lifting Carolyn over the rope ladder and WITHOUT injury to anyone!!

The Untamed New England has entered in it teams from across the world...including two teams from Richmond ASR. We wish both teams great luck, dry maps and high glycogen levels till the end of this race. You can follow our teams by going to http://www.untamedne.com/.
One bit of advice to those ASR teams...don't worry about those other sissies - kick their butt!