BRMAR 2007

This year we teamed up again with Mark Bell, our teammate from last year’s Blue Ridge and our river paddling fiasco.Mark’s wife Lori and his sister’s husband Gerry again volunteered to be our Support Crew and we stayed at Mark and Lori’s cabin near Blue Ridge again. We had some preliminary information about the race. We knew there would be no paddling through the rapids this year, which was good because our canoe has been retired from white water. We knew the race had a different format this year with multiple ways to run, bike or paddle and multiple options on which way to go and how to get there by bike, boat or run. Fortunately we were given our maps and instructions at the pre-race meeting on Friday night. We spent most of the evening plotting the checkpoints and planning our route. The weather for race day called for storms later in the day. We just hoped to be finished paddling before the wind arrived.

 The race started with the option of running or biking to CP (Checkpoint)1A, 1B, 1C or 1D and then to CP2. Most teams choose the running and those that did made the best choice. We went to 1A since it was in a ravine and we could follow the ravine to the top of the mountain to CP2. It was a tough, steep climb up the mountain. Once at the top we found a road and we able to run the three miles to CP2 and onto CP4 where our Support Crew had dropped our bikes. From this point we had the option of traveling to CPs 3-11 in any order either running or biking. We choose to bike to CP5 and then 6. The bike to CP5 quickly turned into a hike-a-bike up long hill on a rocky trail. Once we arrived there we were able to ride our bikes on a Forest Service Road most of the way to CP6. We had to drop our bikes and hike to the CP which was half way up a mountain and involved crossing a stream several times. It was a lot faster retuning to the bikes traveling downhill.

From there we road our bikes to CP9x stopping at CP11 on the way to punch our passport. We choose CP9x because it provided the best approach to CPs 7, 8, 9, and 10. We choose to attack CP 10 first since we could follow a trail by a stream to get there. From there we went to CP7 via a gradual trail up a mountain, then straight to the top of the mountain to CP8. There was a pretty strong wind blowing on top, so we quickly headed down the mountain to CP9.When we started down to CP9 we quickly realized how good a choice we made to approach the four CPs counterclockwise instead of clockwise because the downhill was extremely steep and all the teams we ran into climbing up were struggling mightily. It took us about 75 minutes to make the loop. We had planned to be finished with that section by noon. It was 15 after when we returned to our bikes.

From CP9x we has the option of riding trails to the lake and a shorter paddle or ride Forest Service Roads to the opposite side of the lake and have a longer paddle. The trail ride was up and down three mountains and would have involved a lot of hike-a-bike. The FS road ride was longer but flatter and was the route we choose. All the top teams choose the same route so it says something for our route choices. On the way to the lake we had a detour to CP14B which some teams had difficulty finding. We basically walked right to it. From there it was on the paddle. We arrived at the paddle a little after 2pm right where we wanted to be.

At the Transition Area/CP15 our Support Crew had everything ready to go. Fortunately, we had our wheels for the canoe with us since there was a long portage to the lake. We started paddling and soon passed two teams that were not able to paddle in a straight line. We had to paddle about an hour before arriving at CP16 which was located on an island in the middle of Lake Blue Ridge. As Zach started walking to punch the passport his legs cramped up. He was able to walk to the marker and return with both legs cramping. Fortunately, by the time he was back at the boat the cramps stopped. As we started on our last paddle leg the storm started moving in the area and the wind and waves on the lake picked up. Needless to say, the pace of our paddling also quickened. We reached the take-out below the dam before things got scary on the lake.

At the take-out we had to drag our canoe up to the top of the dam, cross a road and drag it down the other side. This was a big dam! Since the backside of the dam was downhill the canoe portage was easy. At the bottom we had to put in the river paddle for a short distance and take out on the opposite bank of the river. This is when the rain came pouring down. At the take out the bank was steep and also muddy, but we were able to get the boat out and up with some difficulty. We then had to portage the boat about a quarter mile to CP17. Instead of putting the wheels on we dragged the canoe the quarter mile because it would be faster time wise.

From there it was about a three mile run to the finish line. There was another team following us to the finish. Every time we ran, they ran and every time we walked, they walked. We kept an eye on them in case they decided to make a move to pass us. We crossed the finish line in 9 hours and 20 minutes.

We finished 29th overall out of 100 teams and were in the top 20 coed teams and top five master's teams. No bad for a team with a combined age of 158, the oldest team in the race. For us it was just about a perfect race.