On April 26, 2008 Teamhalfwaythere.com competed in the 2008 Yough Extreme.  A 12 hour adventure race organized by American Adventure Sports in Ohiopyle PA, the Yough Extreme included 45-50 miles of biking, running/trekking, and whitewater paddling. The race included a fair amount of running/trekking, with approximately 24 miles and 12,000 feet of elevation change on foot. Of those 24 miles, at least one team member was pushing a bike for 12. The course was designed in a semi-Rogaine format, making the race challenging in terms of both speed and strategy. All teams were required to hit the first six CP’s in sequential order. CP7, an optional CP, included a 100 foot rappel from a foot bridge, which accounted for 15 points.  After completing the rappel, teams went directly to CP8 where they would be met by their bikes for the beginning of the Rogaine format. From CP8, teams worked against the clock to obtain CP’s 9-15, all weighted differently in terms of points. All teams were required to return to the race start by 1800; teams lost one point for each minute they were late.

                 We found the semi-Rogaine format to be challenging and exciting. The first portion of the race (CP’s 1- 7) tested the speed of all teams involved. The inherit nature of the race required teams to reach CP8 with enough time remaining to grab a few additional strategic, high point value CP’s, then make it back to the race start before the time limit. TWTH reached CP8 with 90 minutes time remaining in the race. After a quick evaluation of the terrain, distance between points, and condition of each team member, we decided to head straight back to the start point. We reached the start point in 10^th place for the three person coed division. Although not reaching the goal we set out to accomplish in the race – qualify for Nationals – we away took key learning points from the race and look forward to applying them to future races.   

                 First, and perhaps of the most beneficial learning point, was the ‘key’ to efficiency in transition areas (TAs). The key is quite simple: organization. The maps and checkpoint coordinates for the race were issued to the teams at race check-in the night before the race. This allowed TWHT to spend some time outlining when and where we would need each piece of race gear for the next day. This planning – and subsequent organization and pre-setting of race gear – proved to be the secret to efficient TA’s. Thanks to one of our generous sponsors, Land Rover Alexandria, THWT had the luxury of laying out all their gear in the back of a Land Rover LR3. The gear was organized by discipline (i.e. biking, running/trekking, paddling, etc) and individual, and then stowed in separate small ‘go-bags.’ Included in the go-bag was food and drink needed for the next stage, so when we came into each TA, team members grabbed the bag needed for the next section(s) and kept moving. This organizational method allowed THWT to achieve TA times of 3 minutes (shortest) and 7 minutes (longest). We are convinced that the pre-setting of the gear eliminated confusion and allowed each team member to focus on moving to the next stage of the race.

              A second learning point we came away with was towing. We found that the key to a viable towing system is latex (surgical) tubing. The latex tubing allowed for a relaxed stretch, which gave the towee the flexibility, comfort, and safety to move at an equal pace as the tower, without the feeling of being forcefully pulled across flats or up a mountain. The towing system for the bike included a ten foot piece of surgical tubing inserted into a 4 foot long piece of ¾ inch PVC pipe. The pipe was then installed at a 35-40 degree upward angle (using hose clamps) onto the rear rack system of the bike. The 35-40 degree angle and 3-4 foot long pipe provided the right angle for the towee to grab the tubing and provided enough clearance so the tubing did not become wrapped in the rear wheel of the mtb. Initially, we thought the towing system could be used for biking. But as the race unfolded, we found the bike towing system could be used for much more.

Our first TA (CP3) required each team to pick up two bikes and bring them to CP4. With three person coed teams, this required one team member to ascend CP4 on foot. After a quick analysis of team strengths, we decided to put Brian on foot and Mike and Andi on bikes. At this point we quickly realized we could further capitalize on our team strengths (Mike – bike and Brian – run) by hooking Brian onto the bike towing system as Mike biked. The system was extremely efficient on flats and proved to work very well on moderate grade up hills. Brian saved energy while running and the team moved quicker than if Brian was to run without assistance. Overall, we found the rubber latex tubing to be an indispensable tool for towing – both for bike and foot. The latex tubing was easily reconfigured for foot movements by attaching the tubing to the tower’s back pack with a light weight d-ring. The importance of latex tubing cannot be overemphasized in a towing system. The tubing is flexible, light weight, and has a number of uses outside of towing in a race. We learned that each team member should be configured for and be ready for towing – both as the tower and towee. You never know when the strongest member of the team will fall sick and require a little assistance.      

                A special thanks to our sponsors – thanks for your assistance this season, we could not do it without you. Fellow teams and racers, thanks for racing with Team Halfway There. And, thanks to Doug Crytzer and the crew at American Adventure Sports for putting on an incredible race – we look forward to racing in the 24 hour Lionheart at the end of May.    

26 April, 2008 EX2 Greenhorn Sprint race.   

On April 26th, 2008, teammates Lance Manning, Michelle Munson, and Courtney Gartz competed in the Greenhorn Adventure Race as members of Teamhalfwaythere.com.  Held at the majestic Rocky Gap State Park in western Maryland, this event featured canoeing, trail running and mountain biking amidst the rugged terrain surrounding a vast, placid lake.  Over 300 participants racing in solo, duo or trio coed and age-group teams set forth at the sound of the start gun to trek to a dozen numbered and random check points on the map.

This event, our first adventure race, was a blast!  We camped at the park the night before and were well rested for the 10am start time.  Bikes were prepped in the transition area, hydration and nutrition geared up; the next 3 or so hours would test our speed and

orienteering skills.  For the first leg of the race, we canoed a 1 mile portion of the lake flawlessly.  Our paddling practice session, a few days earlier, paid off.  Cadence, steering, and power sped us past many boats that zig-zagged and wobbled with racers sweating, cursing, and one or two capsizing.  The deliberate L-shaped, left flank kept us free from collisions and congestion.  Then we beached the canoe at the transition point and raced on foot circumnavigating the lake counterclockwise.

Courtney kept us on a swift pace as we "e-punched" the various markers making sure to stay within 100 feet of teammates for all portions of the race.  Our map planning prior to the race kept us moving with only one or two mid-race check point changes on the fly.  The weather, which called for potential thunderstorms, cooperated nicely.  It was a perfect, sunny day for racing.

Prior to the bike portion, we decided to do the water check point.  Racers had to reach a boat in the lake 40 yards out.  They could use inner tubes, but just one paddle per team.  We made it, got wet, and it was a nice cool down.

            Two-thirds of the way done, we were on pace to finish in good time.  Biking was a piece of cake.  Up hills, over logs, passing slower riders – we were on our game.  Astute navigation helped us snag a checkpoint by avoiding some rocky terrain.  But, we were not so lucky in the second to last marker.  One we should've hit while on the run

necessitated carrying our bikes downhill over un-rideable terrain.  Fearing we were lost, we put the emergency whistle to use and found some others who were on the same trail.  Finally, we found the target spot and had to carry our bikes up a steep incline back to the main trail.  We lost time in a big way – probably 30 minutes.  Exhausted with only one more to go, we trudged on.

It was a there-and-back, 5 foot wide and 1 mile long trail with the checkpoint at the furthest point west on the map.  Easy, except for a crash waiting to happen.  On our way back, Courtney was riding at a nice 12 mph clip through the dirt and mud.  Another rider, coming along in the opposite direction didn't seem like a threat at all until she turned her head back to look for a teammate behind her.  Courtney, cruising along on the right, had no time to react when the rider's bike veered to the middle of the path and they met nearly-head on.  Boom!  Both riders were on the ground and a few other riders ran up to assess the damage.  Bikes were fine, no broken bones, but Courtney suffered a gash on her left hand – lots of blood for a small wound.  First aid kits from CamelBacks came out and she was wrapped up.  Race officials were radioed but their assistance was declined.  After the 10 minute setback, Courtney chose to muscle on and finish the race under her own power.  The three of us easily rode a few more miles and crossed the finish line at 3 hours 20 minutes.  We came in 16th in the Co-Ed Trio division.

Without the crash and bike-carry check point, a top 10 finish in our division might've been possible.  But, we finished strong, had a great time, and made some friends along the way.  What's addictive about racing is once the pain wears off, you assess what you loved about the race and what you could do differently to go faster the next time around.

            This was our first and won't be our last adventure race!  A special thanks to all of our sponsors for helping us to make this happen. 

Signing off,

Lance, Michelle, and Courtney

8 - 9 March 2008, Checkpoint Zero 30 hour, Hiawassee GA.  11th Place in the Coed elite class.

The 2008 Checkpoint Zero race instantly became a benchmark for measuring epic and challenging race conditions. The Hiawassee GA course itself was extremely challenging, throw in sub-freezing weather, snow, and 40+ mph winds and you can begin to visualize what the competitors were up against! Final results: Teamhalfwaythere.com/ARMD took 11th place in the elite coed division. The race was incredibly difficult, ultimately 24 of the 73 teams dropped out.

Checkpoint Zero was a big race for us, and we fielded two teams in the coed elite division for this event. Bryce Read led Teamhalfwaythere.com with Jason and Laura Bodewell, and I led Teamhalfwaythere.com/ARMD, a combined effort between Teamhalfwaythere.com and ARMD. Representing ARMD was one of its founders Kathy Hoverman and her teammate Mike Stasiowski. We all arrived in time for check-in on Friday and received our maps, passport, rules, and everything else. We plotted the points and started assessing our routes. Regardless of the weather, this course was going to be brutal. The point had to be acquired in order, and there were generally mountains and streams separating every point.

At 8 am on a overcast morning 73 teams gathered at the Georgia Fairgrounds for the start. The weather was perfect for both penguins and polar bears. As the official start time of 8 am approached, snowflakes started to fall, we were informed that the first event would be a warm up lap around the Georgia Fairgrounds, and the race began. One easy jogging lap, and we were in the canoe. We paddled upriver against a gentle current. The most difficult part of the paddle was the crosswind pushing the stern of the canoe to the left. After we transferred weight to the rear, the problem lessened noticeably. We saw one team capsized, and knew they had to be miserable. The temperature was in the low 30’s and the wind was gusting. They didn’t need assistance, so we kept paddling. As the end of the paddle approached the river got shallow, and we ended up getting pretty wet – but we were coming into our first TA. We were well ahead of our estimation for the first paddle, and pleased with how fast we were moving.

TA1 was fairly quick, we got dry, changed and onto our bikes. This next leg was immediately interesting – I got two flat tires and broke a chain within the first two miles. At least we got it out of the way early! Issues like that are always discouraging. You watch the teams you work so hard to pass, catch up to you and move on ahead. The bike section got off the pavement fairly quickly, and we essentially moved uphill for hours. Forever etched in my memory are the words from a female racer as she yelled to her male teammates, “…come and pee on my derailleur!” Everyone had frozen components, with derailleurs, shifters, brakes, and cables all freezing up. The heavy rains the previous day had put puddles everywhere, and raised the water level up on all the rivers and river crossings.

We picked up CP2 and moved off on a hike a bike to CP3. This was a gamble. We had two viable options to get to CP3, and neither of them easy. The first was hike a bike around a mountain and attempt to minimize elevation change, and cross a stream at a relatively high point where it would be narrow. The second option was to backtrack down the trail, ride another trail down to where the river would be substantially wider, and then hike a bike straight up a mountain. We chose option one. At the time, we were the only ones that selected that route. That decision cost us approximately one hour. After CP3, we had a fairly straight, quick and mostly dirt route to CP4 and TA2. There were a multitude of water crossings, and we were having some serious bike issues.

TA2 was warm-up, and bike repair time. Our incredible support crew had hot soup, bagels with pepperoni and cheese, chips, cider, coffee, you name it – they had it for us. Again, I changed into a dry, warm set of clothes. This was becoming a race of warm clothing attrition! We spent a long time there, fixed everything and on the insistence of Mike, we elected to skip the paddle.

Off we go again on our bikes. We were warm(er), dry, and our bikes were mostly working (Mike exploded his front derailleur, so for the rest of the race he had to manually move his chain on the chainrings). The second bike portion went pretty well, and we knocked out every bike point – even the elusive point 11! Highlights from this section include a 25 meter wide river crossing that was mid-calf deep; deep enough to flood my Gortex socks. That one forced us to get the wet stuff off of our feet, and at least dry socks back on. The hike a bike up, over, and around the mountains headed South from CP 9 to CP 10. Since the temps were 19 degrees F with 30 + mph winds (approximately 4 degrees with wind chill factor) down at 2000 ft, I would estimate at least 5 degrees cooler and 10 mph higher on the top of those mountains - very cold!!! The approach to CP 11 was miserable. We were finally back on the road, but the wind was blowing so hard we were taking up ½ a lane. Again, this was just bitter cold. We overshot the turnoff to the point, and got to do an extra 5 minutes of ascent. Grrrrrr….Then we were there and they told us we were one of only a few teams to make it to them. Alright, that’s a motivator! Back down the trail, then retrace our route from earlier to the same TA area we left hours ago.

There is a theme here. We arrived at the TA wet and cold. Again, our support crew was stellar. They fed us, warmed us, gave us the wet stuff they had dried for us, encouraged us, and finally got rid of us! It was around 4 am and we knew we wouldn’t see our crew until the race ended at 3 pm. We were dressed for the weather, and had enough food and water to last for 11 hours. With our (relatively) heavy packs on our backs and trekking poles in hand were off on the final trekking section of the race.

Nearly 7 hours later it was almost 11 am and we just located CP 13. Wow. CP13 plotted in the middle of a river, up in the mountains. The map didn’t show any trails going to the point, but in race book it instructed racers to get on a trail and follow it to the point. This was not entirely accurate, as the blazed trail ended long before the point. Other trails did however continue. Once we figured out where we were, we continued to follow a trail akin to a deer trail for hours. Of course the point was not in the middle of the river, it was on the West side. We were on the east side. Once we picked the point up, we continued to struggle and sidehill until we got near a gravel road that would take us to CP14. It was approaching 1 pm and we had a lot of ground to cover. Fortunately it was all roads so we stuffed our warm gear into our packs and started moving out. 28 hours into a 30 hour race, and we were running downhill, shuffling/running the flats, and walking uphill. We made great time, picked up CP 14, and literally ran it in from there. With 8 minutes left in a 30 hour race, we finished.

The decisions we made, the tremendous output of my teammates, and the assistance of our support crew all lead to our final 11th place finish in the coed elite category. This was against some of the big ‘heavy hitters’ in the AR community. In fact, only two teams completed the entire course!

A special thanks to our incredible support crews: Candy my wife, Suze, Bryce’s wife Marissa, and his friend Joe. Fellow racers, thanks for racing with Teamhalfwaythere.com and sharing the experience! All of our sponsors, we thank you for your assistance this season.  Finally, race organizers Paul and Alexa – the race was incredible, thank you for letting us participate in it.

16-17 Feb 2008, Swamp Stomp, Sarasota Florida, USARA Nationals Qualifier 6th Place overall and in 4 person coed.

This was a demanding race for any venue, no hills but plenty of distance, swamps (I know why they call it "swamp" stomp) and heat. It started off with check-in and the prerace briefing (very brief, very good) and we got our pre-plotted maps. The maps were completely different than I am used to, so my position as non-navigator would suite me fine. These were aerial maps with differing scales. These maps had it all, color coded, roads and trails were named and labeled. The next step was putting the maps together and choosing our routes. Troy and May-li were focusing on the routes due to their knowledge of the area (Aaron and I concentrated pizza, beer and getting me some chicken samiches from Chick-fil-a for the race, 9minutes late had to settle for McD's). We were excited and ready to go, we had planned out a great route in anticipation of clearing all the points in the time given, 30hrs.

Saturday morning came early and the race began with a prologue running out along a trail and then crossing over a small river with 150 of you closest friends. From that point the first paddle section began. We started off a little slow needing to change the seating arrangement in my boat (I couldn't steer). The first Check Point (CP) we hit was on top of a suspended bridge that we needed to climb and cross which was very crowded. We hit the next point no problem crossed the dam to put us into the lake while gaining all the next CPs with little problem, Bonus Point (BP)3 had a short but thick bushwhack. We hit all the points and had a long meandering paddle back and picked up the last 2 BPs and the last CP that gave us our Trek 1 punchcard.

Trek 1 started after we paddled across the river and we had short trek ahead of us. Troy led us to all our points pretty quickly while avoiding the stampede of cows. We also saw a good sized gator getting sunned up beside a small pond. Once we got the points we needed to paddle back to begin trek2. The paddle was pretty good but painful for me (I haven't been getting the paddle time needed up in DC). We got back to the Transition area (TA) and made pretty quick time of it. The Trek1 began for us around 3pm and we knew it was going to be a long one. We started off feeling pretty good and running most of it while Troy was hitting points very well. RUOK was running with us and Adam had severe blisters but was fighting through them and somewhere in the first few hours May-li injured her Achilles and was unable to run but also fought through it (we had to encourage them with the idea that once we got back to the TA, there wouldn't be much more on foot).

At this point it was getting late 8-9pm and we realized we needed to shorten the coarse at our pace if we wanted to finish at all, so we decided to miss 2 BPs that were about 2-4 extra miles and head back. The trek back was loooong, probably 6-9 miles of walking in the middle of the night and all of us were hurting at that point. We kept spread out but I know I heard some dry heaving mixed in to all the conversations. We also decided that a 3 minute break was in order and all laid down in the road, stargazing. Finally, we got back to the TA around 3am and we saw that we were actually doing pretty well considering our situation. I threw done a chicken samich in about 22 seconds along with chips, cookies and some liquids. Paddle2 was pretty straight forward, get one CP and a BP which we opted to miss. This paddle made me feel nauseous as we were getting towed around an extremely windy river (at that point I was thinking that the whole chicken sandwich thing was a bad idea). But we did get to see some up and close gators.

Back at the TA we packed for the 40+mi bike section and headed out ~4am. I don't really remember a whole lot about this section, it was pretty late and I was just following the person in front of me. We did opt to skip a couple of the BPs on the Bike1 leg so we could insure finishing on time. The last Bike CP on bike1 was also a running time trial, so each person on the team could run a mile or so lap if they wanted to earn the team an extra point, so we all did this around 9am. This also transitioned into bike2 section to the finish, we needed to collect a few CPs and 4 optional BPs. We were all tired and Charlie (RUOK) was feeling pretty dehydrated and I felt like I had the flu (now realizing it was from the red ants) at this point, but we fought through it collected all the points while taking a short minute or 2 break along the way. On the ride back we started picking up our spirits when there was talk of the upcoming bbq and sour cream and onion chips that awaited. That was it (from what I can remember), good times.

Bryce

21-22 July 2007, OAR race at Roanoke

July 21st and 22nd saw us competing in the OAR 24 hr race in Roanoke, VA. As a two man team, we took second in the Military category, and simultaneously recieved an official finish on the "Pro" course. Todd joined us as a new member of Teamhalfwaythere for this event. He is a stellar athlete and an accomblished mountain bike racer. We intend to let our readers "share in our trials and tribulations..." through our website. Wow, this weekend took the cake. The 3.5 hour drive from DC became a 7 plus hour ordeal. The "recommended" hotel was a motel with complete with inoperable elevators, and some local hooligans. After arriving at the race site for check in, we set up our plotting table, started plotting, and due to parking issues had to pack everything back up and move to a parking lot 1/8 of a mile from the starting area. Grrrrrr.....we haven't even started the race yet!!!! The race started with us still scrambling to get the last minute gear adjustments complete. The trek went well, and we transitioned to the single track portion of the mountain biking. Here is a note from the OAR website that captures how that went "116 - Halfway There - Double the Pleasure posted Sun July 22 @ 1:52 AM CP3 - team had trouble with the bike section. They lost an odometer, had four wrecks and basically covered the whole course twice. They are still rolling along though!"  Yep, essentially we did the single track twice! Not only did we lose our only odometer, but we expended a significant amount of calories, a lot of sweat, and gave up about 40 minutes. During the next biking road portion, we blew past a turn - ouch a foreshadowing of how much I rely on my odometer to assist in navigation. Enough complaining, we were there to race and we continued to race. However, the most crushing part of the race was at about 5:45 am. We had completed the orienteering portion of the course, were turning in our sheets, and were about to head out for the paddle. Where in the @#$% is the orienteering sheet?!?! At some point between the last orienteering point we punched, and the check-in area, the sheet and I had parted ways.  Incredible. We had until 6:00 am to get the sheet turned in, after that, we would start to lose points as the clock continued to tick. Further, we had to be on the water no later than 6:30 am, or we would not get an official finish. Todd realized the significance of this, so we went back to the check in area, received no credit for any of the orienteering, and were on the water in time. Did I mention, we were there to race? Luckily despite everything we still felt that way. For this race, OAR provided canoes and canoe paddles. If teams wanted to use a kayak paddle in the canoe, you had to carry it the entire race (this was later wisely amended to exclude the singletrack portion due to safety concerns). We had both purchased 4 piece paddles for the race. After carrying them for about 18 hours, it was finally time to use them. The paddle was the best part of our race. We felt strong, and were convinced we made the right decision hauling those paddles around. Paddling downstream, and then back up to the final CPs we passed between 10 and 15 competitors' boats. Finally 21 hours and 4 minutes after we started, we returned to the central TA and the finish. Again, we would like to thank EMS for the support they provided to Teamhalfwaythere.com.  As an "everyman" team, we certainly appreciate any and all support for these events. The next AR for us will be Hampton Roads Adventures "Storm the Eastern Shore" 29 and 30 Sept. Time to start training!!!!! Shane