Live Race HQ site is up. Race begins at 10 a.m. Sunday.
http://www.raidthenorth.com/RTNx/2011/livecoverage...
It's always fun to "watch" these big races together so I'm starting this thread to kick off the discussion, cheering and speculation. :)
I am throwing out my bets for Tecnu or Dart.
Hmmm... any ideas why the majority of teams are already showing as unranked on the leaderboard after CP1???
All teams were shown "unranked" until they reached CP1 and the leaderboard hasn't been updated in a long, long time. :( When you look at the SPOT tracker, it seems that most teams are well past CP1. It's important to click on the team's location to see the time since the SPOT trackers only broadcast successfully once in awhile. Two teams may appear to be at the same location but they were actually there 3 hours apart. Sadly, Team Atmosphere MOMAR seems to have a dud SPOT tracker so we aren't able to follow them right now.
At CP1 (bike section), WildernessTraverse.com (Bob Miller, Jack Van Dorp + 2 Kiwis) were leading with Wild Rose (Bart Jarmula, Veronica Jarlehag, etc.) a minute behind. That was 8 hours ago and only 2.5 hours into the race. Based on the SPOT trackers, they may still hold 1st and 2nd positions as of 2 hours ago. DART (3rd at CP1) and Custom Cellular (4th) are in the same area. Atmosphere MOMAR is probably there (SPOT tracker troubles) and Tecnu is a little further back.
WildernessTraverse.com is first to arrive at CP2 by foot at 22:51 local time.
Looks like some gnarly mountain biking this morning on the way to a beautiful lake paddle. WildernessTraverse.com was leading Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers by over 2 hours at CP4. Based on SPOT tracker, it looks like Custom Cellular is approximately tied for 2nd. DART-Nuun, Atmosphere MOMAR and Wild Rose are a little further back but doing well. Looks like some teams (including DART & Custom Cellular) slept at CP3.
Keep the updates coming - thank you!
Looks like Internet/communications issues are preventing the leaderboard from being updated regularly. The SPOT tracker shows WildernessTraverse.com on the water, paddling south very quickly from CP6/TA2 on a long, narrow lake lined by mountains. Must be gorgeous!
Custom Cellular appears to be 2.5 hours behind on bikes, probably past CP5 by now. DART-Nuun and Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers look to be within an hour behind them, very close together. Atmosphere MOMAR is maybe another hour back with Wild Rose in 6th place behind them.
WildernessTraverse.com is approaching the end of their paddle - maybe an hour to go. Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers and [probably] Custom Cellular are paddling about 3 hrs behind. DART-Nuun at bike/paddle TA. Wild Rose has overtaken Atmosphere MOMAR in the bike section. This is all from SPOT Trackers - they still seem to be having trouble with the leaderboard.
That's an incredible lead for the WT team this early into the race. Love the updates and am amazed by the gaps between a number of the teams.
That topography looks spectacular!
WildernessTraverse.com, Custom Cellular and Atmosphere MOMAR have dropped off the SPOT tracker for the past few hours so if there have been changes at the front, we don't know. Leaderboard isn't accurate. Some teams have been updated but most have not, including most of the top teams. Looks like Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers and DART-Nuun finished the paddle within an hour of each other and 2-3 hours behind WT.com. Custom Cellular may have finished paddling around the same time and WT.com may have started the trek but we can't tell. Wild Rose is nearly finished the paddle in 5th place and Atmosphere MOMAR is probably paddling in 6th place. Big spread between top and bottom teams.
Custom Cellular re-appeared on the SPOT Tracker in 2nd place on the trek (making the fairly safe assumption that WildernessTraverse.com is still in the lead by 2+ hours). Atmosphere MOMAR and Wild Rose appear to be close together in 5th and 6th at the end of the paddle. There are still teams as far back as CP2 - the start of the long bike ride before the paddle. Apparently a weather system is rolling in so the paddle could be challenging for the later teams.
WildernessTraverse.com has re-appeared on the SPOT tracker in Valhalla Provincial Park trekking toward CP8 in 1st place. After this it becomes less clear because some teams' SPOT trackers haven't been broadcasting. Custom Cellular is probably in 2nd - looks like maybe they're within 2 hours of the lead now? Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers are probably in 3rd or 4th but no signal from them for several hours. DART-Nuun is maybe an hour back of Custom Cellular in 3rd or 4th.
Atmosphere MOMAR and Wild Rose probably hold 5th/6th or 6th/5th positions but only Wild Rose's SPOT is moving. Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic just finished paddling in 7th place. SOG Knives is the only team on the water right now in 8th. The paddle takes several hours so this is another indication of the large spread. Now that it's dark with possible bad weather moving in, the paddle will go more slowly for later teams.
Great work on decoding the data Bash; thanks so much!
This is like cross-word or Sodoku. I go to the website and try to figure it all out and then flip over here and see what Bash's figured out to check my answers (and fill in what I missed).
:-)
Wonder what happened to C.C.... looks like a huge double back? Hope everyone is o.k.
Some updated tracks on the site... get 'em before they disappear.
A lot of what I saw this a.m. was gone an hour ago and now there have been some recent 'pings' for some of the front runners. Looks like WT is getting close to CP8 and C C is back to the start of the trek at CP7?!
It looks like 2 teams didn't even start & team Torti is unranked. Any one know the deal on these 3 teams. I was in Montana without internet for 3 days. Trying to catch up. Thanks!
Climb4SMA Torti has never been ranked. They are 4 males - could that be the reason? I'm not sure if RTNX offered a non-coed option.
FB, thanks for the update. I was forced to spend the morning in the real, non-online world and haven't been able to follow!
Agreed, very strange about Custom Cellular heading back so far. Almost makes me wonder whether they dropped their SPOT and it got taken down to TA3 by a hiker or volunteer. However, they were heading into an area of difficult mountain travel so if a teammate wasn't feeling well, it would be a logical place to turn back.
Teams at the front of the trek appear to be:
#1 WildernessTraverse.com near CP8 (Ice Creek Lodge)
?? Atmosphere MOMAR started the trek 40 minutes after DART-Nuun and 40 minutes ahead of Wild Rose but their tracker isn't working. Not sure where to put them.
#2 or #3 Wild Rose - having a great trek in their home turf.
#3-#5-ish DART-Nuun, Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers
#6 Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic - coming on strong
#7 SOG
From RTN Facebook page about Custom Cellular:
The team elected to return to the paddle TA as recurring health issue was affecting one of the teammates and exacerbated by very cold and wet conditions. No need to worry as they are all well and safe at the TA. Understandably the team is very disappointed as they were in second place at the time. Please note that phone & web communications are very limited in our current location, so please be patient with updates coming thru.
Hey guys,
Confirming that Climb4SMA is unranked as they are an all-male team. thanks for all of the details! I wish there was an option for shout-outs!
They've said that if you post a message to the Raid The North Facebook page (not the RTNX group page), they will "do their best" to get it to racers. Given the trouble they're having with Internet access for updating the leaderboard, this may not be a top priority...
http://www.facebook.com/RaidtheNorth
Atmosphere MOMAR have re-appeared on the SPOT Tracker! They are behind WT.com and Wild Rose, likely in 3rd place ahead of DART-Nuun and Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers but it's hard to call with the limited info we have. (Excuse me while I break out into a proud chorus of "Oh Canada"! :) )
From RTNX - Twitter - Dart was held up at prior ta waiting for a bike box. word has it that they will be getting a 1.5hr credit.
This would put them right up front assuming it's correct.
It would put them in 2nd place. WT.com is pretty far ahead on the map and their last SPOT location was broadcast 2 hours earlier than DART's last SPOT location. BTW, DART-Nuun just got updated on the SPOT Tracker behind Wild Rose and ahead of Atmosphere MOMAR, all within about 1 km of each other. Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers' current location is unknown but should be in the same vicinity.
Interesting to see some of the movement over the past four hours from the middle of the pack. A couple of teams have covered quite a bit of ground and are now half way through their paddle. Judging by the time it's taking most front teams to get from the WP at Valhalla Provincial Park and CP8, it must be extremely difficult.
Apparently the first place team just past through CP8 where it's currently 7.5C...Yikes!?
Wow, I guess that explains the "very cold and wet conditions" comment in the note about Custom Cellular's withdrawal.
The first short course cut-off is at CP12 tomorrow at 6 a.m. Pacific time, less than 15 hours from now. Looks like it will catch the majority of teams, diverting and shortening their bike ride so they paddle less distance on Arrow Lake.
For perspective, the lead team has been trekking for more than 24 hours out of CP7 and they have still not reached CP9 (as far as we know). Less than half the teams have passed CP7 at this point. It looks like more tough trekking to CP10 before they switch to bikes, so the number of teams making the cut-off could be quite low.
Great articles! At last some updated satellite data:
#1 WildernessTraverse.com ahead by maybe 4-5 hours, still trekking, no recent satellite updates
#2 Wild Rose - passed through CP8 @ 16:00
#3 DART-Nuun - CP8 @ 16:17 (but are rumoured to be getting a 1.5 hr time credit)
#4 Atmosphere MOMAR - maybe 1.5 hours back of 3rd?
#5 Probably Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic - maybe 2 hrs back of 4th?
#6 Probably Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers, who finally re-appeared on the SPOT Tracker further back than they had been. Maybe they napped.
#7 SOG
Aside from those ExploreCompeteLive articles and the SPOT tracker, another source of detailed info is a Twitter search on #RTNX.
http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23RTNX
Looks like some nav confusion around CP8.
Be interesting to hear about it. Atmosphere Momar is circling the CP and getting ready to pounce! :-)
My Guess is the have it before 21:00 or 18:00 PST
Interesting track. It looks like it could be cliffy on their original route. In their last RTNX, they ended up in some precarious cliffs so I'm sure they wouldn't take a chance this time. They've now descended a slope with gentler contours. OK, hang a left, guys!!
In other news, WT.com were half a km past CP9 at 17:45. Looks like it took them in the neighbourhood of 6 hours to trek CP8-CP9 in daylight. The trek to CP10 is longer but looks like it may be easier going toward the end.
In Teams, you can pick "Most Recent", "Last 1 Hour", "Last 2 Hours", etc. You should always see them somewhere on the map if you pick "Most Recent". However, if you pick "Last 2 Hours" and they haven't sent a successful broadcast in the last 2 hours, they disappear from the map until you choose "Most Recent" again.
In this case, where Atmosphere MOMAR has been broadcasting successfully, if you pick "Last 4 Hours", you should see a coloured line showing their track. They're about 100 m below the lodge now, having passed by the lake to the north, so their altimeter has hopefully turned them around by now.
WildernessTraverse.com is flying from CP9!
Ha, just figured it out and deleted post, thanks Bash!
Flying from CP9 I assume because on trails now. Crux of race over!
WT may be flying as I'm pretty sure there is a trail system in there as a hiking area.
The aerial photo of that leg looks much less rugged. Good thing since it's only 11 hours till the cut-off at CP12. Teams behind have a tough trek in the dark. Is it possible that only WT.com will make the cut-off?!
At 20:30 Pacific time as darkness approaches:
#1 WildernessTraverse.com is on a road that leads to the trek/bike TA at CP10. Lead is 5-6 hours and they finished the most difficult trekking before dark.
#2 Wild Rose
#3 DART-Nuun - 60-90 minutes back
#4 or #5 Atmosphere MOMAR - appear to be safely past CP8 about 2 hours behind DART. Phew, this means I can go to bed now. Can't wait to hear *that* story.
#4 or #5 Tecnu Extreme/StaphaAseptic - not sure who's ahead here.
#6 Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers (estimate based on older data)
It seems very likely that WT.com will be the only team to make the CP12 cut-off which, if it happens, would make the last few days of the race downright relaxing for them by comparison. It will be more exciting if a few more teams are able to stay in the mix on the full course but it would be a stretch now. Teams are apparently going more slowly than the course designer's estimates, perhaps because of bad weather or maybe the course testing was done in different conditions.
WildernessTraverse.com at trek/bike TA (CP10) at 21:00!
(Yeah, I know I said I was going to bed.)
Confirmed that Atmosphere MOMAR is in 4th ahead of Tecnu but within half a km.
When is WildernessTraverse.com going to sleep? During the night, they biked and rappelled. At 6:20, they have just arrived at CP13, the bike/paddle TA on Arrow Lake.
Since the 6 a.m. cut-off for CP12 has passed, they are now the only team on the full course and simply need to finish to win, assuming that the info provided about the course is correct and no changes are made to the rules.
The course on the map has been changed since last night with CP10 apparently moving closer to CP9. Teams are still going to the original point on Upper Slocan Lake so this is a mistake.
Wild Rose is 2nd by 9 hours at CP10. Atmosphere MOMAR, DART-Nuun and Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers hold 3rd to 5th places but there isn't enough info to know their order. Looks like Wild Rose has about an hour's lead. Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic are in 6th.
Ontario racers will be pleased to know that Adrenaline Rush finished the first paddle before midnight but unfortunately their SPOT hasn't broadcast since. Go Funderstorm! Most teams other than the top 8 are somewhere on the tough trek between CP7 and CP8.
From Twitter, Team Atmosphere MOMAR's comment on the trek when arriving at CP8: "Tabernac!" :)
Maybe they got some sleep as DART-Nuun is 60-90 minutes ahead at CP10. No signal from Gear Junkies/Yoga Slackers who should be in the same area. Tecnu still in 6th, approaching CP9.
At 7 a.m., Wild Rose is in 2nd at the zipline at CP11, an hour ahead of DART-Nuun.
WildernessTraverse.com still onshore at CP13, the start of the next paddle. Maybe time for a nap?
Leaderboard shows Custom Cellular and Honey Badger as "withdrawn". BLUE, HTFU/Sonovion and Suburban Rush Reloaded are "unranked". Climb4SMA started out unranked as a team of 4 males.
Rest of the leaderboard remains unreliable, partly due to Internet access issues. Provides some historical CP times but rankings have never been accurate since only some teams get updated. A combination of SPOT Tracker and Twitter provides the best info. Russell184 at Ice Creek Lodge (CP8) has been tweeting team arrival times and other interesting tidbits.
I find it interesting that Team #28 (Wild Rose) continued north after hitting CP12. I figured because they missed the 6 am deadline that they'd go directly to CP14. Maybe the deadline was altered?
I wouldn't be surprised if they extended the deadline and I hope they did. It would be nice to have the last part of the race still be a 'race' for WT... although they might be p.o.'d if they took a nice EXTRA long rest thinking it was over and then found out that 1 (or 2 or 3) more teams were still chasing them on the full course.
I can't imagine Bob not getting this all clear before making any strategy changes?
The cut-off was changed at some point either before or during the race. Some of the course info on the tracking map is incorrect, so maybe this was an error all along and we shouldn't have taken it seriously. Given the lack of race news, it sure would be nice if we could glean accurate info from the tracking map since that's almost all we have, but I guess we'll just have to be surprised. :)
Although the cut-off was clearly inappropriate for the course design (did the testers really go as fast as WT.com?) and I'm happy that more of our friends can keep racing on the full course, I do hope the cut-off was not changed during the race. If it was, I hope that teams received long advance notice.
If they didn't, Bob would have had no reason to suspect rules would be changed during the race so there would be nothing for him to clarify before taking a good long rest. If he woke up to learn of the change, that would be poor race management, so let's hope that's not how it happened.
An on-the-fly cut-off change would affect more than WT.com. It would also affect earlier teams who may have taken a rest thinking they had no chance to make the cut-off - but now they may miss the new one unnecessarily. That's happened to me. This is why course designers have to test beaucoup.
Great job by Wild Rose who are now at the paddle put-in. WildernessTraverse.com is just 3 hours ahead on the water. DART-Nuun appear to be a couple of hours behind in 3rd (possibly with 1.5 hour time credit). Then Atmosphere MOMAR with Tecnu Extreme StaphAseptic close behind. The wild card is Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers who were in 5th place at CP8 at 20:00 yesterday but haven't broadcast since.
An article has been posted on the main race website updating info on a number of teams further back in the pack. Some of them are continuing on a modified "sport course" instead of doing the Valhalla Park trek.
Perhaps the most surprising news is that a member of 7th place Team SOG has elected not to continue from CP8 so they are now unranked.
http://www.raidthenorth.com/RTNx/2011/featurednews...
Not sure it's worth mentioning but the first CP teams reach after they finish the paddle and bike a relatively short distance is CP16, which supposedly has a cut-off of Thursday at 1 a.m. associated with it. If you click on an adjacent icon, it has a "CP17" at almost the same location with a 6 a.m. cut-off. But there is another CP17 later on so this one is probably an error. Given what happened with the CP12 cut-off (which is either changed or non-existent now), I'd guess this cut-off isn't relevant either.
A short video showing the terrain in Valhalla Park with a quick glimpse of some friends on the top teams. They are wearing lots of layers!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_kqN353Ib0&feature...
Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers have *finally* re-appeared. Looks like they're in 4th between DART-Nuun and Atmosphere MOMAR.
Makes sense Bash. Thanks for the heads up. Nice to see a Sports Course option available for some teams to avoid that crazy Valhalla trek.
#1 WildernessTraverse.com - paddling Arrow Lake with about a 4-hour lead. They had a 9-hour lead at CP12 but they probably slept at the paddle put-in, CP13.
#2 Wild Rose - paddling after a shorter break at the paddle put-in. They probably slept when it was dark.
#3 DART-Nuun - biking to paddle put-in at CP13. They left CP11 4 hours behind Wild Rose and the differential looks about the same right now.
#4 Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers - biking. Left CP11 2 hours behind DART.
#5 Atmosphere MOMAR - biking. Maybe an hour back?
#6 Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic. Less than an hour behind.
It's a large gap to the next group of full course teams, who are within a couple hours of CP8 on either side. The 7th place team reached their current location about 26 hours after WildernessTraverse.com.
Figuring things out from the SPOT Tracker is about to get more complicated since the new "sport course" sends teams from CP7 to CP10, bypassing the Valhalla trek. Adrenaline Rush is approaching the rappel at CP11 now.
Just noticed that the map shows *another* Thursday 6 a.m. cut-off at CP20. Hard to know without detailed maps but I'm not sure even WT.com can get there in the next 14 hours. Jack and Bobby are full of surprises though. Once teams get off the lake, they are on the home stretch and can look forward to biking the Seven Summits trail - nice!
Given that the race course closes Sat. morning, the CP20 cut-off seems about one day too early and is probably an error.
WildernessTraverse.com is coming into CP15/TA7 at 21:30 - close to 10 hours for this paddle section. Although they are arriving at the "transition to biking", they still have to paddle their bikes across Arrow Lake where they can leave their canoes and paddling gear behind. There was talk of a 70 km paddle with bikes - no idea if they had their bikes with them for all of Arrow Lake. [Edit: At 21:50, they have crossed the lake to the canoe drop at Renata.]
Wild Rose is continuing strong about 4 hours behind. DART-Nuun is paddling maybe 3 hours behind them.
Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers are at CP13, the paddle put-in, 2-3 hours behind DART-Nuun. Atmosphere MOMAR are getting close, having lost some time when they apparently backtracked to make a different route choice to CP13. It is possible that Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic moved ahead of them in this section but that team's SPOT is taking a break.
7th place is probably local team Kootenay Kaos but they haven't been SPOTted for a long time. They'll still be in the later part of the big trek.
Some interesting tracks in the vicinity of CP8 today, particularly #5 and #14.
Anyone able to bring up the RTN website this morning? I'm getting this message:
"This site is currently unavailable due to a problem with your account
If you are the owner of this site, please contact us at billing@zerohosting.com or support@zerohosting.com"
Oh NOOOoooooo!!!
i tried an hour or two ago and got the same thing.....
I've posted a comment on Twitter and on their Facebook page. They have been posting some info in both places. You need to be on FB to see that page but anyone can see the Twitter page.
http://www.facebook.com/RaidtheNorth
http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23RTNX (Click magnifying glass at top to get the most recent tweets.)
The top three teams should be off the second paddle and in the final bike/trek sections, which means some of the RTN staff should be moving closer to civilization where they'll have cell service to contact their web provider and get this fixed.
#1 WildernessTraverse.com approaching CP18 on foot.
#2 Wild Rose off the water on their bikes
#3 DART-Nuun on the paddle
#4 or #5 Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers (their SPOT is always wonky) - paddling
#4 or #5 Atmosphere MOMAR - paddling
#6 Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic - paddling
Teams in 3rd to 6th, in particular, are close enough that anything can happen over the last part of the course depending on sleep requirements, route choice, etc. It'll be an exciting finish!
Top of leaderboard is in the correct sequence for #1-7. The team listed as 8th, SOG, is supposed to be unranked though.
Leaderboard shows 11 teams with "withdrawn" or "unranked" status including Ontario team Adrenaline Rush. :( Hope everyone is OK.
http://www.raidthenorth.com/RTNx/2011/leaderboard....
Short course teams are starting to paddle from CP14 partway down Arrow Lake.
The second wave of full course teams is finished or finishing the long trek and switching to bikes, including Checkpoint Zero/Tech 4o, SXM Archipela, BRAT and WEDALI. Kootenay Kaos is on bikes in 7th place a few hours ahead of this wave. (They finally broadcast something!)
A rare moment when the top 6 teams' SPOT trackers broadcast almost simultaneously just before 8 a.m. The one surprise is that Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers have dropped to 6th. The others are in the same sequence listed above. There is a fair bit of separation until 4th place. Atmosphere MOMAR can probably see Tecnu Extreme in the distance behind them now, so watch for some speedy paddling over the next while. There are also some short course teams in the mix so it may not be obvious, but they probably would have known the approximate distance back to Tecnu. Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers are near CP14. Maybe they had a sleep overnight.
Was suppose to ride Seven Summits today. Would have been on the trails with the teams. But plans feel through. I'm so close & yet so far. I hate not having the inside scoop. It's a nail bitter. Can't wait for the update on the unranked teams. Bash you are so quick these updates you should have just volunteered. :-) Thanks!
Doesn't seem to be any new updates on the unranked teams in that link,unfortunately. I'm sure/hope everyone is okay. Being in the area I can definitely say the weather has been a challenge.
I'll be off the Internet for a week starting tomorrow morning. Seeking another slightly obsessed RTNX follower (better yet, several) to post updates in this forum. WandAR, FB, Simpy, Double Down...? Jump in! Also hoping that some racers will join the discussion over the next couple of days to fill in the blanks.
Looks like the lead team's tracker has been updated. Atmosphere MOMAR may be closing in on 3rd. Hopefully they are rested and fly by while (what it looks to be) #10 -Dart Nunn are resting.
Yoga Slacker's tracker has not been updated in awhile.
Update states that Pentathalondesneiges (Alex, Jan, Benoit & Scottie) elected to move forward as a team of three from TA3 after some irreconcilable differences with a teammate. hmmmm...
Also lead team Wildernesstraverse.com is mentioned as Wildernessadventures.com...in case someone was confused :)
Kinda cool to look back at the Valhalla trek and see the full course teams who are still in there. Check out Team #14 Innovative Fitness and look at their SPOT track for the "Last 2 Days". They chose a high route to CP8 that no one else took. They've now been trekking for almost 48 hours and still have a ways to go to CP10. There are several other teams who have not reached CP8 and they will also pass the 48 hour mark - and then some - before hitting their gear bins. Hope they packed lots of food, batteries, etc. It's no wonder some teams are taking nice long breaks at Ice Creek Lodge. (That place sounds and looks so nice... I want to go there!)
http://www.icecreeklodge.com/index.html
To clarify, only the top 6 teams are on the full course although there are teams behind them who have still not passed the point at which they would be moved to a short course.
Just checked out the Team #14 route. Crazy to say the least that they've been trekking in that area for over two days. As you said, hope they are safe and packed enough food, water to get them through to CP10.
Amazing efforts by all teams involved so far.
Atmosphere MOMAR has been at CP15/TA6 for awhile preparing for their final push. They're in 4th place with Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic approaching on the water less than 2 km away. DART-Nuun has started biking on the far side of the lake and is making good progress in 3rd place.
WildernessTraverse.com and Wild Rose remain well in front in 1st and 2nd, less than 10 km apart. Looks like some fairly slow mountain trekking over the next while.
From Twitter: Remember that long break WildernessTraverse.com had at the start of the paddle? (CP13/TA5) Turns out they were waiting for gear that hadn't arrived and they are supposed to receive a time credit.
Will probably be in the Bugaboos all weekend. But if not my obsession will definitely keep the updates going. Have a good week Bash.
Thanks, WandAR! According to Gunta on Twitter, WildernessTraverse.com had to wait 4 hours for their gear to arrive at the start of the paddle. I'll bet they enjoyed their snooze! She also mentioned that DART-Nuun had to wait 40 minutes. Not sure if that's the same time credit we'd heard about before or a different one. If it's different, then DART-Nuun would have just over 2 hours of time credits.
Some new photos were posted today. There haven't been a lot of pics but they've all been fantastic.
http://frontier.smugmug.com/RaidtheNorthExtreme
Looks like 3rd place DART-Nuun may be taking a different route on the trek to CP18. Atomosphere MOMAR is coming up strong behind them so this could be interesting to watch. No idea where Tecnu Extreme is since a CP time entry error has returned them to CP13 until 2300 tonight. When last spotted, they were neck and neck with Atmosphere MOMAR so the last day of the race is going to be exciting. Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers have reappeared on the SPOT Tracker in 6th place, biking toward CP16.
The best place to see photos of teams on the race course is on the Raid The North Facebook page. Check out Glenn Rogers' photos. The pics confirm that racers did the long second paddle with their bikes in the canoes.
http://www.facebook.com/RaidtheNorth
Bash I'll try and post something tomorrow afternoon before I head to the cottage, ...... I think the top teams will be in before you leave in the a.m.
Thanks, FB! The top two teams are still chugging along. Looks like Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic has passed Atmosphere MOMAR to move into 4th place after CP17. There isn't much distance between 3rd (DART-Nuun) and 6th (Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers) and top teams have made different route choices between CP17 and CP18, so the front of the race will remain very interesting for awhile yet!
Sport course teams are starting to come off the paddle and the front of the second wave of Monster Trek survivor teams are well along the paddle. There are a few teams still out on the trek - probably starting to nibble on their trekking poles by now unless they packed a *lot* of food.
From Twitter: Team Innovative Fitness has withdrawn. They're the ones who did the longer high ridge route on the Valhalla Trek. A team member has gone to the hospital in Nelson, and her teammates stress it's nothing serious - she just needs some rehydration and she'll be fine.
Looks like DART-Nuun has changed their route choice for the trek to CP18 a couple of times. Every team has attacked it a little differently.
Interesting development! Based on current trek locations, it is possible that Atmosphere MOMAR will arrive at CP18 ahead of DART-Nuun and Tecnu Extreme and move into 3rd place.
Atmosphere is now 3rd place, although Dart has that time credit, so it could get interesting, as we don't know what their official TC is. When they arrive at 18 and find out they are 3rd, it might put some more speed into them :)
WildernessTraverse.com should be done anytime now, the last SPOT track was 1 hour ago (it is now 6:00 am EST) and they are soooo close. Well done
Just realized Tecno Extreme's SPOT tracker did not update....stay tuned.
I think the route that Dart is taking right now is the 'exact reciprocal' of the pattern Cyril laid down at the end of PQ Badlands, except this time it's on foot, last time was on bikes. It's just part of his finishing strategy! :-)
Looks like they're on the same road network now so it's a footrace with MOMAR for 3rd... at least until to the final bike TA.
Just heading out and couldn't resist passing this on from Facebook at 4:15 a.m. B.C. time:
"2011 Atmosphere #RTNX winners Team WildernessTraverse.com!! Just rolled into the finish @Trail & popped champagne...woohoo!"
So excited for them! :)
fantastic. Is Geoff paying out $$$$
Looks like Dart has snuck ahead of Atmosphere for 3rd place and Technu not to far behind, still some racing to go. They should all be done tonight!
if you check the tracks, it looks like Dart may have missed the CP
..
From FB RTN page
"Teams #4,5,18,24,27,30 spent night at CP14 as their gear bins had been delayed. For some of them it means 12+ hours delay. However, they all are (as) fine (as can be). Continuing on the boats. Weather is nice and sunny so hopefully it doesn't take them long. I've heard there are going to be route modifications, but not sure.
Crazy time credits. Who knows how this will work out.
But none of these teams are doing the full course, so nothing really at stake. Just loss of momentum and an extra rest.
gear delayed could be a huge issue for a race director. It is a free "rest" period for some teams. Hopefully, there is no "placing" issues due to this fact. Some teams may not be too happy.
The teams fighting for 8-12th place are in that list. They were off the first paddle 3 days ago. Seems like enough time to get their paddle gear to the beginning of the second paddle. Those teams were put on a short course at CP 12 which had them head straight to CP14. My bet is their gear was sitting at the original paddle put-in (CP13). Has to be frustrating for everyone involved. The teams probably could have stayed on the original course and been further ahead at this point.
Wild Rose in 2nd. Woohoo!
It will be interesting to hear waht teams have to say about the delay.
Quick update from this end as I just woke up from an 8 hour sleep. Sounds like following the trackers was interesting as usual.
- true expedition with spectacular scenery. We really got to visit some special places but it was a tough, tough course. The bushwhack up from Beatrice Lake was one of the toughest I have ever done. Weather played a role too. We dealt with high winds and blowing ice pellets at the top of Lucifer Pass while yesterday I thought I was going to melt in the heat.
- had a tough first day as I had some GI issues from our water purification I think. That dropped us a few hours back of the leaders. Spent the next day racing with Atmosphere. Passed a few teams on the Valhalla trek and were lucky enough to avoid a 20km road trek that everyone else (except WT and us) did. So every team behind us should get a time credit for that as well - long story behind that one. Stayed in second but always worried about DART behind us - especially given their time credits - felt a little better when we got our own time credit for missing bins at the end of the paddle. Wasn`t great that we had bike to the next TA with no bike shoes, helmets or maps. Another long story. Next trek was the only one with much route choice. Sounds like Dart had some issues there. Finished with a spectacular ride along the seven summits in the morning light.
-gear bin logisitics were a nightmare but Geoff brings it upon himself. Lots of TAs on a point to point course that really spread teams out with a limited volunteer crew and he provides all your bins at each TA. Recipe for disaster. Of course I like point to point and I like seeing my bin at every TA. You need more infrastructure to make it work and his volunteer crew was limited. He was expecting twice as many volunteers as he got he told me.
-very happy with second. We raced hard all week but kept it steady and smart I think. Legs are toast, nothing left, so we left it out all on the course.
Thanks for all the support - it was nice to know you were all following along.
thanks so much for the "just off the course" update. On our end, so much speculation of what is going on out there. very well done, and I am sure it takes even more energy when the logistics of the course are frustrating. Congrats to all of you
Way to go Revy! Thanks for the update. I hated not being on the front lines. You guys raced amazing. See you in Tasmania?
Dart-Nuun 3rd & Atmosphere/Momar 4th. That's what the tweets from RTN says. But I wonder if all the time credits have been added. I suppose the final results will happen at the awards dinner.
Lots of teams coming in now & updates on the leader board.
So far 10 teams withdrew, 7 unranked, 7 modified course, 6 full course. Wow!
Echoing Revy's comments about the course - definitely spectacular. We missed out on a few views during our nighttime adventures - should provide cause to return.
Apparently Beatrice Lake is usually much easier to get by, just by following the rock slabs along the shoreline. But late snow pack and wet spring means water levels are +/- 1 metre above normal, so that route was out.
Lots of trails / routes appear to have been tested last year, and not all successfully "opened" for 2011 - lots of deadfall along the second cycling route.
As for logistics matters, the supply lines were definitely stretched, and occassional SPOT difficulties meant that we arrived at most non-TA CPs before volunteers, at the zipline 40 min before it was fully ready to go (Sarah "got" to test it), and arrived at Arrow Lake 4 h before our gear. Which was initially very disheartening (we weren't even 100% sure we were at the right boat launch) but in retrospect were glad for the rest.
Eventually Chris seemed to be functioning as our friendly personal gear transporter.
Google Earth / Bing and Backroads map books appear to have been indispensible (but not necessarily fully available to all teams) tools for accurate map preparations.
Thanks for the update frankenjack. Congrats to you and the team. A force to be reckoned with. Superb!
Yeah Chris (Romeo 7) ended up being out personal gear bin transport as well. It was rather comical seeing him speed up to the unstaffed TA we are waiting at with 5 gear bins pointing totally different directions in the back of his truck with that crazy look in his eye.
Wow! What a race! WildernessTraverse.ca crushed everyone with their speed and efficiency. The mountains crushed everyone with unrelenting climbs and thick vegetation. Our team was pretty pleased with how things ended up (eg. 4th) given our last minute challenges with fielding a foursome as well as our collective mountain experience. We were really close to catching DART just before CP 18 but the maps were really tough to read and there was a tangled network of unmarked roads and trails. We managed to keep it together for the last bike (aka. push bike / bike) and descend the 5,000 ft to the finish line from Granite Moutain.
SUPER challenging racecourse and for us, a great racing experience. I really mean that. I know and respect some of the big time logistical challenges some of the mid to late pack teams had and can only imagine their well founded frustrations.
We`re beaten and bruised and will hopefully be ready for Wilderness Traverse in a few weeks.
Congrats Phatty! You guys did great, so much fun following. Although way better to see the teams in person, like in Spain. Glad the race was so much fun.
On a personal note, can you tell Leanimal to but disclaimer on the photos that she posts of your feet. :-) Hope they heal for WT.
There have been lots of race reports and other post-event articles and videos. I'm sure this list is incomplete so please add other info that you find. Everyone's event experience was different so there isn't a single definitive story of the race. There are just lots of puzzle pieces to put together.
Brian Knecht's report - a first-time AR volunteer assigned to Ice Creek Lodge in the middle of the big Valhalla trek.
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http://news.inthekoots.com/2011/08/05/watching-adv...>
"Due to an unfortunate employee mishap in the final stages of planning, the usual 50-plus volunteers shrank to small pool of nine." Interesting stories about teams at this remote CP.
Pete Cameron (Phatty) of Team Atmosphere MOMAR - an often amusing "inside the racer's mind" view from the 4th place team.
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http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_2655/p...>
Trail Daily Times article - expresses disappointment about the event organization.
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http://www.bclocalnews.com/kootenay_rockies/traild...>
Peter Dobos' race report. Not finished yet but keep an eye on his blog, "The Most Interesting Man in the World".
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http://losdobos.blogspot.com/2011/08/rtnx-2011.htm...>
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http://losdobos.blogspot.com/2011/08/rtnx-2011_10....>
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http://losdobos.blogspot.com/2011/08/rtnx-2011_11....>
Veronica Jarlehag's (Carbon) report from 2nd place Team Wild Rose.
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http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_447...>
Bart Jarmula's (Revy) report, also from Wild Rose. Photos are amazing!
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http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_258...>
Sally Heath's report (Funderstorm) provides a perspective on how the race went for later teams.
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http://www.ar.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_381...>
Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic's report (on Facebook):
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http://www.facebook.com/notes/tecnu-extreme-stapha...>
One of the few teams to make it through most of the race course. Their "overtime DNF" result is under review due to logistics issues on the course.
Lucy Harris (fluceluce) of Team BRAT from the U.K. - whose nickname is now "Sexy Legs" after bashing through the Canadian bush.
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http://team.inov-8.eu/2011/08/raid-north-extreme-w...>
Jason Magness of Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers. Includes some video.
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http://gearjunkie.com/team-gear-junkie-yogaslacker...>
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http://gearjunkie.com/video-raid-the-north-extreme>
Leanimal's report is ready! From 4th place Team Atmosphere MOMAR.
http://attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_2521/perio...
Wow, I hadn't seen that Trail Daily Times article. Not a very positive spin on things at all.
From my humble and more positive perspective, the West Kootenay area will be a spot that I'd like to return to having experienced the gems of it first hand. For example, seeing how much investment they've put into Red Mountain Resort makes me want to tell others about it. Isn't that part of the idea of hosting an event?
Perhaps the part that a layman reader won't get is that AR is NOT an on-site spectator sport and never will be. In fairness, I have no idea as to what was promised on behalf of the event as it relates to exposure through a 1-hour show for TV or any other components requiring a spend of $5k.
Yeah very interesting article. It comes down to what was promised vs what was delivered. Sounds like there is a bit of a disconnect there - now whether that is because of a sell job or because Trail heard what they wanted to hear is another question.
If they were smart they could have done their research ahead of time to see if their money would be well spent. I would have been happy to offer my consulting services:) No one really cares where the finish line of the event is. This event was about marketing the West Kootenay not Trail vs. Rossland vs Nelson etc..
The unfortunate thing is the impact this has on other event organizers - and not just AR. Most organizers and athletes understand that anyone who contributes to an event - whether it is prizing or cash - should feel that they've received value for their money. I've been involved in events where we have turned down sponsorship because we do not feel we can provide sufficient value and we don't want to create any negative feelings. Agreed, sponsors should do their research but really, there isn't a body of AR marketing expertise anywhere that a small town like Trail could access or trust.
More than once, I've seen longlasting effects on unrelated race organizations after people have had one negative experience with one event, so as an assistant RD, I always feel obligated to act as a good ambassador for AR in general.
We're close to 2 weeks after the finish and no official final results. Really!?
and another from Mike Chastaine of the dancing pandas
http://dirtyavocados.com/blog/archives/490
Wow, it's so interesting reading everyone's reports. I just have no idea how this can all play out fairly. We all know how much effort we put in to this race, the struggles that we endured, and having someone tell you that you are unranked at the end of it all, when you shouldn't be, is the biggest kick in the pants. I can't stop shaking my head after reading more of these reports.
Fantastic report by the Honey Badgers! True adventure racers for sure.
I agree! Loved their report. It's so reassuring to read in all of the reports that the emotional rollercoaster that I was on was shared by other racers.
I got my start in AR thanks to Ben from Honey Badgers....I don't think he has done an XPD since our first race together 15yrs ago!
Isn't it true Funderstorm. When you are out there you picture every other team just humming along, laughing at the struggles they are facing. It's nice to know we all have those inner conversations, and they aren't always positive or uplifting. I bet even getawastix has his moments, maybe no tears, but moments nonetheless.
Every team is ranked now and there are a bunch of different statuses, including "Incomplete" for teams who dropped members or didn't finish the course. The only surprise at the top is that I thought Tecnu Extreme would end up 5th after Gear Junkie/Yoga Slackers were penalized for not wearing race jerseys. A very tight battle between those teams in any case.
Interesting to view the results. The time credits finally given didn't reflect the actual time lost. Not that it mattered for our positioning but it would have been nice to see a more accurate finishing time with the organizational mess-ups deducted.
We beat the Slackers enough this year. :) We'll let them have this one. Rematch at the motherlode!
This discussion thread is closed.