With the rain taking it’s time to get into the area, it gave us a false sense of security for the day. But by the 10:00AM start time, most participants were all gathered under the large pine trees staving off the shower for as long as possible. With the race promoters about ready to send us off and asking us all to come out from under the trees and make our way to the start line, we prepare to start our day’s adventure.
The March Madness is a 6 hour sprint race. Although racing for 6 hours on a chilly March day in the rain, doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a sprint kind of day.
Today’s race format is called a Rogaine style race. They spread out the Control Points (CP’s) over the entire Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, even the area west of Teggerdine road and you have the choice to cover the ground on foot or bike, or both. Today, I choose to stay on foot as the single track does not lend itself to efficient riding, and along with the placement of CP’s, this seems like a logical choice. I make my way to the first check point without any problems with its nice easy location. As I approach the 2nd point of my choosing, Cycletherapy team mate Tony Misovski has reached it seconds before me and we agree that two heads are better than one. So for the time being, we are two solo racers working together.
We manage to grab the next point fairly quickly and are on our way once again. Then we split up a little bit and go our separate ways but end up running in to each other two CP’s later. Once again we join forces and are off and running, literally.
The conditions for the day are something I have not witnessed before. You have your usual spring leaf cover and underneath lurks a slippery surface that is ready to thaw, but not quite yet. So any incline, decline, off camber, small hill, or steep hill was a challenge. You would slip and your footing was gone, making a labor intensive task even more so. But hey, this is adventure racing.
As Tony and I make our way to the next point we have to run the trail quite a ways without having to locate a CP, just find our way in unfamiliar territory. We get very near a point and we have two ways to get the CP, Tony chose one way, I chose the other and I do not see him for the rest of the day until near the finish.
I make my way somewhat quickly to the next set of points, and apparently to quickly as I make a tactical error and basically forget about two points that would be easily attainable. But I shall not cry over spilt milk and carry my plan of attack with minor changes. The next group of points will require a compass, but I don’t know this right away as I have not used it so far. So with the utmost confidence I enter the woods and make a rookie mistake by following the newly worn path created by the few dozen or so adventure racers who have gotten here before me. Pretty soon, the path is scattered and you are basically lost. You stop, regroup, use all the resources you have which is a topo map, a list of small clues, one for each CP and a little plastic thing with a magnetic needle. The most useful at this moment in time is the list of clues, it says, CP 5 in an open meadow on a hill. I locate an open meadow but cannot locate the blue, orange and white CP flag I so covet. So I regroup again, look around and continue in the open meadow in a direction I believe at the time is the wrong direction. But with pure dumb luck, I stumble upon it and I whip out the trusty ol’ compass and take a reading for the next CP. Much to my amazement, it works and I’m off to the next CP, then the next, but that one was simple as the land mark was easy to distinguish but hard to get to. In other words, swamp. Nothing gets me more worked up then ruining a perfectly good pair of shoes. But alas, the shoe trashing will wait for another day as most of the swamp is still frozen and getting to this CP becomes uneventful, until my map case cord gets caught on a tree and rips the sides right off. After a few explicative’s I surmise once again that there’s no use in crying over spilt milk. So I am forced to carry my map case for the rest of the race. Using more energy than I had planned on, but it could be worse, my maps could be falling out and then I would be very bummed.
The next section is the part of the PLRA that is most westward, so just getting there will take time on foot and as I see racers speeding by me in the opposite direction I am somewhat jealous and questioning my tactics for the race. But upon arriving at the next CP, you have to show two items from your Mandatory Gear List. This CP volunteer asks for a pocket knife with locking blade and a compass. Both of which I have and know their exact location within my pack. She inquires about my choice of not having a bike, I tell her of my reasoning and show her which CP’s I have already attained and with an “Oh wow!” she has sequestered any doubts I had of running the entire race.
With the early season venue, there are no leaves on trees or bushes, just wide open space. So your vision is much clearer and CP’s are more visible. With this high level of visibility you can run a “point and shoot” type of strategy. It’s more efficient but can come at a cost as you move faster and can make some mistakes by moving too fast.
With the next set of CP’s, they are few, but spread out in a fashion where a compass reading will be imperative. With these thoughts in mind, I set off. I knock down the first two with relative ease, giving me some confidence. I take a compass reading and start heading off. This point is far away though and can cause doubt within you as you will believe you are at the right point, but for some reason, the CP is not. So you stop, regroup, look at all your resources and search again. Double check your double check and still nothing. Time to count your losses and get out of Dodge. I decide it will cost me more time looking for a point then it will to start moving to the next point, one that I believe will be much easier to obtain and with the rain coming down harder, I pull up my hood and move on.
As the next succession of points are reeled off, I am building confidence, but my knees are not. Although I trained fairly well for this race, I lack the areas to mimic the hilly terrain of PLRA and it comes at a cost. But I can move, just not fast, so I keep plugging along. I get more CP’s without much problem save one and I am making a plan and checking my watch.
The most enjoyable CP is CP 31, which is at the end of a zip line. So after getting one of the hardest CP’s, two ridges over is the zip line, so you are somewhat rewarded for you hard effort with something fun! They harness you in, throw your helmet on and off you go…100 feet dangling in the air sliding down a rope. You come to a halt and you unhook yourself, grab the CP punch, punch your passport and decision making time comes! Major decision making time.
And much to my surpise, my good ol’ friend Tony Misovski is coming down the zip line right after me. We exchange ideas briefly and he says he is heading back to the finish and I tell him I am heading to get CP 32. Experience from a previous adventure race held here gives us both knowledge that CP32 lies in a briar filled area that will make grown men cry (don’t ask me how I know this). But I am confident with the 39 minutes we have left, I can snag this CP faster than “The Bachelor” grabbing fiancés and still make my way back to the finish line within the 4:00PM cutoff. After looking at the map, on the run, I determine there is three physical/geographical objects on the map that will help me locate it in a timely manner. Much to my surprise the briars were not bad and the CP was buried in a nice little round bowl IE; large depression shaped like a bowl. Again I grab the punch, make it do its thing it does, throw the passport in my pocket and am off and running in the direction I have chosen to grab a trail to head back to the start finish.
Another thing about adventure racing is map quality. Some maps may be older than 10 years, which means you could be looking at something that does not exist anymore. Which can lead to something that will take more time then you have anticipated, today, is one of those times.
I have found the trail without any problem. I am off running or at this point of the race, my best trot. I get to a point where the trail turns left at 90 degrees, this is not on the map, but I take the trail anyway. I keep going and much to my amazement it leads me to where I want to be, but a fence has stopped my progress cold. I am forced to turn around and make my way around the area. I know where I’m at, but with time expiring I will have to pick up the pace if I want to grab one more point. But with my re-route I am forced to just think about finishing in time.
I go as fast and efficiently as possible and near the finish area. I see Toni (very cute girlfriend) and she is motioning me to pick up the pace. As I near the finish tent they are announcing, “One minute left….one minute left” which means, well, you know what it means and I have one minute left and I have made it in time. I hand over my passport and make my way to my car for hot coffee and dry clothes.
Another thing about adventure racing is map quality. Some maps may be older than 10 years, which means you could be looking at something that does not exist anymore. Which can lead to something that will take more time then you have anticipated, today, is one of those times.
I have found the trail without any problem. I am off running or at this point of the race, my best trot. I get to a point where the trail turns left at 90 degrees, this is not on the map, but I take the trail anyway. I keep going and much to my amazement it leads me to where I want to be, but a fence has stopped my progress cold. I am forced to turn around and make my way around the area. I know where I’m at, but with time expiring I will have to pick up the pace if I want to grab one more point. But with my re-route I am forced to just think about finishing in time.
I go as fast and efficiently as possible and near the finish area. I see Toni (very cute girlfriend) and she is motioning me to pick up the pace. As I near the finish tent they are announcing, “One minute left….one minute left” which means, well, you know what it means and I have one minute left and I have made it in time. I hand over my passport and make my way to my car for hot coffee and dry clothes.
After a slow change in the phone booth, I am a new man, a slow new man. My knees are in pain, but I know in two days it will be gone, so I don’t worry. We make our way back to the finish area in the pouring rain to see if I managed a miracle and finish in the top three. We find out I did not, so with that said we leave before all the sweet swag is given away, but on to some much needed food.
Later that night we find out that the results are posted. Much to my dismay I am listed as “Unranked” with a time of 4:16PM. But as I have said, I finished with one minute to spare. So I shoot off an email to Infiterra and they respond quickly saying I did indeed finish in the correct time and my placing will be corrected. Oh happy day!
I ended up finishing 6th Solo Male, 11th Overall and one CP in front of my friend and archenemy Tony Misovski. This was a good day overall, even with the rain. Another adventure race in the bag and more lessons learned. Survival was never meant to be this much fun!
Jay Jones
Pictures by Jeff McWilliams
