So...this is what an adventure race is, eh? Okay, I'm hooked.
I was still a pack-a-day smoker when I trained and competed for/in this race. I take my health and training a bit more serious now, but this is the race that made me think to myself, "Okay, if you can finish decently in this race, imagine what you can do if you quit smoking." Thankfully I gave up the habit a few months later and haven't gone back since. Yay me. Cornflaks pinned on boobs, let's rock.
The term, "muddy," doesn't do this race any justice. Of course the race organizers want the racers to get muddy, but that's USUALLY reserved for a couple of spots on the trails, and at the end of the race in the infamous Mud Pit.
Of course, as we pull in to the campground the night before, it's lightly drizzling as we put up our tents and start to build camp. By the time we went to bed, there was a full-blown torrential downpour cascading off the sides of our tents. Angie, Kelly, Connor (our three-legged stud of a dog) and I are in my four person tent while Nate is next door in his. Up at 3am trying to soak up the water creeping in from the ground (we did put down a tarp, but there was THAT much water that it still found its way inside). Whatever, Murphy's Law.
Though we didn't get much sleep, race time inevitably came and "washed" away any concern about being tired. Adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline.
Nate and I are in the first heat to go, and looking back we see THOUSANDS of people lining up for the race, but because of our combined weight and our age, we're in the first wave to start. Since this is my first race of any kind, my buddy is BEGGING to be let off the leash and to start cranking my pedals. Gun goes off and BAM! I am out of the blocks and pedaling like a madman.
Now for anyone that doesn't know about MBuddy, it's a leapfrog race. Nate and I are teammates, but we don't race next to each other. I start off on our one mountain bike while Nate is on foot for the first section. The course is the same for everyone, but we switch disciplines after each leg/section. For instance, I started off on the bike, but left it at the bike drop for Nate to come and pick it up. I go from biker to runner, and Nate from runner to biker. Simple.
The course is 75% mud. All of the fire/access/doubletrack roads that were once dirt...are obviously mud now. As you're trying to pedal your bike, its tires will literally not go through the forks because there is so much mud built up. Dismount, clear the fork and pedal pedal pedal. Trying to figure that the harder you pedal, the more mud you'll clear, doesn't work. You just have to keep clearing out your bike.
The mystery events were fun. A 10ft rock climbing wall, 30ft balance beam, 20ft inflatable slide that you have to cargo-net up to the top for the ride down, and an Army Ranger apparatus that you hoist yourself over and under the cross beams while avoiding contact with the ground.
No singletrack to really speak of, but there were some dangerous sections on the bike that most people opted out of an walked their bike. MB '07 was harder than I thought it was going to be, mainly because of the previous night's tropical rainstorm. You don't think that a mile, mile and a half at a time on bike or running will be that demanding, but once you're body says GO!, you're going full tilt, and the fatigue creeps up on you. Especially when you do it 6-7miles with a sprint mentality.
The finale of the race was the giant Mud Pit that you had to drag yourself through. I say that because at this point in the race, you're on Empty. More adrenaline kicks in though, and you're army-crawling under the race flags, no choice but to dunk your head in the muck, repeatedly, to get to the other side. How about it? It's so satisfying to play in the cool, soft, wet old mud!
I loved this race. It introduced me to racing and that's been my reason for getting my lungs back and sustaining a hobby that's both physically and mentally challenging, especially in later races when orienteering came into play.
I was still a pack-a-day smoker when I trained and competed for/in this race. I take my health and training a bit more serious now, but this is the race that made me think to myself, "Okay, if you can finish decently in this race, imagine what you can do if you quit smoking." Thankfully I gave up the habit a few months later and haven't gone back since. Yay me. Cornflaks pinned on boobs, let's rock.The term, "muddy," doesn't do this race any justice. Of course the race organizers want the racers to get muddy, but that's USUALLY reserved for a couple of spots on the trails, and at the end of the race in the infamous Mud Pit.
Of course, as we pull in to the campground the night before, it's lightly drizzling as we put up our tents and start to build camp. By the time we went to bed, there was a full-blown torrential downpour cascading off the sides of our tents. Angie, Kelly, Connor (our three-legged stud of a dog) and I are in my four person tent while Nate is next door in his. Up at 3am trying to soak up the water creeping in from the ground (we did put down a tarp, but there was THAT much water that it still found its way inside). Whatever, Murphy's Law.Though we didn't get much sleep, race time inevitably came and "washed" away any concern about being tired. Adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline.
Nate and I are in the first heat to go, and looking back we see THOUSANDS of people lining up for the race, but because of our combined weight and our age, we're in the first wave to start. Since this is my first race of any kind, my buddy is BEGGING to be let off the leash and to start cranking my pedals. Gun goes off and BAM! I am out of the blocks and pedaling like a madman.
Now for anyone that doesn't know about MBuddy, it's a leapfrog race. Nate and I are teammates, but we don't race next to each other. I start off on our one mountain bike while Nate is on foot for the first section. The course is the same for everyone, but we switch disciplines after each leg/section. For instance, I started off on the bike, but left it at the bike drop for Nate to come and pick it up. I go from biker to runner, and Nate from runner to biker. Simple.The course is 75% mud. All of the fire/access/doubletrack roads that were once dirt...are obviously mud now. As you're trying to pedal your bike, its tires will literally not go through the forks because there is so much mud built up. Dismount, clear the fork and pedal pedal pedal. Trying to figure that the harder you pedal, the more mud you'll clear, doesn't work. You just have to keep clearing out your bike.
The mystery events were fun. A 10ft rock climbing wall, 30ft balance beam, 20ft inflatable slide that you have to cargo-net up to the top for the ride down, and an Army Ranger apparatus that you hoist yourself over and under the cross beams while avoiding contact with the ground.No singletrack to really speak of, but there were some dangerous sections on the bike that most people opted out of an walked their bike. MB '07 was harder than I thought it was going to be, mainly because of the previous night's tropical rainstorm. You don't think that a mile, mile and a half at a time on bike or running will be that demanding, but once you're body says GO!, you're going full tilt, and the fatigue creeps up on you. Especially when you do it 6-7miles with a sprint mentality.
The finale of the race was the giant Mud Pit that you had to drag yourself through. I say that because at this point in the race, you're on Empty. More adrenaline kicks in though, and you're army-crawling under the race flags, no choice but to dunk your head in the muck, repeatedly, to get to the other side. How about it? It's so satisfying to play in the cool, soft, wet old mud!I loved this race. It introduced me to racing and that's been my reason for getting my lungs back and sustaining a hobby that's both physically and mentally challenging, especially in later races when orienteering came into play.
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