LEACH 2007 – A tale of 3 teams
While sitting at the banquet table at Nationals over Bourbon shots and Beer, Melissa and I made a commitment to race the LEACH, one of the premiere races in South Florida. And so it was this Friday I was packing up the family to head to a cabin we were lucky enough to get in Jonathan Dickinson State Park (awesome cabins in a beautiful park – definitely worth trip for those looking for a fun family getaway). I would be racing with Chris in what would pretty much be his first sprint race and his second ever adventure race (having raced a multi-day race in New Caledonia - http://www.sleepmonsters.com/racereport.php?race_id=4311) as Team TCO. Melissa would be racing as a 3 person coed team with Jim Levine and a new racer, Dave – who was a colleague of theirs from work (and also covered for Jim on his trip to Nationals) and Team Trail and Error. Melissa had injured herself the week prior doing a competition and was limping on a bad hip before the race even started. She would be racing on painkillers and her own natural determination. Anyone who knows Melissa, also knows that there is a lot of that…
We got the maps and passports about 15 minutes before the race start and some quick instructions. Pretty much I gathered info that one course route was evil (bad trail) and the area was a lot wetter than the previous year. We quickly laminated the maps and passports with contact paper (they were plain paper) and made it to the start with about 30 seconds to spare before the “Go”.
The race started with a short (3/4 mile) run to CP1 where we were greeted with a swim, at least for one member of the team. I shed my backpack and tossed it to Chris and leaped into the water which was pretty chilly (it was a chilly morning at JD). The flag was suspended on a line over a creek and the water was deep enough that this was a real swim. To save time in the pack I swam around the back side of the control to punch it – and with a little teamwork from other teams (one hand on the rope, one hand on the punch, one hand holding the passport – see the problem here?) was able to punch and swim to a spot where it was less crowded and exit the water flopping my body up the wet, slippery, and muddy bank. Jim had essentially jumped right into the water with the Trail and Error passport and we headed back to the TA in mid-pack.
After reaching the TA we scaled the “Wall of Death” which as walls go was moderately challenging, though teamwork made it a lot easier. We grabbed our boats and were on the water for checkpoints 2, 3, and 4. Because the wall and the CP1 had been pretty tight bottlenecks we hit the water about 10 minutes behind the lead teams – but knowing both teams were strong paddlers, I was pretty sure we would put some distance on the field. Sure enough before hitting CP2 on the south riverbank and the short run to CP3 and back, the teams in front of us had been reduced to 5 teams. By the time we reached CP4 at Trapper Nelson’s we were down to a lead pack 4 teams. As we headed back Team “Are We There Yet” led by Will Murphy and our team had put some distance on the field.
As we exited the water the next special test was to fill a water bucket, throw the water to our team-mate and then they would use the water to fill a 3rd bucket and lift a gallon jug of water (with a pulley attached to the bucket) off the ground. After a little trial and error I figured that throwing the water up in a nice arc, caused it to land cleanly in the bucket Chris had – and we finished the special test in a few quick minutes.
It was then on to bikes where we would head out, not to return to the TA until the end of the race. We got everything together quickly and then waited a couple of minutes for Melissa and her team to enter the TA before heading out on bikes. We biked an easy road 3 miles to CP5 where Melissa caught up with us and we had to dismount and do a short (3 mile) run course. According to JJ who was at the CP, RWTY had left 6 minutes prior. Melissa was limping pretty bad – but we decided to run as strong as we could and caught up with RWTY at an unmapped intersection just west of CP7. We worked together to get CP8 (which also required another navigation decision on an unmapped road and it was back to the CP5, which was also CP9.
From CP9 we instead headed north along the railroad tracks and cut across on a trail directly to CP10, shortcutting RWTY who had taken a longer road ride to CP10 and the lookout tower. After climbing the tower and getting our picture taken at the top (yes this was part of the race), we went down for the next special test. A 2 mile cyclocross trail had been set up and the person (not team) with the best time would get a special prize at the end. Chris and I took this pretty easy (Chris at 8:10 and me at 8:24). After finishing I forgot to go back on the short cut we had taken from CP9 to CP10 and ended up following RWTY along the road route past CP9 and to CP11. We arrived just seconds ahead of RWTY at CP11 and the next special test – the “Spiderweb of Death”.
This was a team test where we clipped onto a rope that we had to follow through an obstacle course (and with the team-mates clipped to each other). Our team-work was going strong and we completed the course just and Melissa’s team arrived. RWTY left second before us heading west on the road. I decided to take a route north on the power lines – pretty much the opposite direction. We arrived at CP12 at pretty much the same time and made a silent agreement to work together on the next few controls.
From CP12 we had to bikewhack west across into the swamp, across the creek, up through thick palmettos to get to the trail we needed. It was a pretty tough bikewhack especially since the creek was not only deep – it also had a muck bottom. I got snagged on a tree and any effort to lift myself over by pushing down with one foot just sunk that foot down into the muck. What I really need was a free hand to push off the submerged tree I was caught on – but the hands were busy holding up my bike. A strategy of holding my bike with one hand and using both feet and my free hand to “3-leg” through the downed tree eventually got me out. Of course the other 4 racers coming through with me were smart enough to stay off the tree. Coming out the other side of the creek was also tough with a solid wall of green followed by palmettos. Willem (I’ve raced with both Will and Willem of Team RWTY) found a good spot to bash through and we were finally out and racing again.
The ride to CP13 was pretty easy and we all rode together. We worked together to find the CP which was just off the Florida Trail in a pretty interesting (ready swampy with many water crossings) section of the trail. Rding from CP13 to CP14 we saw Melissa’s group, which had gained another rider somehow, heading towards CP13. We leapfrogged with RWTY a few times heading to CP14 and were the first bikes to arrive. (from what I understand all the other teams skipped CP13, which was a bonus CP to make the 3 PM cutoff at CP14). At CP14 we had another special test, the orienteering course.
The course was not a true orienteering, as an orienteering is a sport which has a special map and rules. The was a bearing course and it would take both of our teams into some pretty thick and interesting terrain. On one of the OP points we did have to form a search line – which quickly got us to the OP (I think it was OP4 which was 30 meters east of the creek we kept crossing). Luckily we had kept close track of all the clues (15 degrees, 25 meters) to lead us to the last control. One other team had arrived in the mean time and we worked together to get the final OP (CP15) before memorizing the map hung there to return us to the bikes.
At the bikes I tried to note whether Melissa and the other team were there – but by this time a LOT of bikes had arrived. Chris and I mounted up and I called to Will to see if they were ready. Their team was looking at the maps, I had memorized the route back to the TA while we were running from CP15 to the bikes so we headed out. (This was not really that hard as we simply stayed on the westernmost trail all the way back). On arrival we had one more task to complete. We were given the location of the final CP (16) which looked to be an easy out and back mile long run. Jason warned us that long pants might be a good idea – so we knew it would not be that easy. I tried to take us on a shortcut route (I could see a yellow blazed trail that looked like it diagonalled across to the CP – but it was quickly apparent it did not). We simply hit the power line and headed east on the Township/Range fenceline to CP16. As we got there we learned that it would not be that easy – the control gave us a bearing and distance that would put us in the middle of a wire and trip grass swamp. We fought our way into the swamp to the clearing which was on the map and was right where the bearing and distance were taking us. Instead of keeping a straight bearing I tried to weave us around the thickest of the stuff, relying on hitting the large clearing and seeing the flag. Sure enough we could see daylight and the flag was right there on the north side of a huge open wiregrass clearing. We got to it, punched the flag, painted our pinkies and headed back following our path in, back out.
After exiting the swamp we had an easy mile run back, passing RWTY on the way into the swamp. We kept an easy light jog back into the TA and ended up finishing at about 3:30 (beating the 4 PM cutoff). RWTY arrived about 20 minutes later, followed by Trail and Error another 10 minutes after that. It looked like we were the only three teams to get all the controls and beat the cutoff. It was an incredibly exciting race and the cutoffs and the competition were tight enough to keep us moving hard. Team RWTY raced a solid race, running fully on all the (many) foot legs, paddling hard and keeping us moving on the bikes. It was a great race. I should have the maps up by Tuesday (Melissa is scanning them and sending them to me). I have one more race for the season - The Turkey Burn, a solid 12 hour Rogaine style race in one of the most incredible areas of Florida – Wekiva Springs and Blackwater Creek. Watch here for the latest.
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