We checked in at 6:00pm Saturday and got our camp set up. The event organizers really had things planned well and the volunteers where world class as what was expected for an event of this caliber. We received our pre race packed which consisted of high capacity punch, tamper proof wrist strap to affix the punch to each teammates wrist. Each team member had to punch every control for it to count. Race number and food wrist strap for the all famous Hash House way point which the volunteers really get huge props for keeping this open with hot food and drink ALL night and day long for racers.We double checked our gear and checked the weather before we hit the sack for the night.
Next morning we had plenty of time to make breakfast and to attach punches before the 8:30 check in where we had to seal any GPS devices in a tamper proof bag. Shortly after was the "safety" talk about bugs, snakes, cows and cougars on the course. Courgars! Yikes! Map pick up would be 9:30 with the race start at noon. This gave us more time then we are used to to plan our route and make final gear adjustments for food and water. There were 6 water drops along the course so water would be plentiful. 9:30am comes around, map pick up went pretty smooth for as many teams as there where. At map pick up they checked that our punches were affixed to our wrists, our number was attached and that we had the mandatory whistle and sealed electronics bag. They would not let anyone continue unless this was the case, very strict on the rules which is a good thing for the integrity of any sport. That was all the mandatory gear. We received three 1:33,000 (wouldn't be a World Championship if it was small scale) scale maps three clue sheets and the intention sheet. An intention sheet is a smaller map that you route your intended plan so the Director knows where to look for you if you are MIA. There are also intention logs at various points on the course in case you change your overall route you planned at the beginning. Temperatures were going to be in the low 80's with a mild breeze and high 50's at night, so we adjusted our water to make best use of the water drops on out course. 
11:45am line up consisted of two corrals one on the northeast of the start and one on the southwest as this was basically the split of the course. We took to the northeast coral it seemed a pretty equal split as far as team choices. counting down to GOOOO, teams squeezed threw the coral to start their race. many teams split up in different directions as the northeast had many route choices from the start. We did a larger counter clockwise approach. We moved a quick pace ready to go all night long. We learned quickly that the course was ankle twisting with all the down trees from many years, tall grass, pricker bushes and pine trees and rocks everywhere. Not an hour into the race Pwild decided to shed the first blood and split her knee open on a rock. She washed it with water and trekked on, the beast she is. JZ and Rick were working like clock work on the Nav. nailing one after another control. Having Suunto on the team helped with this of course. The off trail was really tough going but we did it as fast as we could move without breaking a bone! The traction, protection, and support our Salomon shoes gave us kept us moving threw it all. This hide all of the branched, holes, and rocks which really put your ankles to the test. This for sure put a huge damper on many of the teams course planning because it was much slower then expected.
We pushed on to the first water station with zero issues, meeting a Russian team whom was having a little rest do to the Heat, very nice gents even with the language barrier. We headed our next section with some good trail running on the dirt roads. Again firing on all cylinders and nav. going smooth as butter. JZ was back on his game after some issues on some earlier races this year. This course really tested teams route choice and Nav skill due to the 1:33,000 scale. With this size scale many features do not show up on the map and you had to combine land nav with bearings equally and think big. As Rick put it, "We are ants in the forest". Since Pwild wasn't having enough fun she decided to tango with a bee and it stung her twice. Not knowing if she was allergic we monitored her for a good 45 min to make sure there was no issue. We asked her if she was still breathing and she said "Yes! #$&#^!". We reached our second water drop and met up with a team from Australia which one of there teammates was in really bad shape and getting sick. The medic took him to HQ to get treatment and there team continued on unofficial as a two coed. We always hate seeing that happen this early in a race. We headed out after a quick water refill and cleaning up Pwilds bloddy knee. It was getting late so we pushed hard as Navigation will get a little slower at night. We did a lot of the short route choices on the fly as the tree coverage and underbrush was very different around each corner. It could range from impassable thick evergreens to wide open plains. With all the random beetle kill tree clearing this made many of the semi open areas not show up on the map.
It was a great race and a humbling experience. We enjoyed competing with the best in the world and everyone was very friendly and helpful. We saw some old friends and made some new. Now its time to tend to blisters and heal as the next adventure is always right around the corner.
We will update as it is released. Get out and Play! See you out there!
