Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Picking up the Controls

Go with the FLO – Florida Orienteering A-meet

Some time things don’t go as planned and some times you are simply better off not planning. The weekend of Feb 24-26 had all the great makings of an orienteering weekend, but as things turned out the first two days were not to be. Work forced me to miss the Friday Sprint orienteering meet. Then for Saturday, the x-country coach at my daughters school had a baby (well his wife did all the work), and I was next in line to coach the x-country kids through the event that Saturday morning. I love coaching x-country, and very few things are as rewarding as seeing the kids on your team do a great job running. Of course most x-country meets start at 8:30 AM and are complete by 10 AM, however Bear Lake (the site of this race) runs its meets a bit slow. Well not a bit – a lot. It was around noon when I finally finished up the awards ceremony and was out of the meet and heading to Ocala it was after 12 PM and I had not only missed my start time for my race, I had even missed all the start times. Also I had the T-shirts in the car for the other competitors, so others were pretty anxious for me to show up.

When I finally did make it out to Ocala – most of the A-meet competitors had left and the course planners were planning on picking up the controls. I sold a few shirts and then ran to the finish line where I was able to get a blue map, and then jogged to the start. Since it was pretty much over – I set my watch and set out on the course. After the first two controls which were still in the woods, the remainder of he controls had been pulled. It was pretty easy to tell the locations as all controls were on distinct features. I did spend some time making sure my locations were correct (simply using multiple attack points to verify). An hour later I was done and helped pack everything up and headed home. The next day was going to be the real excitement.

I left early the next day with Dave Brault (an AR buddy) and was planning on running the blue course, resting, and then picking up all the controls with a group of adventure racers. All went as planned and I actually arrived at the start line just as they called my name. Well so much for preparation – I threw on my camelback, pulled out my compass and started on the blue course. I really liked the electronic punch ability (and liked it even more at the finish when I got a paper with my splits). The blue course was long – real long and I got to see some of the elite orienteers, mostly as the passed me on the course. I had no difficulty in finding the controls – but I simply did not have the amazing foot speed of the elite runners. There sub 6 mile pace was pretty amazing in the woods as I spent 2 hrs and 45 minutes completing the course at my 8+ min/mile pace.

After a lunch I was ready to head out with my group of Adventurer racers (Jamie Sheriff and her dad, Dave Brault, Jeff Hunker, and Greg). We did not have a master control map – so we set about using all the maps we had to create one. We were hoping the course director would be dropping off a legitimate master map – but I was not betting on anything. Plus we had multiple groups going out to pick up separate sections and we needed enough maps for all groups. In addition the red and blue courses had controls that were a long way off.

After creating a few “supposed” master maps from our map supply we got together – set up a plan and sent Dave and Greg in one direction. After they left we figured it would be faster to drive to another location and have Jamie meet us at different locations in her car as we picked up controls. All except for Jeff – whom we sent off to the far reaches of the forest with the promise we would pick him up later at a location we agreed upon.

Well – there were lots of controls (56) and only a few of us. After about 3 hours of picking up controls we still had quite a few to go and they were all quite a ways off. We did have the full control pickup team (Dave, Greg, Ron, Jamie and her Dad – all crammed into Jamies car). It was a blast using a orienteering map to auto navigate the jeep trails of the Ocala National Forest. We would send one person out as we approached each control and then meet up with them down the road. Unfortunately with all the controls and water we picked up – the car was getting more full. Eventually as it got dark we were down to our last controls and we met up with Jeff. And luckily Jeff had brought real adventure racing lights with him as it was now dark. We added Jeff to the group crammed in Jamies car.

For the last little bit it was dark, but we successfully found all the controls (that we had mapped). We arrived at the check-in to find Jerry Sirmans faithfully guarding the T-shirts as everyone else had left. He had been there guarding them for over 3 hours !

It turned out to be quite an adventure – I ended up getting about 6+ hours of running in, and a lot of navigation practice. Of course it was after 8 PM and none of us had eaten. Both Dave and I explained the situation to our wives – who happened to be together at Steak and Shake eating dinner with the kids (I have 2 daughters, Dave has 5).

As always – a simple trip turns into an adventure – but I cannot complain having spent an entire day in the woods. Orienteering at that !

Friday, February 24, 2006

Eating and Adventure Racing

Adventure Racing – what to eat?

Among the most common questions I am asked about multi-day adventure races is; “what do you eat?” Well if your field is nutrition, this might be a good time to stop reading, because my eating habits in long races are probably not going to win any prizes – but I have hit the medal stand enough times to know that they have not hurt me that much either. First – the staple calorie food, the gel. If you are racing longer than 10 hours you might as well forget the gel-packs – use a flask. You can hold more, you aren’t constantly opening little packages for the surge, and they are simply easier to carry and consume gel. My favorite gel – and I have tried every single one – is Hammer Gel. I am partial to the Apple Cinnamon and Orange flavors. I will normally carry at least flask for every 10 hours of racing and I do like to have different flavors in each flask. But that is my base food – from there I have to choose my solid foods to carry.

Rule #1 – Carry something you will eat. If you would not normally eat a food, you are going to want that food even less when you are out there on the course or trail.
Rule #2 – Carry something light. Remember you are carrying it, and you might have to carry it a long way.

In the last race I carried; 3 flasks of Hammer Gel (consumed), 1 Burger King Whopper with Cheese (consumed), Package of Publix Deli Ham (consumed), 3 Granola Bars (2 consumed), 1 package of cheese cubes (consumed), 4 Miscellaneous Energy bars (none consumed). In addition to what I carried I also helped finish ate a borrowed Pop Tart, a Cherry Pie, and a Package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (the last two we purchased at a convenience store along the route). Worth noting is what I did and did not eat.

Also as a rule – when one member of the team eats, we all eat. And we share what we eat. I munched sunflower seeds, raisins, and other assorted health foods from my partners. They massively helped me chow on the other non-health foods. I am not saying go out and eat junk as a habit – I eat pretty well most of the time. In a race you simply need calories and you have to force them into a stomach that does not want them.

In addition think of this. In a race you will probably burn 500-700 calories/hour. You can digest about 200-300 calories per hour, so you will always be running a calorie deficit. If you run a 350 calorie per hour deficit, which is quite normal – you will burn 1 pound of lean body mass every 10 hours (1 pound = 3500 calories). That is 3 solid pounds of body mass in a typical 30 hour race. Not including water weight, etc… In the last 3 day race I weighed in 11 pounds lighter at the end than at the beginning AFTER I had completely rehydrated and had a large meal.

So eat up – and I’ll see you out there !

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Adventure Racing Lights - my recommendation

One of the most difficult parts of expedition or multi-day adventure racing is the "night segment". Not only are you out in the middle of nowhere - you have a much higher reliance on your team and equipment at night. That said - it is the night segment that capitalizes the A in Adventure when you are in a race. These segments make the strong teams, break the weak teams and send some teams into survival mode. There is a high to paddling on a remote river to the light of the moon and starts or making your way across vast dark wilderness expanses at night - and the Forida heat wanes a bit in the summer making it much more enjoyable.

The greatest annoyance I have at night is my gear. What I really want is a 100% reliable flashlight or headlight. I am not the only one who has experienced gear failure at night - and the one piece of gear that I rely on the most is lights. I have gone through many different lights as product tests. Adventure racing stresses gear - the gerar gets wet, muddy, banged around, it is stuffed in packs, pulled out when needed. Envrionments can be moist and foggy, hot and dry - and lost gear simply does not hold up to this. As far as my lights are concerned - my biggest failure is the battery contacts which love to corrode. I have had every light I own (I will not name any names here) fail on me except two. I have punished these lights, dragged them through swamps, submerged, bashed them against rocks while climbing, endoed off my bike with them - and when I click the button - they blaze into life. My award for best hand-light goes to the Inova T2. This little doozy cranks out a bright LED beam that cuts through anything. It is indestructible. I have used it to bash my bike cleats off my bike and it does not even have a scratch. I click the "on" button and it comes on. Another bonus is the fact it runs off C123A Lithium batteries which are light and cheap (if you buy them bulk - not at a drugstore). My honorable mention is also an Inova product - the Inova 24/7. This funny looking light is versatile and clips to the front of my pack. i use it to read maps and it has low and high settings. It also does tricks - but I don't really need them.

As for headlights - I wish I could recommend one - but I have yet to find a headlight that I could recommend. I'd be happy to try out other products - but most prodct companies are not that happy with my field testing - as they bring me the perfect light with smiles on their faces,just to have me return a piece of duct taped plastic after they have been through a race. I am still trying and when I find something - you'll read about it here first !

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Swamp Stomp 2006

Swamp Stomp 2006 – Travel Country Outdoors

Here is a slideshow of the race; http://checkpointzero.smugmug.com/photos/sspopup.mg?AlbumID=1221100

PART I

One of the greatest things in racing is that you never really know what is going to happen. In adventure racing the uncertainty is even greater as different types of races can favor different teams. The mix of paddling, biking, trekking, navigation, and weather can play havoc with teams and strategies – and there is always the uncertainty of bringing together four athletes who must rely entirely on each other entirely for long periods of time. Once again, the swamp stomp has shown me that anything can happen – even though these might be things you might never have thought possible.

The Swamp Stomp has always been a great race, and this year with a Rogaine format (30 hour) it would once again be an incredible experience. Rogaine is a navigators format, and requires an extremely high level of strategy and planning for success. After receiving our sets of maps all the team navigators knew we had a long night ahead of us before we would be ready to race. The course contained 14 mandatory checkpoints (must be visited) and over 35 bonus checkpoints some of which were preplotted, many of which were not. While my team hit the sack at 11 PM (at my request – they were willing to stay up with me), I stayed up until 1 AM plotting and checking the course, and then woke up the next morning at 4 AM to recheck everything and get prepared for the 8 AM start.

The next morning over 60 teams had their boats in the water and ready for a deep water start (most appropriately called bumper boats), a race official yelled go and we were off. We started with a 90 minute paddle from Nobleton to Silver Lake along a wonderful stretch of the Withlacoochee River. It was a beautiful morning and the sun low on the horizon was catching the spray of the water as it came off 120 sets of kayak paddles that sent it dancing in wide arcs through the sky. It was an incredibly scenic and enjoyable start.

Arriving at the beach in Silver Lake, we pulled the boats out of the water we then headed off on our bikes for a point in the Withlacoochee/Croom forest where we would be given a passport for a standard orienteering (foot) and a bike-O course. We chose to collect all points in this section and were moving solidly and rapidly through the course. Amazingly, the temperature in February was going to peak above 80 degrees and it was really starting to get hot on the course. The orienteering was a simple four CP red level course with 2 of the controls being optional. We could run the controls in any order – and while the majority of teams selected a clockwise route, I selected a counter clockwise route. The reason was the first control in the clockwise direction had a strong backstop from that direction, while the other direction did not. This also allowed us to cross paths with the many lead teams that chose to go the opposite direction. Sure enough near the half-way point of the course we ran across Mighty Dog, Flight, and a few other teams. At some point Team GoLite came running up from behind us going the same direction, but then turned off in a different direction after one of the CP’s. We finished the orienteering and were told that all the top 15 teams were all within 20 minutes of each other.

We quickly mounted the bikes again and headed out to collect all the bike checkpoints. For some reason my legs were feeling like lead and I was hardly able to move my bike through the sand. The bike was a mixture of single-track rollers (lots of rollers), straight cross-country riding, and sandy forest roads. My route selection was not optimal as I chose some shorter sandier routes that could have been much easier taking the longer routes. After some walking and pushing, which I am sure was frustrating my team – we came into the TA and I noticed my front tire was completely flat. I am not sure how long it had been flat, but it did explain why I was having such a difficult ride.

At the TA we learned only 4 teams had collected all bonus CP’s for that section and we were still right on the schedule I had put together for the team. The exertion of the bike leg had taken an incredible toll and I was quite nauseous as we prepared for a very long upstream paddle from Silver Lake to Lacoochee. In addition we were going to have to carry one bike per canoe (the race officials would carry the other). The paddle would end up taking about 5 hours of hard paddling – and here I was entering the water nauseous and overheated. JJ was in the back of the boat and was looking strong, as were Jamie and Greg in the other boat. Even though the paddle was mostly a painful memory, I was able to recover, mostly due to JJ’s strong paddling. About 2 hours into the paddle I pulled off to the shore, and after a good “purge” came back weak – but no longer nauseous. For the next 2 hours I used successive intake of water, Gatorade, and Hammer Gel to get my energy back and normalized my stomach. By the time it got dark (shortly after 6 PM) I had just about kicked the nausea.

The next turn of events took me completely by surprise. At first Greg, and then JJ, and then after that Jamie – all decided to drop from the race. It was easy to see that Greg was suffering, but I had raced with Greg many times before and knew that he was nowhere near withdrawing due to physical causes. We had suffered many time together before and he had always overcome, just as I always seemed to recover even when I was in terrible condition. I was in complete disbelief (or it could have been fatigue) – that my team of incredibly strong athletes were driving away and I was standing there at Lacoochee TA with my bike and gear. I was not even sure why they had dropped and it had all happened very fast. Of course it was about 30 minutes later I realized that they had also taken off with the maps of the next section! Doh.

It is sometimes amazing what strengthens resolve. Watching my team drive off made one thing certain – I would finish this race, and finish strong. I am not even sure why this turn of events made me determined – it simply did. Maybe I felt that I needed to prove something for the entire team, or maybe I was simply proving something to myself. Twelve hours into a race – you don’t spend a lot of effort pondering, you simply “do.” I went up to tell the TA volunteer that I wanted to continue the race. I was told I could continue but had to go out with another team, of course I had no maps – so that was a moot point. A few teams were willing to take me with them, and team Hoof-hearted looked like they were ready for some fun – so I started chatting with my two new team-mates, John and Greg.

Our next leg was a 10+ mile bike leg that turned out to be quite interesting. We canoed our bikes across the river at one point, and then had a nice long ride down a soft sand road. John, an avid roadie was a bit new to mountain biking. After I heard or saw him fall off his bike 3 times in soft sand I was a bit worried for him, after he endoed and went over his handlebars into a ditch I knew we might have some trouble. John, however was tough – after each fall he would get up, brush off, and remount his bike. We were not making fast progress, but we were making progress and we had a long way to go. I’m not sure how many times John fell off his bike – but it did seem to become routine, however we did try to help him by calling out areas of sand so he could be ready (it was dark).

Finally we pulled into Compressco in the middle of the Green Swamp where we would start the night trek. I was in my element, I had a new team and we were ready to do some real racing…

PART II

Green Swamp was a turning point for me. The slower bike ride to Green Swamp had me completely recovered. Chatting with John and Greg had refreshed my perspective on racing. My last few races had been with winning in mind, I had forgotten that I also enjoyed the sport. Somewhere with my team now gone, I realized I had forgotten the enjoyment aspect of racing with them. They had not been enjoying the race, and as their heads weren’t into the race – I had made it worse by pushing with too much intensity. I use racing as a release from many things, and my primary release is from the hectic pace of my work. Unfortunately I had carried the same intensity I carry at work into racing – and forgot that it was my release. As we rolled into Green Swamp – I was ready to begin one of my favorite disiciplines – night foot navigation.

The mandatory checkpoints in the Green Swamp were quite easy. The bonus checkpoints appeared to be a mixed bag of difficult and easy. We wanted to collect at least a couple bonus CP’s along the route and planned a route accordingly. After watching John suffer from all the falls on the bike I was also glad to get him onto his feet and away from any more hard falls. This of course turned out to be incredibly naïve of me as John seemed to be able to find every hole, rut, or snag in the foot trail and continued to take hard falls throughout the majority of the trek.

The first bonus CP (BCP 26) was uneventful and quite easy. The second one was a different story. After visiting BCP 27 on the marked trail we continued northward on the trail – which eventually petered out completely into cypress swamp. By my reckoning it was a 500 meter swamp-whack northeast to hit a major marked trail that led to CP8. This proved to be true and we performed the swamp-whack flawlessly, but any time it is 1 AM and you are in waist deep water in a remote isolated swamp, you do start to question the sanity of what you are doing. Greg was encouraging as he said that he that if he was going to be under these conditions – he was glad it was with me. I’m glad he had faith as every navigator, even though they know they they will eventually come out of the swamp – always has those fears of the “endless swamp or bushwhack”. Sure enough after 20 minutes we ran into the Orange blazed trail and began following it to CP8.

The remainder of the trek from CP8 to the TA (through CP9) was about as uneventful as a trek could be. We chatted and I gave orienteering tips. They liked my policy of “when one team-mate eats – we all eat”. I shared cheese cubes and deli-ham. After Greg asked me to find a power bar in his pack and instead I pulled out a pop-tart, we had a small celebration. We talked about how it is possible to walk and sleep simultaneously (though it is dangerous). And we finally ended up at the Cumpressco TA where cans of Red Bull and our bikes awaited us.

After having watched John fall at least 15 times, I really admired his courage as he mounted his bike and took off on the next leg. As I pulled up besides Greg and John I realized something – it wasn’t Greg and John. Another 2 person team had gone out and I had followed, they did invite me to ride with them – but I said I had committed to ride with my adopted team. I rode back to the TA, got my team-mates and we headed out again. The sun was now beginning to come up and with it everyone’s energy level began to rise. I decided that to make good time I would put John on the tow rope and we moved to CP 11 at a good clip.

I nearly missed CP11 as race director Kip had said it was on the River Road hunt station, thus I headed that way. As we passed by the Compressco hunt station we saw the control and we stopped, of course I could have simply misunderstood what Kip had said, which is highly likely considering that I was half-asleep at 5 AM as we had the conversation. The fog in the Green Swamp now lent an eerie feeling to the rolling landscape of dunes and swamps. It was a cool, cloudy day with a light fog – and we had about 15 miles of sandy roads to get back past the canoe crossing and then to Lacoochee where we would head out on the final leg. At this point John was riding better so I unhooked the tow and we moved at an easy pace back to the TA.

We arrived at the TA and I realized we had enough time to pick up at least one and possibly more optional paddle points. We selected a couple of boats – and I started solo with John and Greg behind me up the river to BCP7. BCP 7 was an easy find, and BCP 8 had been cancelled leaving BCP9 as the last one for us to get. I paddled hard and was pretty sure we had passed the mapped location, but no control. Finally we called off the search (after a frustrating 40 minutes of paddling past BCP7). We did not see it on the return trip – so we did get some paddle points, but not all that we had attempted. The downstream paddle was wonderful – the current that was so punishing on the upstream legs, carried the boats wonderfully downstream. I dropped into an easy paddle pace and simply let myself enjoy the movement.

Back at the TA we needed to mount the bikes and get back to Nobleton. Leaving at 11:30 AM we had 2 ½ hours to make it to Nobleton – enough time to get at least a single BCP (which we did). We stropped at a convenience store and gouged on cherry fruit pies (450 calories each) and Reeses cups. With this high quality fuel in our bodies we were ready to go. The ride out to BCP 30 was rolling hills, and on the way back John had to start walking. I knew that this would jeopardize our finish before the 2 PM deadline – so I broke out the tow rope and we started moving. The majority of the ride was along the Withlacooche Rail-trail. No traffic, essentially flat – and open. We rode hard and holding a consistent 16-18 mph into the slight headwind. We picked up the last to mandatory CP’s along the way – with only a slight scare as CP14 (the last one) was slightly off of where I expected it to be. We finished with 7 minutes to spare (plenty of time).

In the end – I enjoyed the race, enjoyed the format, made some new friend – but most important of all – I found the fun again!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Coast to Coast 2002




Florida Coast to Coast – Are We There Yet

Any longer adventure race always begins long before the actual race. Besides the training, the team preparation, lining up the crew – there is also the pre-race briefing and the maps that are done the night before. That is the real start of the race. This is a race perspective from the middle of the pack, following the adventure of team “Are We There Yet” through the race. Here is the team;

Wil Murphy – 38 year old lawyer from Hollywood Florida, team leader. Strengths – paddling, Weaknesses – running and sleep deprivation.
Sean Butler – 34 year old engineer from North Carolina, No real weaknesses – strong on all events
Paul Bulter – 60 year old retired father, First time adventure racer. Strengths and weaknesses unknown.
Ron Eaglin – 39 year old professor – Team Navigator. Strengths – trekking and biking, weaknesses – heat and no appreciable kayaking experience except a few lessons with Wil.

The night before the race is very chaotic for many teams as they come together, consolidate gear, get the support crews ready for the event ahead, receive race instructions, get blank maps, and mark maps. Also pre-race tension makes it very difficult to sleep – excitement and anticipation are in the air. After receiving our map and passport around 9 PM at the briefing, we finished preparing our gear and then spent a few hours marking the maps and planning our race strategy. Most of our team made it to bed (if not to sleep) by 1 AM. The next morning (Friday) we were all up by 4:30 AM and to the race start by 5:30 AM.

Pre-race confusion – support crews and team sorting through gear
The first leg of the race was a start at Florida 19 and the cross Florida Barge Canal, West into the Gulf to CP1 and then up the mouth of the Withlacoochee River to CP2 (roughly 18 miles). The start was also a special event. The race started on the south side of the road, 2 team members had to portage and launch the boats – while the other 2 members ran across the bridge to the side of the road and the canal and then be picked up by their team mates. It seemed like a ploy by Jim Molaschi to make sure that half the team had wet running shoes for the first leg of the race as the runners would have to do a wet entry on the rocks on the north side of the canal. The confusion of watching over 100 boats looking for their team-mates in the dark was quite humorous, somehow everyone managed to get in and off we were.

The first rowing leg was straight and a great chance to work out those butterflies and enjoy the water and the cool morning. As we entered the gulf, the great team question was when to cut north to the CP1. Cutting too early risked getting stuck on oyster beds, too late added extra distance to the paddle. Teams came at the CP from all sides, and all that needed to be done was to port at a narrow boat ramp and get the passport stamped, of course while 15 to twenty other teams are also trying to get in and back out. Then up the Withlacoochee, a beautiful, scenic river with plenty of wildlife. Once to CP2 we were required to swamp our boats, do a deep water re-entry, have one team member snorkel to find a flag, and then portage the boats across the dam at CP2. This was both Ron and Paul’s first deep water re-entry into a kayak, but with a little coaching from Wil and Sean – we both successfully got back into the boats (now quite flooded and unstable). Here we also learned that the hatch on Sean and Ron’s boat had cracked at the seal and flooded the entire hatch and all our gear. It also made the boat quite heavy as we tried to pull it up the steep bank for the portage – but we soon discovered the problem and pumped the hatch out. After re-stowing the gear we portaged the boats over a dam and into a canal (through weeds and rocks) and paddled another couple of easy miles to transition #1 (CP3).



At CP3 we first had to get the boats out of the water, which was difficult with the very rocky shoreline. We had all four team members work on getting each boat out and that worked well. Our team was in action and working smoothly. At the transition Paul inexperience with racing began to show as we spent much more time than necessary to get onto the bikes and on the road. The bike from CP3 to CP4 was a short one (11 miles) and it would be a real hustle for our crew to get the boats there before the teams arrived. The morning air was still cool and the bike was exhilarating. The scene at CP4 was mass confusion. Limited parking at the Dunnelon boat ramp and over-aggressive city police officers threatening to ticket any vehicle that ventured too close to the boat ramp, or on the grass, or in any of the surrounding businesses were making life miserable for the crews. The team was oblivious to this as we were simply concentrating on the next paddle leg of the race. We spent almost 45 minutes in this confusion as we were having “gear” problems – which simply means one team mate could not find the gear they wanted for the next leg.

We did finally make it back into the water and were now in a windy and much narrower part of the Withlacoochee. It was beautiful with clear water, alligators, water birds, jumping fish and plenty of other paddlers jockeying for good turning positions around the river bends. About 15 miles later we came out of the water at CP #5 (intersection of the Withlacoochee with CR 200), at this point happy to NOT be paddling for a while, and prepared for trek #1. This would be a 5 mile trek up the road, and then about 10 miles due east across a section of the Withlacoochee forest. The pace was very fast on the road and many teams trekked together, chatted about other races, and the mood was very pleasant. At 5 miles we headed east and onto a sandy road (the true route was supposed to be a foot trail about ½ mile further). The road we took was a good direction, but the soft sand was proving to be difficult traveling for Paul who had very little experience with soft sand walking. It was also hot and energy draining. We dropped to a 3 mph pace in the sand and after coming to a cross road, we navigated to the foot trail that was much better. For those who have never hiked the Withlacoochee Forest, west of the I-75 Land Bridge – do it! This is incredible open forest, with contours reminiscent of North Carolina. Open rocky cairns dot the landscape, and the remains of the unfinished barge canal give views that are quite scenic. We came to CP6 which was a trail tunnel, where we had a gear check and the race even supplied us with 2 soft drinks that were waiting in a cooler. We were getting close to CP7 and the bikes and we had nice landmarks to break up the hike along the way. At the I-75 land bridge we stopped to take pictures, and then headed west once again to CP7.



For our team CP7 was going to be a long one. Paul was hurting from the sand trek, we were going to have to get on bikes and knew that we were going to be doing a trail bike section in the dark. We stopped, had a warm dinner of Pasta, thoroughly checked our gear and lights, got short massages from our crew, used the restroom, and basically spent an hour mentally preparing for the overnight leg of the race. The leg started out very rough, Paul had no experience with single track riding at night and for the first few miles it appeared that 3-4 mph was going to be the pace. We kept tight so that we could use each others lights and I called out features from in front to prepare the back riders for what was coming. Gradually our pace got better and we gained more confidence. Our pace picked up and we were able to make it to the well-hidden Rock Quarry (it is probably obvious in the day) by 11 PM. The line to do the required rock tasks (ascent, and a very long tyrolean traverse) was not long and we had no problems and quite a bit of fun on the ascent. On the traverse, the ropes got tangled and Wil and Ron were left dangling for a while. Wil had a very tough time with the up leg of the tyrolean as he also had to fight a rope tangle. Once we all got through the traverse, Wil was nauseous from the exertion and we needed to rest 15 minutes before proceeding. The remaining bike leg was uneventful (if not dark), We found CP8 (which gave many teams problems) without trouble and made it to CP 9 (and the boats again) by 2 AM. The crossing of the Marshall Swamp trail to CP9 was even pleasant (and would have been a fun bike under any other circumstances).



CP 9 was the most dreaded (by most teams) of the events. It included a 1.2 mile portage to the Upper Ocklawaha River. We were tired, sleepy, and demoralized at this point. Since our boats were not rented – the option of dragging them did not exist. The prospect of carrying our 80 pound boats to the portage was dreaded. While we were dreading this, our crew had been in Wal-Mart devising a way to make the portage less of a nightmare, and had cleverly fashioned a set of boat wheels from luggage racks. With all the gratitude that you can muster after 20 hours of racing we thanked our crew, and started porting the boats. The water entry was at Stokes landing, and the path to the water was narrow and treacherous carrying a large boat. We made it into the water and started down the upper Oklawaha River. We had decided that Paul and Wil would both sleep in the backs of the boats on this section, while Sean and Ron paddled. This would be slow – but would allow us to continue moving. The upper Oklawaha is quite windy and is full of snags and deadfalls. The 2 boats used headlamps to scan the trees, bank, and shore continuously to avoid snags and in the end it paid off, we only snagged 3 times and passed many other teams caught on snags. As the pre-dawn started, the fog on the river brought visibility to about 10 feet, but the surreal feeling of paddling on a primitive river in the pre-dawn was energizing (to me at least). About the same time we were thinking that we were really, really tired of paddling – we saw our crew and the take-out. This time it was not a hallucination (which we were keeping each other entertained with the hallucinations we were having).

We spent an hour at CP 10 (Gores Landing). It had a real bathroom and luxuries like brushing our teeth, changing clothes, and eating a hot breakfast which were taking precedence over race speed. At this point we felt that we were out of any chance of placing. We knew were half-way through the race at this point which was both good (only half to go!) and bad (we still have another half?). The next leg was a bike leg, and that usually does a good job of waking the teams – so I at least was looking forward to the next leg. We moved rapidly through the bike leg and even were able to form a decent draft line, and made it to CP 11 by 9 AM.

CP 11 to CP 12 will be forever known by our team as the Ocala death march. 30 miles of trekking through the Ocala National Forest in the heat of the day. We relieved the monotony by singing to each other, telling stories. Every 15 minutes we would have a mandatory drink, and every 30 minutes we would eat (without stopping of course). The trek was one of those that felt like it would never end. The forest did have some interesting things going on – such as the dozens of monster trucks climbing in and out of mud holes in a line. At the end though we were elated to see the site of the Rodman dam and CP 12. We were also quite pleased to find out that we had trekked it in “elite” time, roughly 5 ½ hours – and had picked up almost 20 places in the standings.

With only 3 segments to go we eagerly entered the water after a 40 minute transition (we did need some rest after that trek), and started down the Lower Oklawaha. This leg was going to prove to be the most challenging. I developed a muscle problem in my left hand and was completely unable to grip the paddle. (Later Kip Koelsch was able to diagnose this problem that had plagued many racers at this point in the race, and offer prevention – if not a cure). I continued by using webbing to tie my hand to the paddle and wrapped a cinch cord around my neck to keep the knot tight. We also tied the boats together at this point as Wil and Paul (in the other boat) were fading in and out. After an eternity we got to the mouth of the St. Johns (around 6 PM) and soon got to deal with high waves and speedboats sending huge wakes (and also completely oblivious of 2 small kayaks). Even with the bad hand – this was the most invigorating leg of the race for me. The spray was coming over the boat – but the skirt kept the water out of the boat and the water was nice and cool. Another 5 miles of open water and we would be out the boats for the rest of the race. Once again – it felt very good to see the crew on the shore waving us in! We exited the water before 9 PM and I was at least real ready to get back on the bikes for our final 40 mile bike leg. We were on the road leaving Georgetown and heading for Tomoka North of Flagler beach – not much to go.

The bike leg went well except for a small navigation error (which cost us 30 minutes). We had a 7 mile sandy leg through the Lake George wildlife management area which was scary at times as we had visions of pushing our bikes though soft sand for 7 miles – but in the end it was mostly rideable. Our pace was slow (12 mph) as with the instability of 2 days sleep deprivation on Paul and Wil, drafting was very difficult. The cattle (startled by bikes) and the hallucinations were keeping me entertained. We kept moving and made the last CP at 2:30 AM.

The final leg was a 7 mile (Molaschi miles) beach run to the finish. For those who have never completed an adventure race and don’t understand team dynamics – it is not 4 individuals who happen to compete together, it is truly a team. We argue, we assist, we get frustrated, we help each other. At this point the team was arguing about whether to run of walk this last leg. In the end we ran most and walked some. We finally crossed the finish line at 4:40 AM with a total elapsed time of 46 hours and 40 minutes.

After that we slept.


Fact: Paul Butler was the oldest competitor to finish the Florida Coast to Coast at 60, and it was his first adventure race ever.

Best Hallucination (from team Nature Calls): The team leader turns around during the Ocala Hike (they did it in the first evening) and saw his team-mates towing their gear in pull-along luggage.

Funniest Moment (for me): My team-mate Sean takes his foot out of the Kayak and puts it in the water to wash the sand off – startling an alligator about 8 feet away, which splashes and sends Sean out of his skin. I nearly tipped the boat laughing.

Best Thanks: All teams are made up of the racers and the crew, and all teams need both. It is impossible to thank the crews enough, they do much of the work; loading and towing bikes and boats and driving across the state. They give back-rubs, prepare food, offer comfort and alleviate misery.

Best Timing: Team Sun-tek which finished the race right at the end of the awards ceremonies to a cheering crowd of all crews and racers for the last quarter mile. David, did you time this on purpose?

A special thanks to all racers – some race against each other, but we all race to extend our own personal limitations, and for the adventure part of the race. And we all know the camaraderie that goes with doing something that most people will never be able to even contemplate or understand.


Team Are We There Yet, left to right: Paul, Sean, Wil, and Ron
Winning four person coed team with crew – Nature Calls (also voted best looking support crew)

Last 4 person coed team crossing the line, Sunday about 10 PM
Very last team across the line – Sunday around 11 PM – a very long day.