Discussion: The hardest thing you've ever had to do in an AR

A few of us have been chatting lately about what the most difficult thing we've ever had to do on an adventure race was... so I'm curious to hear some soldier stories!

It doesn't necessarily have to be from a long endeavor, just something that at the time was very difficult.

Pay my Visa bill.

Well said urthbuoy......I'll have to think about this one.

Ha!

Hmmmn,

One of the most 'painful' was the several days after a nasty highspeed bike crash in EC '97. My back was scraped and badly swollen and I vividly remember scambling down a nasty steep slope in excrutiating pain, followed by a boney river raft that made me want to pass-out with every bump.. followed by HORSEBACK RIDING.... AGGGHHHH!!!!! I'm starting to perspire just thinking about those many hours... but part way through the horseback section, when urthbuoy got his NARDS stomped on by one of those big freakin' horses... I stopped whimpering :-) ... I'm sure when he reads this he'll remember.. and start to perspire as well...

Oh I've got it....this one time I had to tow all of my male teammates at once. That was hard!


Okay that may have been a complete fabrication. I haven't come up against anything that I found next to impossible but there is a moment that sticks out in my mind. It was the Beast of the East in 2005, my first expedition race, and I hadn't ascended before so my gear was not set up properly at all. I struggled like hell to get up that ascent and was close to tears from the frustration.....that's all I've got so someone has to have something better than that.

There was the time when we arrived at the top of a rappel several hundred feet high, and a guy on the previous team had discovered that the rope he was on was badly abraded, so he switched ropes partway down and cut off the first rope. Then the ropes crew pulled up the other rope and discovered similar damage, so they took it out of commission too. When we arrived a short time later, we had a big rappel to do - and no ropes to do it with. In the end, I guess this doesn't really count as something hard. We had to spend a lot of time with the ropes crew while they tried to contact race organizers to figure out what to do, but there was nothing to do but trek on!

FB's story is certainly up there, and prior to the horse vs. nards deal, I remember FB's broken bike strapped to my back, the heat, the bloody nose, the want to just be done...so the horse was just the icing on the cake or the "bruise on the banana" if you will.

For me the "hardness" must be a combination mental and physical. When they both combine, it could be just a simple task like trying to figure out what maps "are"; where the "5th" teammate has gone; or keeping a bunch of cold babies moving forward:-). Add some bugs, that's always good.

It's all good.

P.S. Never ever seen anyone tough it out like FB after that bike crash.

'05 Appalachian Extreme
33 mile trekking section over 7 peaks at night. 42F at the bottom, who knows at the top but there was 2-3 feet of snow there and 1 foot of water underneath. Snow was just rigid enough to support about 85% of your weight. Just when you thought you'd made a successful step you'd posthole through into the water (again). Gained feeling in my feet 2 months later. Made it thru that section and the next paddle but DNF'd just before the last mtb section with an IT band injury. The DNF has haunted me ever since.

Three ugly letters eh JayXC? We've all had them after our names, and for those of us who don't it's only a matter of time in this sport. Let the haunting keep you going in future races!

Having to wake-up for the second day of a stage race.

Having thought about it, I should attach a photo of my frostbite from the Ukatak (Winter Quebec Race). Made it through a severe winter storm and eventually back to a snowmobile cabin. 3 Months of daily hospital visits and I managed to keep all my toes.

Hey, I did Appalachian Extreme in 2005 too. I'd tried to bury the memory of that trek, but you just brought it all back for me. Aieeeee!!!

So far, there's no question that Urthbuoy is winning here.

I was trying to decide which one of a few tough struggles to 'relive' here, but (as Bash indicated) I won't be able to top 'Knarly Toed Urthbuoy and the Journey to Mount Doom"

The worst thing I've ever done marshalling on an adventure race was arriving early one Sunday morning at a lakeside car park in the English Lake District to set up a transition area, and discovering a car with the engine running, a man sitting in the driver's seat, and a pipe from the exhaust into the car. Obviously, we opened the car door, switched off the engine, but it was far too late. However, that's nothing compared to what his family will have experienced, and tougher for other marshals who never seen a dead person before.

I knew I was outdone here......must get out and do more long horrendous races. Either that or start racing wtih FB and urthbuoy!

Copepod... that's awful. So sorry you had to experience that, but you said it about the family.

My very first long race (30 hour Subaru Outback in Jay VT) where I was not even close to being prepared physically or mentally , nevermind not having the right gear or food. I think I started to cry when we finally crossed the finish line.

I did receive the best advice in that race though

"Never quit the course, make them throw you off!"

which I have never forgotten.

Not really up there, but in one 36hr race my recumbent seat back snapped off, and I had to do the whole long overnight bike ride as one long sit-up. For the next bike leg I rode Thumbs-of-death's bonebreaker which just about finished my neck as he's almost a head taller than me. Still, it was better than wearing the Tiara of Shame we had brought in case of princessing.

Sony... I'm going to remember that quote!

'Bent... do tell about this 'Tiara of Shame'!

Oh, it's literally a kid's tiara I tossed in a gearbox. Anyone being a princess has to wear it. We were leading the race until T of D got so sick he would collapse on the ground, but fear of the tiara kept him getting back on the bike , then he'd collapse again until we convinced him to stay with the next CP staff. He definitely wasn't worthy of the tiara.

Accept a cut-off within the first day of a ARWC

I've got to get Team Cogeyed AR a Tiara. Such an excellent idea!

It actually has the word "Princess" embedded in it - all made of rhinestones.

Unfortunately I think one of my teammates would probably enjoy wearing it from the start! She's fancy.

For me the hardest thing I can think of was at the 2007 Keen Adventure Sport Games in Collingwood. It was probably the 3rd adventure race for me and the only one I'd done which lasted more than 8 hours so it was still pretty new to me. The second stage on the first day was a 60k mtn bike with 59% single track riding and a couple of monster climbs. Ok. That part's normal enough. But it had been pouring rain the night before so the trail was nothing but mud. No exaggeration, we had to scoop the mud from our tires every few minutes just to get them to roll. It was the most painfully frustrating ride of my life.
I don't think I've ever been so close to quitting anything. Thankfully I had a great teammate who kept me going with much swearing, joking and Christmas carols. I liked the carol singing the best, espcially since it was only September. :o)

Only ever done one long race. Two situations spring to mind.

1) 5th Afternoon: stuck in a kayak, couldn't pee, team mates in too much of a hurry to stop, after concerted trying eeked a few drops out, was at least kept awake by feeling the pipes were going to bust.

2) 6th morning: arrive at the caving section. Stuff all batteries left. Support crew had left a pair of boots that are size 11 (I am normally 12 and by then was 13). Squeezing soggy blistered feet into those boots then crawling around on my knees for a few hours guided by the equivalent of a candle was pretty average.

What a sport :-)

Some great stories here...it's amazing that we all come back for more, and even more amazing that we pay for it! I've had many, but injury wise, I think it was the bike crash at about 40-50 kmph at Mt. Tremblant RTN in 200(2)? Tacoed the wheel off a bunny hop over a stream and put the bike down sideways on cobbles, coming to a grating stop on my right hip. The result was a wobbly wheel, and a fist sized hematoma on the femoral head. Too stupid to quit, I kept racing (not near maximal capacity though!) for another 16 hours before we dropped out due to a team member's IT band issue. Anyhow, was advised by a doctor afterwards that I risked serious issues by continuing to race with such a giant bruise, and that if a portion of the clot dislodged, it could have been bad news. Made for great photos and a full leg bruise.

Haha I can vouch for Jamie's story, I was there crewing for my partner Stu and saw Jamie's team going past on Day 6, that remains the most zombie like person I have ever seen! What Jamie doesn't mention is that he was roped into (his first!) expedition race (the ARWC 2005) without any specific training on short notice by his good friend Aaron Price...and they got 2nd place!

I think in the Traverse the year before some team got bluffed out in a storm on a cliff face and had to spend 2 days up there with no food waiting for the weather to clear so they could be helicoptored off...meanwhile the rest of the teams teams had finished, had prizegiving, flown home...that would have been pretty hard!

Leanimal, wasn't it you that got caught in a bear trap? I think that qaualifies for purposes of this discussion.

That was Leanimal, all right. Dogrunner was actually the one who had to go to the hospital because she pried the trap off Leanimal's foot with her bare hands! That definitely qualifies too.

Bear traps... cripes! I fell in a well once.

... flight home from Explore Sweden with giardia... exit restroom, go to the end of the line for the restroom - repeat (for 8 hours) ;-(

.. that was tough :-)