October 26, 2002

(a quickie web page from amateur web monkey Mark)

The Event: The Altamaha Wilderness Adventure Race (AWAR)

Running (6 miles), Paddling (4 miles), Cycling (20 miles). Eleven challenge obstacles scattered throughout

The Team: Grace Ou, Crystal Watson, and Mark Dobbs

Okay, this is gonna be choppy, but a picture's worth a thousand words, right? So bear with me through a brief intro and we'll get to the images...

None of us had ever done an adventure race (AR) before. I have done ultra-distance skating, and with Grace done a 58-mile flatland road biking event. All of us have been sea kayaking for all-day trips. None of us are dedicated runners (in fact, I avoid running when possible).

Our first choice for an adventure race was CANCELED. The AWAR was our second choice, and as it turned out, the perfect one. Our intended fourth team member, Aaron, was out with a bum knee, so the three-person team structure of the AWAR was good.

Challenges

To spice up the course and make it more of a mind-body endurance test, there were eleven challenges spaced throughout the race. Most had to be completed by all three team members. A 15-minute time penalty was given for EACH team member that failed to perform a challenge. Once you beat one, your passport card was punched and off you go again.