The RAID 2006 - Tamarack Resort Idaho An Inside View of Adventure Racing Would you like to know what it's like to be in a RAID adventure race? Do you ever wonder why athletes love this sport? Well, keep reading. We'll show you around, and describe what we went through over the course of 36 hours. We are Team Tamarack Resort - a team of four friends who love this race for what it offers beyond the competition. You may not leave with an understanding of what it is like to be a high placing contender. We are amateur athletes racing amongst some the world's most elite professionals in the sport. But we can describe what it feels like to push your physical and emotional limits. And what it's like to work with a co-ed team while you are on the go, non-stop over 36 hours, enjoying the great outdoors adventure-race style. So pull up a chair and we'll show you what it's like to experience a weekend in the life of Team Tamarack Resort in the 2006 RAID North American Adventure Race. The Day Before Despite the many adventure races as we have done in our short career, we still get nervous. We know the drill: 1) organize your gear the week before the race by discipline 2) plan what food you think will satiate your hunger at 3am and still give you energy to perform 3) gather together last minute paperwork, and try to show up at the pre-race certification checks with pretty much everything ready. But as much as we try to prepare, there is always that last minute frenzy after we get the course maps (usually 6pm the night before the race) to try and strategize the lightest, most functional gear to bring, and try to pull together a route strategy. In all honesty, half the energy we spend on this day is simple to keep ourselves busy and soothe the jitters. And to add to the excitement, this time we were racing in an event on our own turf: Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho. And, we were the host team. Watching the elite foreign teams arriving and checking in, we found ourselves several times taking deep calming breathes, as if to reiterate, "It's ok. Don't worry. We'll be just fine" Our Crew Thank goodness the RAID allows a crew member to assist you. As the race is designed, only 3 of 4 racers compete at a time, leaving one behind to rest, eat and prepare for the next section. There is also the task of getting all your gear to the next check point where you meet up with the team as they finish the previous stage. As the race goes on and sleep deprivation kicks in, the crew member pretty much becomes our guardian angel. For this RAID, it was Ryan Anderson, a quiet, rugged outdoorsy kind of guy, who really didn't completely understand why we loved this crazy sport. But he never hesitated to give us a helping hand. And we were grateful - grateful for his tolerance of handling sweaty, stinky clothes, prepping a hot meal when needed, tending to our blisters and injuries and making sure that our truck full of food and gear made it to the next destination so the resting teammate could sleep. Thanks Ryan. Race Day 1 - 6AM The race begins with a 6am water stage starting on Payette Lake in McCall, Idaho - a 30 minute drive from Tamarack Resort. It would be a 7 mile paddling section on flat water in red, oversized inflatable canoes provided by the race organization. These were a challenge to steer on flat water, but would be invaluable in the class 3 rapids we would be facing tomorrow. We were excited, even though we had not had much sleep the previous night - our brains were too wired to sleep! The air that morning was charged with the adrenaline from all of the teams. Helicopters and news teams were everywhere, adding to the intensity of the moment. Then "bam!" the gun went off! And suddenly the previously still, mirror-like water was churning as 31 teams chaotically fought their way out from the beach to try to find a position! We somehow managed to avoid most of the inadvertent paddle digs and canoe bumps and we were on our way. 9am - Part of our strategy for this race was to skip the inline skating section that followed the initial paddle. This was not one of our team strengths. And knowing we most likely would lose skin if we attempted it, we opted to take the hour time penalty allowed by the RAID. So next, I sat out and we sent the men off to do what they do best - crank out some miles on mountain bikes. I sat and tried to get ready for my next racing section and eat some breakfast. But they did amazingly well, and within 2 hours, they were back and had turned out 1800 feet of elevation and 24 miles of biking! The transition area was semi-frantic as we quickly switched gear, grabbed some food and prepared for the next section. Although we were happy with our efforts thus far, we knew we had very few minutes to waste. 12 PM - Next we were off to begin two back to back trekking sections that covered 24 miles of Idaho's highlands, one of which included a 1,000 foot rappel off a stone wall named Slickrock. Twenty-four miles may not sound like much for people that have done road marathons, but considering this distance was to cover over 6500 feet of elevation on uneven, rocky and snow-packed terrain, we knew we had some work to do. We decided that I would do both sections, since I was stronger on foot than I was on a mountain bike, and the 3 men would rotate out. So up we went, through terrain and to vistas that I had not yet seen before, despite living in Idaho for six years. We slogged our way down the snowy backside of peaks, post-holing up to our knees at times when the firm surface gave way beneath us. We traversed over rocks, roots and fallen trees, moving as quickly as our legs would allow, stopping only to check a map, confirm our course and then move on, gasping at times for air as we hit altitudes of close to 8000 feet. Trekking in adventure racing usually includes a rope section, and this one would be a heart-thumper : a 1,000 foot rappel followed by a waist-high freezing cold river crossing. It took me a few moments to get my nerves settled to lower myself overt that first edge. "Don't look down", I told myself , "Just look at the rock". That was all it took to get me started, and once I was going, it was actually fun! Where else would I rather be on a Saturday afternoon? And where else could you paddle on a lake in the morning, hike the mountains in the afternoon and be suspended against a rock face all within ten hours? By the time we had finished both sections, we had been on cold, soggy feet for close to 11 hours. I was done for now and was to sit out the next section. 11:45PM - It was close to midnight now. And our legs were tired but still moving. Now the three men were back on again. They had a night mountain bike ride to complete and it was to cover 40 miles and 2400 feet of climbing. I wished them well, choked down some food and headed to the backseat of our crew truck to try and get a few hours sleep. Day 2 4:30AM - I had woken up simply because my stomach was growling and my mouth was parched. As much as we try to constantly eat and drink while racing, our metabolism is so elevated that it is a constant challenge to keep up with it. I had barely eaten and switched into my gear for the next section when the men arrived from their ride. Ryan, our support guy, snapped into action, parking their bikes, setting out gear and seeing what they needed. Nic and Brad were to ride the next section with me, which started in 45 minutes. They both opted to save time and simply sleep 30 minutes in the same clothes they had on. With that a nap under their belts, were then off on our mountain bikes again for a short 9 mile mountain bike ride to the next water section on the infamous Cabarton stretch of the Payette River. 7:00 AM - Canoeing down a class III river is better than any cup of coffee to wake you up on a Sunday AM! Although sleep -deprived and leg-tired, we were wide-eyed and awake for this much anticipated race segment! Idaho had seen a lot of snowfall this last winter and the rivers were seeing the product of that. The North Fork of the Payette, which typically yields maybe 1000 CFS of water flow, was now gushing with over 3000! That translated into big water, big rapids and a high chance that your team would most likely be taking a morning 'swim' if you didn't know what you were doing. The Cabarton stretch was especially popular due to its big wave trains and face-pounding rapids, and ended with six foot drop named "Howard's Plunge" . Six teams opted to skip this section, after the race director advised them of the conditions. We, with our teammate Brad being a local river guide, couldn't wait to jump in and see what the river had to offer. I have to admit, I had never been in water this big in an inflatable canoe. So I was a bit nervous. But after we successfully navigated our way through the crashing waves of the first two big rapids, I was still focused, but having fun! The waves were HUGE! Most had me blinded by a wall of whitewater, and my knees bracing the sides of the boat for stability. And in one large rapid named the "Frenchman", we found our egos checked severely by a lateral wave that us up and out of the boat and washing quickly through the rapids gasping for air. Thankfully, the race safety crew was quickly along side us, assisting us to shore and making sure we were together. Wow! How often do you start your Sunday mornings like that! 9:00 AM - We quickly changed out of our wetsuits and paddle gear and prepared for the third mountain bike stage. All of us were feeling dog-tired by now, and our legs were heavy. But there is something about being on a team with friends that seems to pull more out of you, than you think you have. We knew we had a challenge ahead of us - this was to be the most vertical section of biking, estimated at close to 4,000' of climbing over 22 miles. The men on our team have legs of steel. But at this point, the cumulative affect of elevation, sleep and food deprivation was starting to surface. But we kept on moving. Jay and Brad, our strongest cyclists, were teamed up with me on this section. They, despite their personal fatigue, would often help me up steep, long hills with a pack-push or handle bar tow from a piece of surgical tubing suspended from their bike seats. This is probably the single most reason I love this sport. There is no room for ego. There is no room for being selfish. You are part of a 4-wheeled machine, and you can't survive without helping each other. The willingness of the men to help me always pulls that much more out of my tired muscles than I would have found on my own. I may not have mentioned earlier that each segment of the RAID adventure race has a deadline that you must meet in order to be allowed to start. So if you are not fast enough, and miss the deadline, you will have to skip the next section and take a time penalty. So, we were feeling the pressure on this leg, knowing that we were slowing down and our knees were aching. As we approached the final 4 mile 3000 foot climb, we saw Nic waiting for us. He had read our minds and knew we were not going to make the next section, if we kept going at our current pace. We felt a mix of disappointment and relief, as we dismounted our bikes. We made a team decision to not finish this section, so we could arrive in time to start the next one. I, especially, felt an additional pang of sadness, knowing that I was the one who governed most of the teams pace. Being the only female on a 4-person co-ed team occasionally has its downsides. And one is knowing that most times, I am physically weaker than my teammates. And despite my endurance capability, in races such as this, I struggle with speed. But the men never make me feel badly. They just look at it as one aspect of a sport they love. We all shook it off, and prepared for the next stage. 12 PM - The next section of trekking or "Adventure Running" as the RAID likes to call it, began at 8300 feet on the top of Snow Bank Mountain, and would travel pretty much straight down to the final water section on Lake Cascade. As we drove up to the start of this segment, we passed lead elite teams who had kept pedaling up the long steep climb that we had chosen to bypass. Their faces were ashen with effort, heads down, grimacing from the effort. We sighed a little but knew we had made a good decision to move on. The three men would do this next section, as they were incredibly fast down-hillers. It was cold and windy up at this elevation, with 6-8 foot snow banks still untouched by June weather. They zipped up their windbreakers, put on gloves and prepared for the final 'leg-work' section of the race. We could see the end in sight now! 2:30PM - The men blazed that 9 mile snow-packed downhill in an amazing 2 hours and and 10 minutes! This was actually our best section, despite being on tired legs and 32 hours into racing. I was beaming with pride. We had one section to go and we would finally be crossing the Finish Line! We were fighting the 'sleepmonster' now, fluctuating between fading into zombie-like state and then surging with excitement about being so close to getting into a warm bed. But this last section of canoeing would be the longest yet. Twelve miles of flat water paddling on Cascade Lake, with arms that were feeling like lead and rear ends that were sore from sitting on bike seats. So we took a deep breathe, sat back down on those hard wooden seats and set our sights on that finish line flag. The next 3 hours would be a mix of half-hearted whining, discomfort and frustration, as we fought a headwind and our own mental and physical fatigue. We beached the canoe at Tamarack Resort boat ramp, unfolded our cramping legs and made a feeble attempt to jog to the Finish Line. We were done! And any negative sensations we were feeling just a few minutes before were instantly flooded with feelings of pride, relief and exhilaration! We did it! And we were not last. Which meant a lot to us, as we were competing in a field of truly amazing athletes who inspired us and made us feel privileged to share in their sport. We placed 25th out of 31 international teams. But if you had heard the roar of the applause that greeted us and felt the satisfaction we did, you would have thought we had won the race. Cheers, Jen Pictures from the Race Video Preview of The Race Video Coverage of The Race