Hi-Tech AR 2001

Zach II wanted to do the Hi-Tech with us, so Zach recruited Mike Dillon and Kristen Brusueles for Jon's team (Jon did the Blue Ridge with us) and the two teams practiced together to prepare for the race. Zach, Cathy, and Zach II competed in the Masters Division and Jon, Kristen, and Mike competed in the Co-ed Division. At the pre-race meeting the night before the race we received the order of events: kayak two miles (two kayaks each team), bike six miles, run five and a half miles, and finally bike six miles. If only it was so easy.

 Once the race started the kayaks had to be carried two/tenths of a mile to put in. The paddles were in the middle of the lake and competitors had to swim or hand paddle their kayaks to get the paddles. The Masters Division started 20 minutes after the Co-ed and by the time we got to the paddles they were all gone. So, there were about 20-25 kayaks literally up the creek without a paddle. After what was close to 10 minutes we picked up two paddles and started out with ZI and ZII in the front kayak with Cathy in the second kayak tied to the lead kayak. No sooner did we start out than a race official's boat took away one of our paddles for a team with none. We suggested they should take the paddles from the leaders but to no avail. The kayaking also included orienteering and we had to find three letters and return the right ones to the checkpoint at the end of the kayaking. ZI did the paddling and ZII the navigating as we slowly moves forward. We found the first letter quickly. By the time we were more than half way through the kayaking we picked up another paddle and were able to make much better speed. By the time we got to the second and third letters, we were so far behind there was no letters left in the buckets, so we pealed them off the buckets.

We finally got back, dumped our kayaks and transitioned to the first bike. It had two big hills and some technical parts but was otherwise uneventful. We returned to the start and transitioned to the run. Surprisingly, there was no special event before the run. I t was during the run that we started passing a lot of teams that were running out of steam. We ran strong with a consistent pace and made it back to the transition in good shape only to be faced with two special events, the electric wall and Crisco Mountain. The electric wall is triangle shaped and about five feet high. The objective is to get your team over the wall without touching it. We paired up with another team and were able to get all six of us over with little difficulty; then came Crisco Mountain. It was a little steeper than the one at Blue Ridge and they really had it greased up. We used our human ladder technique and completed it very quickly.

Then it was off to the final bike. It was starting to warm up and Cathy and ZII we starting to tire, but we still managed to pass a good many team during this last bike. After completing the bike course for the second time we had two more special events before the finish line, the carabineer retrieval and the wall. The carabineers were on a wire about 10 feet in the air. We had to lift one team member, Cathy, up to get a carabineer off the wire and another team member, ZI to put it back on. Again there was no problem completing that special event. On the wall we used our proven technique to get ZI and Cathy over. When ZII came over we had help from another team, so we helped them over as well. We finished in four hours, eight minutes, and 47 seconds and would have done much better if we didn't start out with the paddle problem. Jon's team finished around 3 hours and 37 minutes. As usual, we achieved our objectives: no injuries, finish, and have fun. Both teams are getting ready for the next one in October.