Once again the Thunder Roll Adventure Race would be taking place at Camp Benson in Mount Carroll, IL. I had originally planned to race as a 2-person open team, but due to an injury to my teammate, that left me to either find another team or race solo. Having never raced a 24 hr adventure race as a solo competitor, I thought it would be a good test for me to go it alone.
The race started promptly at midnight with a 4 mile run carrying PFD and paddle on road to TA 1. I kept a steady pace throughout the run, not trying to overdo it. I arrived at the TA a little over 40 mins, right on pace with some of the lead teams. Racing solo meant I would be paddling in one of the provided kayaks. It quickly became apparent that the yellow banana canoes that I loathe proved to be a much faster option as several teams sailed right past me. It was a little demoralizing, but I kept reminding myself that this is a 24 hour race.
The paddle covered 12 miles on the Plum River. Along the way I would collect CP’s 1-3. The Race Director (RD) dubbed this “an adventure paddle” due to the number of log jams we’d encounter along the way. I had paddled on this river a few years back, so I knew what was in store. Most of the log jams were pretty easy to navigate. However, there was one massive log jam about midway thru that proved to be the most challenging. When I arrived at this particular log jam, my Lupine headlamp kicked butt. Call Grena Bikes and tell them Team Lupine sent ya! http://www.gretnabikes.com/. I pushed forward. The last section of the paddle was an out-and-back to CP 3. The RD set it up this way so that the teams heading down river would know who was in front. Once I started seeing teams paddling up river, I started calculating times to determine my standings. I was already a good bit behind the lead teams, and there were 7 teams in front of me, so at this point I was in 8th place. I knew I had some work to do, but had plenty of time in which to do it.
The threat of rain had finally become a realization. It rained steady for the last couple miles of the paddle before arriving at the TA2 (CP 4) to transition to bike. I quickly pulled my kayak ashore and made my way over to my bike where I had staged dry bike gear. The transition went quick in part to the swarms of blood-sucking mosquitoes that were thirsty for my blood. It was maddening, but I tried to stay focused. I packed up my paddle gear and placed it on the truck. I then finished transitioning to my bike gear and I was off. With only a short while before sunrise, I opted once again to push forward.
I continued on bike collecting CP’s 5 and 6 and arrived at TA3 (CP 7) at a shelter in the Mississippi Palisades in the same standings – 8th place. There I would receive my first of 2 maps for this foot orienteering section of the course. Unlike in years past where we received pre-plotted maps, I had to copy the CP locations using a master map. Since the maps were not waterproof, I transitioned to my foot appropriate gear, along with climbing gear, and made any other final preparations before handling the maps to ensure my hands were dry. I copied the CPs and I was off.
In this section, leg coverings are imperative due to the amount of stinging needles I warned I would encounter. I brought with me a new pair of Trimtex orienteering pants to wear and test out. They proved to provide very good protection. I barely noticed the needles, and I was able to push thru a lot of underbrush with minimal abrasions. This was mainly due to the nylon material on the front panels of the pants. However, the back panels are made of Lycra, which allow for good ventilation, but they also collect briers very easily. There were easily a few hundred briars I needed to pick off post race. Unfortunately, my arms did not fare as well as my legs. I neglected to wear the arm sleeves I brought, so my arms got pretty scratched from bushwhacking.
I decided to go in a counter-clockwise direction because I wanted to get to the rappel early. I feared if I had waited to the end, that the 12 hour teams maybe arriving and I would have to wait. When I got to the rappel, I only had to wait but a minute before it was my turn. There was a second rope section for an ascent, but that would not be until I was on the 2nd orienteering map. This meant that I had to make the decision to take off my climbing gear only to have to put it back on again or keep it on. In the interest of time, I left it on. I started knocking the CP’s off one by one. I did have an issue with CP 15. I took a bearing on the CP but came up short. I end up coming full circle and ended back where I had started, so I tried again. This time I was dead on. I picked up the remaining CP’s and headed back to the TA to get map 2.
When I came back, I had found that I had made up some time. I was now in 5th place. I copied my CP’s and I was off again in a counter-clockwise direction. I meet up with team Thunder Dragons and we headed over to the ascent together. Again, the wait time was minimal. I made my way up the cliff-face and I was off to collect the remaining CP’s. With the rope section of the course over, there was no longer a need for my climbing harness, but I left it on anyways to save time. Continuing on collecting CP’s I did run into another navigation error shooting for CP 22. After looking for a bit, I determined what I had done wrong and re-positioned myself and collected it promptly. The rest of this section went smoothly and I made it back to the TA in 3rd place.
Before heading out on the bike, I was given another map and 5 UTM coordinates that I would have to plot. I plotted my CP’s, transitioned to bike gear and I was on my way. I collected CP 28 on my way to the next foot orienteering course. When I arrived at CP 29, I ran into Thunder Dragons again and we started this section together going counter-clockwise. We climbed up a spur and made our way down into a re-entrant towards CP 30. Unsure if we had gone too far or not far enough, we went separate directions. I ended up right on the CP, and I had thought they would have turned around to start heading my direction but there was no sign of them. I called out to them a few times, but nothing. I continued on alone. I picked up CP 31 and attempted to find CP 32 which was on a spur. I took a bearing and headed down the spur. This is where the wheels started to come off. I had missed it on my first attempt. I decided to go back up the spur and re-shoot. I came up empty again. I did it a third time and still nothing. At this point I was starting to worry about time. Clearing the course was fading away fast. I decided to skip it. I went back up to the ridge towards the next CP. Not entirely happy with my decision, I tried to attack CP 32 from a westerly direction. Along the way I ran into Alpine Shop. They were also headed to same CP. Shortly thereafter we found it. I must have just missed it as it was hung on the west-side of the tree. I collected the last couple CP’s and I made it back to the bike for the final push to Camp Benson.
There were a few CP to collect along the way. One of which was CP 35. The clue for this CP was shoreline. I had searched around where I had it plotted but was unable to find it. I looked for a good amount of time and other teams started arriving and were having trouble as well. I decided to re-plot the UTM coordinates, only to plot it in the same location. Thankfully, someone had found the CP on the other side of the road quite a ways away from where it was plotted. I punched it and moved on. I know I easily lost about 45 mins searching for such an easy CP. It was a mandatory CP, so it had to be punched or else the efforts of the day would have been for nothing. I made my way back to Camp Benson just before sundown. There I received my final map for the course, where I copied the remaining 11 CP’s. Before heading out, I took any extra non-mandatory gear of out my pack. In doing so, I found my bag of Spicy Nacho Doritos. A guilty pleasure I really only allow myself to have during racing.
I had heard that this section was taking teams about 2 hours to clear. However, I would be doing this section in the dark, so I knew it would probably take me longer. I had 4 hrs left, so I felt pretty good that I had enough time. Most of the CP’s were pretty straight forward. I did have a slight issue locating CP 46. The clue was “on an outcropping.” I thought this meant that the CP would be high, so that is where I looked, but was unable to find it. Feeling a tad frustrated, I decided to come back for it. I proceeded to collect the other CP’s, which I did not have too much trouble locating. It was just a little slow going coasteering. I made my way back to CP 46 and eventually found it. It was low, on top of a rock. I knew I had just missed it earlier because I recall being in that area but not looking in that particular spot.
After that, it was time to make the final push to the finish line. I crossed the creek one final time, scurried up a hill side and ran to the finish line. I crossed the finish line at exactly 23:00 hrs, completing the full course in the allotted time. This would be my first 24 hr race having cleared all of the CP’s.
I finished 1st in the solo division and end up with a 5th overall placing. Overall, I was very pleased with my performance and the mental fortitude I showed racing alone.
Thank you to Lupine Lighting, Gretna Bikes, Suunto, Salomon, Zeal, and OutThere USA!
