Training Log Archive: Bash

No sleep since Saturday at 5:30 a.m. but I may have napped for 5 minutes before the awards ceremony today. Congrats to all WT racers on toughing it out in some of the worst AR weather ever. The fire chief told us there was 60 mm of rain overnight in some locations around the race course! It was heavy like rain in the jungle - not regular Ontario rain - and we sure didn't foresee it in the forecast of "intermittent showers". As we listened to it thudding on the arena's metal roof, we had to shout at one another in HQ in order to be heard. I can only imagine what it was like on the race course!

I'm so proud of the rookies who took on this huge challenge and of friends on more experienced teams who rocked the course. And how about BugsinTeeth winning the Open category? Wow! Congrats to all. Sleep well this week.

Event: Wilderness Traverse
 

Managed Wilderness Traverse event HQ at the McDougall Rec Centre in Nobel - These days, this mostly consists of:

- Reading and writing a bazillion texts with various volunteers - big thanks to 'Bent for the bluetooth keyboard that made this much less painful. The volunteers and I send each other tons of info about what's happening or coming up, and ask and answer questions throughout the race. This was almost non-stop for about 28 hours, counting the time taken to deal with the info in the texts. Sometimes my phone would go off 3 times in a minute.

Texting replaces the unreliable, expensive race radios we used to use. The one disadvantage is that people don't overhear other conversations so we lose the chance for someone to jump in and say, "Hey! I'm nearby and I could help out!" Otherwise, it's much better. I have a written record of all the conversations so the system is much less prone to error.

- Updating the leaderboard, team statuses, and short course info - we aim to do this near real time, subject to the ability of our CP volunteers to send us info. I follow a lot of races and hate that leaderboards are usually stale and unreliable so this is one of my pet projects at WT. Because the tracking was wonkier than usual this year, the leaderboard was extra important.

- Talking with real live people who come into Race HQ - volunteers and occasional members of the public (although I'm afraid I am often too busy to be sociable). Thankfully, Clean and 1L were able to help.

- Responding to mesages from DeLorme devices, most of them from racers.

- Problem solving - This is the "meat" of the HQ role - the part I love and hate the most, the part that is most like racing. It's a bit like emergency department triage; what needs to be dealt with first? And how to do it with limited resources? Example of one such moment when our only roving driver was out on another call:

(1) The 3-member volunteer team at a key CP had just discovered a broken headlamp and had no spare batteries for their other headlamps, which were already dim. The sun had just set. Stores were now closed.

(2) The TA farthest from HQ was running low on water for the racers, couldn't find a place to refill, and was in the middle of nowhere. All our water containers were out on the course already so we couldn't fill something up and take it to them.

(3) A team had dropped out at the far end of the race course and wanted a ride back to Nobel. Dropped-out teams are wet, sometimes chilly and definitely ready to get off the race course. Often it takes some coordination for our driver and the team to find one another if they have not dropped out at a CP but luckily this team was at TA2.

OK, quick, solve these problems without leaving the arena! :) With the help of roving driver Tom Koster (two-time 2nd place finisher at WT and owner of a spare headlamp) and Bob's awesome gas station shopping skills, we made everyone happy over the next 90 minutes.

There was one potentially serious injury - a freak accident where a racer jumped onto one end of a log and the other end flew up and hit him in the head. He and his teammate are very competent outdoors people and strong athletes who handled the situation well. He was able to finish the trek but soon after that, his teammate and our medic team decided to call an ambulance to get him checked out by the hospital. He was released and slept the rest of the night at HQ with his teammate waking him at 2-hour intervals. They were doing well and the teammate said they'd like to come back and finish next time!

Other than that, the biggest "situation" was a team that inadvertently used the 911 function on the DeLorme tracker in a remote location on the trek. Fortunately, after a few tense moments between Bob, DeLorme HQ and myself, they sent a follow-up message to say they were lost. Phew! It took a little longer to get in contact with them and help them out. Their cell phone battery was low, just to increase the challenge.

Although it was non-stop, the HQ role felt manageable this year because of the stellar work of my co-pilots on the HQ team, Clean and 1L. I just gave them access to our system and said "Go!", and they provided incredible coverage all weekend. They provided a staggering amount of real time info with photos on the WT Live Coverage News, Facebook and Twitter. It's well worth checking it out now if you're interested in seeing how the race played out. There are different stories on the Live Coverage News vs. Facebook but Twitter is similar to Facebook and less detailed. It may be worth searching for the #wtrav hashtag on Twitter to see what volunteers, racers and spectators have posted. The Breathe Mag team provided excellent coverage too with outstanding photography; we're so lucky to have them.

You can access all the different types of info from our Live Coverage 2014 page. Keep watching it as I post racer reports and more photos over the next week or two.
http://www.wildernesstraverse.com/live-coverage/li...

Much appreciation to our amazing volunteer team, to the racers for your ongoing support and - as always - a huge thanks to Bob for all that you do for the AR community.

Event site set-up
Racer check-in with 30+ Delorme tracker briefings until my throat hurt
Answered lots of questions
Hugged lots of friends
WT website updates, posted maps shortly after the racers got them
Pizza!! Who knew you could get gourmet pizza delivered to the arena in Nobel? This changes everything.

Then 1L and I "enjoyed" a short, broken sleep on cots in a hockey change room with a blaring light.

All in all, things went very smoothly today. Bob and I have worked together enough that we don't need to talk all that much during the weekend. Good thing 'cause we don't get along at all. ;)

Yahoo!*** After about 5 years of not having a dentist, the Province has made it legal for dentists to treat their spouses again. Now it won't take the better part of a day to travel to another city to see (and pay) a dentist whose philosophy and techniques are similar to 'Bent's. (Something I haven't done very often since it's so time-consuming so my teeth definitely need work.)

*** 'Bent's response is probably *not* "yahoo". Apparently, I've been known to talk back to the doctor. ;)
http://rcdso.informz.ca/RCDSO/archives/archive_440...

Day turned upside down when Mocha started chemo unexpectedly. This is good news - at least as good as cancer-related news can be - since it means that the doc feels she has already recovered enough from radiation to move to the final stage of treatment. This is what (hopefully) nukes any cancer cells that may have spread. Then she can go back to just being a regular dog. Yay.

So now I sit in Guelph thinking about all the stuff I need to do at home before heading to WT in the morning. So much for the good night's sleep that was on my "to do" list!

I just listened to Bob's TA1 podcast. Excellent! He has a ton of experience to share, and he has even more humility. No one can accuse him of shameless marketing since he didn't mention the name of any event he organizes! He and Randy referred to WT as "the 24-hour race" in the same euphemistic manner actors use in talking about "The Scottish Play". Can't be too careful, I guess! ;)

Training is unlikely to happen today.

It's been a crazy week and training has been forced to take a back seat. With Wilderness Traverse this weekend, it's not going to get better for awhile. I had an opening between my radio interview with Moose FM in Parry Sound (talking about WT) and our Orienteering Ontario board conference call, so I dashed over to the Hockley Valley for 4 climbs of the 2nd Line hill and a tour of the main and side trails in Hockley Provincial Park. It was deliciously cool and I felt good. This will have to serve as my one long run of the week.

This American Life - The Radio Drama Episode #528 - provided fine entertainment, especially the opening sketch about the opera singer who got trapped in a closet. I laughed out loud a few times.

Today's winner in the Really Good Reason Why You Haven't Received Your Prize Yet category:

From the Cayuga Trails RD:
Very unfortunately, our Rep was in a pretty bad accident driving back home the Monday after the race... She's okay but her car and all of its contents including computer and paper with the awards burned to a crisp. So, we're going to need those names... Let me know.

Holy crap! That sure puts things in perspective.

Sad news: The incredible Olga Kotelko passed away two weeks ago. This retired Canadian school teacher held every track and field world record for the 90-95 age group. She didn't start track and field until she was 77 so there is still plenty of time for the rest of us. Rest in peace.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/senio...

A strange, scary and sad story: one less bear to watch for on the Wilderness Traverse course.
http://www.parrysound.com/news-story/4620783-bear-...

Much volunteer work was done. And much is left to do.