Bushwhack Adventures - Falls Lake Challenge 2010

This race report is from Marcey. Drew and Marcey competed in the 2-Person Co-Ed Division.


The Falls Lake Challenge 8-hr Sprint Adventure Race was a great learning experience for Drew and I. After arriving at the park, we learned that Bob, who is Master Navigator and the most experienced by far, needed to stay home to take care of his little boy, who was very sick. Bob just completed the Best Ranger Competion so was probably in the best shape of his life so this race would have been a cakewalk for him. Needless to say, I wasn't nervous being in the capable hands of Drew who said "I think I can plot UTMs". Drew explained to me that he was used to plotting military style but that it should be similar.

We spent about 30 minutes plotting the course and decided to hit the paddle and run section first due to a call for thunderstorms later in the day. Biking is Drew's 3rd favorite discipline so there was no argument from him. This turned out not to be a good tactic since we didn't pay attention to the assigned points and missed out on a couple of checkpoints that were 30+ on the bike. I was a little worried about my titanium upgrade (clavicle 2009) since I hadn't paddled for about 11 months but I had no problem thanks to Dr. Jones at Impact Orthopedics who definitely fixed me up right! We got messed up on the very first checkpoint and went to the wrong inlet. After spending probably 15-20 minutes there we gave up and paddled again only to realize that we had went in too early so this time we were able to find it pretty easily.

After a few checkpoints we docked the boat and started on the run portion. We spent about 20 minutes looking for the first one and Drew realized he had plotted incorrectly. We also made the decision to spend no more than 10-15 minutes looking for a checkpoint. Once, when we were looking for a checkpoint that wasn't there, I asked Drew, "Are you sure you plotted correctly on the right line?" and followed up with "And I say that lovingly". He kept apologizing and I kept saying I would do no better and I was having fun so I didn't really care. I also decided that we needed a bracelet that said WWBD or What Would Bob Do?

After this minor screw up, we were able to find all of the checkpoints after taking a quick peek at the park map near the campgrounds where Drew realized that there were roads at the campground that were not on our map. This made more sense and we became successful! We were getting close to time so hurried back to the boat and made the decision to finish out the paddle points. Drew was out of water and so was I but thought we would be okay. We grossly miscalculated how long it would take us to finish out the paddle points since at this time, we thought we would at least be able to hop on the bike and get a few points. After getting the last paddle checkpoint we paddled a steady pace to the finish, which took about 45 minutes. I had a massive blister on my hand from paddling and we were both a little dehydrated. The phone rang with about 20 minutes to go and I said it was probably my mom, who was volunteering and I am sure was wondering why we had not come back to get our bikes. Then a sheriff's boat came by and asked if there were any boats behind us (there was one kayak). I said that my mom probably sent the Sheriff out to make sure we were okay.

We saw the first beach and thought we were home but it was the second beach so we had to paddle a little faster in order to make it under the eight hours. We did, with only four minutes to spare! We never even made it to the bike but got all but one of the paddle and trek points so I was happy with the volume we were able to get. The after race pizza proved to be the hardest workout of the day for my jaws. The prizes were great and the organization stellar considering all the rain we had.

Lessons learned from FLC:

Check the number of points assigned to each checkpoint.
Don't spend too much time on a point. If I can't find it in 15 minutes, move on.
Never forget paddling gloves.
Always wear knee socks.
Check for ticks...many, many times.
Keep an extra water bottle in the boat.

Great job by the Waterlogged Dogwoods!!!!!

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Uwharrie Rumble - Queen of the Mountain

This Race Report is from Marcey, the 2010 Uwharrie Rumble Queen of the Mountain.





The Uwharrie Rumble was held on May 15-16. Saturday was a 6hr MTB race and Sunday was a trail half-marathon. Both races used the Supertree and Keyauwee trails. My goal was to win the Queen of the Mountain award which was given to the person with the best combined times for the ride and run. I didn't realize until I got to the race how easy this would be. At registration I learned I was the only female signed up to do the race solo and all I needed to do was ride one lap and run the race on Sunday in order to be Queen of the Mountain. Some people would be happy but I don't like to win anything 'by default'. So, I decided I was just going to race it just like I had planned but also have a goal to beat some of the men. I had a great ride and completed five laps, finishing in 5:29:32. All of my laps were within nine minutes of each other and my last lap was my third fastest. I carried all of my nutrition on me and only stopped once during the 5.5 hours to take a quick bio break. I never crashed and was really happy with the way I rode. Since there wasn't a big field, I sometimes had the trails to myself and could just ride and ride. LOVED IT! I ended up beating 40% of the men's field so that was a plus! My prize for winning the solo race was a $125 gift certificate to Middle Ring Cycles in Albemarle. If you ever have a chance to go there, stop by and say hi. The store is very nice and the owner is even nicer. I bought a new helmet and some lights. They have a new logo at the store and a new website www.powered-byyou.com. Check 'em out!

We camped all weekend and Saturday night was like every other time in 16 years that my husband and I camped which means that it rained and ended up flooding our borrowed tent because the rain flap became stuck and water poured in all over our sleeping bag. Needless to say, we got very little sleep. I also have a bad habit of 'riding' in my sleep the night after a race so I spent the night jerking around while I was riding over rocks, around switchbacks and over logs in my dreams.


Sunday was race day for the half-marathon and thankfully there was a much bigger field. I decided not to have a time goal since I knew I was winning QoM and I didn't want to toast myself prior to my race the following weekend - Falls Lake Challenge. After the second mile, I realized I was feeling pretty good and tried to keep my standing goal of no one passing me that I didn't pass back. I am happy to say, my record still stands and I passed everyone that passed me, including 7 people in the last two miles alone! I felt really good and surprisingly, won my age group with a time of 2:04:37 which I was happy with on such a hard trail and the day after a 6hr race. I finished 8th overall female out of 31and 32 out of 81 male/female. My prize was a stainless steel water bottle with the race logo which is MUCH better than a medal because I am a 'function' kind of girl.

My prize for the QoM was a fleece vest with Queen of the Mountain and Uwharrie Rumble embroidered on it. The race promoter, On the Mark, was nice enough to keep the small vest that was already made and special order an xs for me!

I hope they do the race again and that more people come out next year. Great race, great promoter, great trails and great food.

-Marcey

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Gleneagles Challenge 2010

Yes, the 1st and 2nd runnings of the Gleneagles Challenge did start and finish from my garage in the Gleneagles Subdivision of Cary, NC. Last year I expanded it to a Bond Park pavilion and this year graduated to the big leagues with the Gleneagles Challenge 2010 being a Bushwhack Adventures production and part of the Checkpoint Tracker Series. For locals who have done a GEC in the past, you'll still find some things you've seen in the past (climbing up trees and going into tunnels).








Marcey and I recently completed the initial coursework and Pat and Don will vet the course soon. The course will almost be completely Rogaine allowing many options for fun, fast single track mountain biking, paddling in the clear blue waters of Harris Lake with a Nuclear Plant looking down at you, and trekking through some dense pine groves. The GEC 2010 will be a great race for beginners and will challenge experienced racers to clear the course.







And since copyright laws proclude us from using the old GEC logo, I "borrowed" from the 5-Star Gleneagles Luxury Hotel and Country Club in Scotland, we are introducing the new GEC logo for 2010. Register soon and we will see you at Harris Lake.

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BOK Orienteering "A" Event - Sycamore Scramble

Bob competed in the Backwood Orienteering Klub's "A" Event, the Sycamore Scramble on Feb the 2nd. I only participated in the Classic Red 35+ Course on Sunday, but wish I could have done the Sprint and Middle courses on Saturday as well. The weather was picture perfect, clear blue skies, and a very slight nip in the air. This was my first O'Meet at this level, so didn't really know what to expect, and arriving about 15 minutes prior to my 10:35 start time did not help getting fully read in and prepped. After registration and receiving my Finger Stick, I was put in a series of chutes to control the start. On the starting whistle, I was able to see the map for the first time and headed on my way - at a slight gallup through the woods. Things were going great until Control 8, where I completely missed it by a country mile and ended up out of the Umstead Boundary near the RDU 286 Rogue MTB Trails. I'll blame it on using a different compass than my old standby military issue compass and not paying attention to terrain, second guessing myself, and not listening to the little voice in my head saying "You are all jacked up". Anyhow, I first decided to ditch the point, but after seeing Kevin and Marcey riding their bikes on the Reedy Creek Trail and cheering me on....I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and took a second stab at it. This time using pure terrain association and following the spur down to CP 8. Total time from CP 7 to CP 8 - 83 minutes, ARGHH!!! The rest of the course was fine except the support crew was picking up CP 11 before I got there and I had to punch it while he was holding it - making me think that CP 12-14 were already being picked up as well. Not the case, so the easiest CPs around the Sycamore Lake Cabins also took me way to long to track down.

Overall, it was fairly confusing, as it was my first attempt at a higher caliper O'Meet and is set up very different from BOK's normal events. The race was extremely well put together and the support was phenomenal. I ended up taking just under 3 hours for a 14 Control, 7.5km Course, finishing 6th in the Red 35+ Category.

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Mandatory Gear 15 HR Adventure Race

Drew, Marcey, and Bob of the Waterlogged Dogwoods competed in the very wet and cold Mandatory Gear 15 HR Adventure Race in Conway, SC. The race was well run, had great volunteers, and the course was an interesting melody of what to find in the coastal flats of SC. The weather just didn't cooperate with her 35 degrees, cold rain, and pestering winds. We ended up with an unranked finish.....you win this time Mother Nature!!!!! A full race report and additional pictures can be found on our Results Page.

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