Sunday, April 10, 2011

ADVENTURE RACE WINNERS OF...

a door prize! Yes, that's right, we went all the way to Mt. Ida, Arkansas for an Adventure Race this weekend and got owned! The Ozarks are so hilly there's no way the Okies can compete. But thankfully, my competitive husband gave way to "enjoying himself" with the kids.

If you don't know what an Adventure Race is...well it is craziness, if you ask me! It's like a marathon x 4: Canoeing, Orienteering, Biking, Rappelling, and basically running around in between, finding checkpoints. This race is designed to last 8-12 hours. My crew went hard for 11 hours, in a place we had never been before (another disadvantage). This was my first time to go and support. Which means making peanut butter sandwiches and refilling camelbaks with water at designated transition points, driving from one point to another, and finally, picking up the dog-tired team that no longer cares they will get disqualified by receiving help... and bringing my breakfast casserole to renew their strength at the end of the day!

I didn't get any pics of the really good stuff - because I wasn't with them at those moments. But they had several good stories to tell: wipeouts on the bikes, the wild turkey that flew down from a tree and about scared them to death, the impossible to find checkpoints, etc. But here's a few I did get from the transitions:
Our girl and her friend from HU came to join in the fun!
He loves it, can't you tell?
That canoe's pretty heavy after rowing 13 miles!
Plotting the given points on the map!
Off they go trekking...
and trail biking...

The weary team and the "prize" I got for them...actually I gave it to my daughter because she loves "memorable" days like this!

Thankfully we had a nice resort to stay in and comfortable beds to fall into at the end of the day. Fun times!

6 comments:

The 5 Arbuckle's said...

Your daughter had some stuff on facebook about this race.

Unknown said...

I'm sure they had a great adventure!

Alyssa said...

I'm so impressed. I feel tired just looking at the pictures!

Gena said...

WOW! I just love your family. I agree with Alyssa. I don't care if you're kayaking or running to meet people at checkpoints. This sounds like a fun nightmare.

OK Chick said...

That's pretty cool! How did you find out about this? I think that sounds really fun.

Wa Wa Waughs said...

OK Chick,

Once you get on the list you hear about future events, just like other races...wanna go sometime?