Go on, learn ropes

Adventure races no longer focus on the impossible

Cindy Hirschfeld, Special to the News

Saturday, August 19, 2006

To the uninitiated, adventure racing can seem contrived. These multisport (and often multiday) competitions came into public consciousness with televised events such as the defunct Eco-Challenge, in which athletes slogged through places such as the jungles of Borneo, battling intense fatigue and tropical vermin.

I was, admittedly, just such a skeptic. What did it say about how cushy our lives are that we have to create such events to challenge ourselves? Couldn't we just go out and enjoy nature?

Then I was invited to a two- day clinic last fall, which culminated in a mini-adventure race. As I worked with teammates to navigate from one checkpoint to another - running, mountain biking, ascending a climbing wall and paddling - my outlook was transformed. Aside from a moment atop the climbing wall when I thought my frozen figures were about to break off, the racing was, well, a lot of fun.

Adventure racing itself has been undergoing a transformation, too.

Though hardcore events such as the Primal Quest and the Raid World Championship (formerly the Raid Gauloises) still are around, the current emphasis is on shorter, less technical races that are more within the range of the weekend warrior.

"This is the first year we've added a couple of sprint races to try to get new people into the sport who may be intimidated to do one of our 12- or 24-hour races," said Will Newcomer, president of Gravity Play Sports Marketing, which puts on the six- year-old AdventureXstream race series in Colorado and Utah. "Most everyone finishes in five hours."

The Sept. 9 sprint race in Vail will include five to seven miles of river paddling (nothing harder than Class II, and tandem kayaks are provided), a seven- to 10-mile trail run and mountain biking on 10 to 15 miles of jeep roads. Race organizers will shuttle your team's gear to the transition points (the places at which you switch from running, say, to biking), so you don't need to cajole friends or family into serving as a support crew.

At a recent Adventure- Xstream race in Breckenridge, Newcomer said, "about 150 people showed up for the sprint (category), and about 90 percent of those people had not done a race with us before."

Newcomer and his staff also try to make it as reasonable as possible for all entrants to finish the race. If your team arrives at a checkpoint after the cutoff time, you'll be directed on a shorter variation to the next checkpoint instead of being disqualified (though you'll no longer be in the primary competition).

"As long as you're out there giving it your all, we'll have a course for you," Newcomer said.

Most adventure races require competitors to use their map and compass skills to find each mandatory checkpoint, as well as determine the quickest route between them.

Maps of the course usually are distributed the night before, or sometimes the morning of, the race. To take away that potentially daunting element, though, the producer of the Salomon Summit Adventure (Sept. 23 in Frisco) decided this year to publish the course description in advance, on the event Web site.

"The lack of description has kept away a lot of beginners," race organizer Mike Heaston said. "They have no idea of where they're going and the distances they have to cover. We wanted to take the fear out of it."

You'll still have to be able to follow a map to stay on course, but because the navigation component has been eliminated, the Summit Adventure is billed as a "hybrid" race. The menu of sports consists of canoeing (two to three miles), mountain biking (20 miles) and trail running (six miles).

At the race last year, the fastest teams completed the approximately 30-mile course in about three and half hours, and the last-place team took six and a half hours.

Also new this year is an optional relay category for teams of three: Only two team members have to participate in each section of the race. So if your forte is not paddling, for example, you can sit out that portion in favor of a teammate who is better at it.

For a close-to-home race that is accessible to all skill levels, it's hard to beat the Bearable (Sept. 24), now in its second year. Put on by the city of Lakewood, the event takes place at Bear Creek Lake Park, where two-person teams will complete an across- the-lake paddle, a 10-mile mountain bike ride and a four-mile trail run.

While adventure racing requires a good base level of fitness, don't underestimate your ability to become a participant. Seven years ago, Chris Boyd was living in Chicago and, he said, "I was a smoker, and I sat on the couch and drank a lot Mountain Dew."

He took up mountain biking in 2000 and moved to Colorado the next year. Two years later, a friend asked him to enter an AdventureXstream race in Moab, Utah. "At first, I said, 'No way, I just saw (adventure racing) on TV and it looks grueling," Boyd said.

But his friend eventually persuaded him, and "we had so much fun that we decided to do the other races in the series," said Boyd, who now is captain of the GoLite/Timberland sprint team and is an avid racer.

Though few reformed couch potatoes wind up as sponsored athletes, Boyd, 28, encourages others to discover adventure racing by teaching clinics at places such as REI with his teammates and through his Web site,

ARcoach.com, which connects personal trainers who are adventure racers with novices.

"We demystify adventure racing," he said. "It doesn't have to be a crazy expedition where you're away from your family and friends for a month. Don't be intimidated by the amount of gear - you can always borrow it at first - or by the amount of training you think you'll need. If you're in decent shape, you'd be fit enough to do a six-hour race."

Cammie Muller, of Boulder, decided to try adventure racing with her husband, Steve, because "neither one of us are experts at any one sport, but we're pretty decent at a lot of different sports."

She quickly grew to appreciate the unique skill set adventure racing draws on. Unlike triathlon, for example, "you can't win a race simply by being fast," she said. "You have to be a good map reader, and you have to think quickly on your feet. There are a lot of strategic things you can do and ways you can maximize your team."

As they competed in more races, the Mullers learned how to better organize their gear in transition areas, how to optimally pace themselves and what kinds of food would keep up their endurance. They also learned who was, and who wasn't, a good teammate.

"We had one teammate who quit in the middle of the race," Cammie said. "This guy's fiancee was our support crew, and they just decided they were going home."

Because adventure race teams must start, and finish, together, and because the team had traveled in one vehicle, the Mullers had no choice but to quit, too.

To hone their skills, the Mullers took part in orienteering meets and in some informal practice races, dubbed Backyard Challenges, put on by Colorado FROG, a loosely knit group of race enthusiasts along the Front Range.

"Doing a Backyard Challenge is one of the best ways to get into (adventure racing)," club member Mark Bockmann said, "especially if you're not sure yet you want to do the sport, since race fees can be prohibitive."

The $15 or so entry fee just goes to cover insurance.

The FROG Yahoo group also is a way to find potential teammates or training partners.

"We have some hard-core racers on the list," Bockmann said, "but the vast majority are middle of the packers. And we have plenty of novices and back-of- the-packers as well."

Whether you're front, middle or back of the pack, you can benefit from adventure racing's shift in focus to find a race that will provide just enough challenge and, likely, a surprising amount of fun.

Adventure racing in Colorado

ADVENTUREXSTREAM ADVENTURE RACE SERIES

• Type: Sprint and 12-hour races.

• Date: Sept. 9.

• Place: Vail.

• Entry fees: $75/person for the sprint race, $175/person for the 12-hour race.

• Provided: Tandem kayaks (but not life vests or paddles) for the paddling section.

• Of note: Gravity Play Sports Marketing, which puts on the series, also offers adventure race camps in Moab, Utah, in March and April.

• Info: 1-970-259-7771, or www.GravityPlay.com.

Lungbuster 2006 (II)

• Type: 12-hour adventure race.

• Date: Sept. 16.

• Place: Wolf Creek ski area, near Pagosa Springs.

• Entry fee: $75/person.

• Provided: No gear; boats can be rented in Pagosa Springs.

• Of note: 20 miles of mountain biking, 13 miles of running/ trekking and six miles of paddling on a reservoir. Designed for beginner- to intermediate-level racers.

• Info: 1-505-489-1416, or www.LungBuster.com.

SALOMON SUMMIT ADVENTURE

• Date: Sept. 23.

• Place: Frisco Nordic Center.

• Entry fees: $250/two-person team; $330/three-person relay team; $375/three-person team. Additional fees apply after Sept. 10.

• Provided: Canoes, paddles and life vests.

• Info: 303-635-2815, or www.EMGColorado.com.

THE BEARABLE ADVENTURE RACE

• Date: Sept. 24.

• Place: Bear Creek Lake Park, Lakewood.

• Provided: Boats and paddles (but not life vests).

• Entry fee: $95/two-person team before Aug. 31 and includes park entrance fee; $105/team after that.

• Info: 720-963-5390, or www.Lakewood.org.

COLORADO FROG (Front Range Outdoor Groupies) puts on practice adventure races for its members and is a good source for networking.

• Info: www.ColoradoFrog.com.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN ORIENTEERING CLUB organizes 15 to 20 orienteering meets annually in Colorado and Wyoming, which provide a great chance to hone the navigation skills that adventure racing requires.

• Info: Link to their Web site through the recreation section at www.FortNet.org.

• You can find additional adventure racing news, field reports and training resources at www.CheckPointZero.com.