"Ask not what your team can do for you, but what you can do for your team."
-Ian Adamson

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Odyssey Sprint Race - July 24, 2010

East Coast Madness entered two teams in the Odyssey Sprint Adventure Race at Wilderness Adventure Park in NewCastle Virginia on July 24. This was the inaugural Adventure Race for East Coast Madness, and we had been eagerly anticipating this one for months.

Odyssey Adventure Racing put on a great, well-organized race, and the staff of Wilderness Adventure along with the Odyssey volunteers were awesome, even with the temperature in the 100's and the humidity at about 700%.

We ran two three person co-ed teams: Madness One - Todd, Tyler, and Jordan, and Madness Too - Alexis, Gerald, and Dennis. The course and the weather were both demanding, but East Coast Madness was able to capture 3rd and 4th in their division.

Due in part to the heat, and in part to conditioning issues we started the race at a slower pace than we had anticipated. Both teams decided to stay together for the duration of this first race, so the trekking/orienteering course took longer than we had hoped. A leg cramp on the way to the boat transition also slowed us down a bit.

When we finally got our boats in the water we realized quickly that we had made a logistical error in assuming that all three team members from each team would be able to traverse the water course in the same canoe. So deep riding canoes coupled with extremely shallow waters meant a lot of pulling and pushing of the boats through the three inches of water trickling through the nearly two miles of river we had to cover.

By the time we finished the boat course, the six hour time cut off was almost at hand, and both teams and our gear were soaking wet, so we were forced to pack it up early without even getting a shot at the bike section of the race.

With this first race under our belts we are now counting down to the next race in October.


Madness Racing wants to thank it's Sponsors: Alexander Building Company, Gold Medal Gardening, Gargoyle Performance Eyewear, Nuun Nutritional Supplements, ZeroGoo, Skyline Signs, Hi-Tec Footwear, ATAC, Polar Bottles and Hydropak for keeping us well outfitted and fueled for both training and racing.

2 comments:

  1. Great job. Now you know what October will be like. Plan now. Plan early. Plan often.

    Great Job Team.
    ST

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  2. Thanks Scott, I think everyone does know a little better what to expect, and I expect that all of East Coast Madness has adjusted their training accordingly.

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