adventure race race (GODZONE ) 29:00:00 [3]
big TREK. we had ideas of getting some good sleep at this point since we hadn't slept since the opening night. we transitioned, there were sausage sandwiches for the racers. several teams were around us and we decided on an hour TA time.
After getting distracted and also getting through a gear check an hr and 10 min we were headed out. about 2 km later we found a flat spot and looked forward to our first solid sleep. we took 2.5 hrs. around 345an we marched out. we followed contours, stayed somewhat conservative knowing this would be a tricky-ish cp with large flat non-relevant land features. Little did I know the, RD also had another trick, there were several 'tarns' in the area, with only one marked on the map. we ended being a further north than I thought and marched directly to a tarn (cp15). no flag, we rechecked several times and no dice. after a couple hrs we decided to cash in early on sleep we had planned for later, at the moment and wait til light which was in less than one more hour, so with the on paper sleep math, we should minimize the damage. we hunkered down quickly and slept almost an hr. just before light we packed up quickly and headed to th highest ground around. as soon as light showed the land, we realized we were north and we easily picked off the control flag, and blasted out.
the rest of the trek was gorgeous. hard but gorgeous. we hit saddles and ridges with panoramic views with multiple glacier views and perfect weather. We moved well, filling water in fresh , outta-the-rock random streams. magic
we made it to the south turn on the south side of lake Huron and a race personnel told us that we would be bussed forward due to the all of the teams taking way over the time estimated.
Lead team had taken 17hr from that point (lake huron turn to the north) to the end. I had calculated another 12 hrs of food ((rationed out to possibly 20?)and the team had little more than I; along with the fact that we would likely double chris forne's time, it was going to get ugly.
it was the right call to cut teams off. I understand there teas in serious trouble already in the mtns.
we were told to hurry up and load into a mini-bus; we didnt get any sleep because the driver hauled some Ass down some roads for 2 hrs and getting bounced as hard as we were, even the most tired racers, wasnt going to doze off, probably part of the master plan!