RESULTS:
|
Long Course |
Off The Trail: all CP’s, 3:55 |
Team XX, all CP’s, 4:15 |
|
|
Short Course |
Downtown Bicycle Rental; all CP’s, 5:55 |
Fantastic Fours; 8 CP’s, 5:36 |
Yak; 5 CP’s, 5:32 |
RACE REPORT: (press release, September 26)
Whittier may be small and surrounded by steep mountains, but it is a great site for adventure racing. The first ever adventure race, Escape To Whittier, was held last Saturday. Five teams competed for prizes including guided kayak tours. Team Off The Trail took top honors in the Long Course while Team Downtown Bicycle did so for the Short Course.
EGADsAlaska.com, in cooperation with the City of Whittier, conducted the multi-sport adventure that requires teams of 2-4 to use varying modes of transportation to find checkpoints scattered throughout various terrain. All three teams in the Short Course Division had never competed in an adventure race before. Whittier proved to have enough variety to keep them busy for almost the entire designated time of six hours.
Using mountain bikes to get near checkpoints, teams would navigate on foot to find the orienteering flags. With about 15 miles of biking and 5 miles of cross-country running, the teams had to work together to find the checkpoints within the allotted six hours.
Team Downtown Bicycle, two intrepid gentlemen from Kentucky in town on business, made a great show on the Short Course. Missing the Pre-race Briefing to ignore a flag on a distant beach, the intrepid pair crossed a swollen glacier creek and coasteered for the punch. Despite the detour, they were able to complete the remaining course quick enough to secure the Short Course win over Team Fantastic Four and Team Yak.
The Fire In The Gut award went to Team Yak for overcoming the most. Mike Ford had only run a 5k for the first time this last summer after losing over 130 pounds this last year. Jennifer had also overcome fitness challenges to get in shape this summer. Escape To Whittier was their showcase event to prove their prowess.
The Birthday Rock checkpoint provided the challenge that separated the top contenders. It required a bike-wack to punch a passport attached to one of the bikes on each team. The steep, narrow and rain-slicked rock path slowed the all female team just enough to let Off The Trail punch the flag then sprint back to the Finish Line.
The Points Format was popular, allowing all five teams to finish close to each other and being able to relax together at the post-race bonfire. With calm weather and the racers taking almost all of the six hours to complete the course, Whittier proved to be terrain worthy of future adventure races.