11:00 pm, 31 hours into the 50 hour Efix race and I thought the top three places were sewn up by our competition. I was wrong. As so often happens in both life and adventure racing, things change. As a team, our perseverance and tenacity coupled with a solid race plan led to our success. When the race was over, the ImONPoint.org – Odyssey Adventure Racing team was second in the 4 person co-ed class and accumulated enough points to put us 2nd in the Checkpoint Tracker series.
The lead up to Efix was exciting. Some of the best teams in the US were signed up – the field was going to be tough! Add to this the uncertainty of the seasons weather: record snowfall followed by the worst flooding in 16 years and we had all the ingredients for an epic adventure race.
Race highlights:
- Getting the maps, reading the rules, remembering last year and realizing the time cutoffs could be game changers.
- Weather kicks off with rain, dropping temps and snow.
- A prologue on our bikes straight up the mountain we all drove down to the camp. The mountain road was so steep the parking lot reeked of scorched brakes as cars and SUVs pulled in the night before.
- Snowflakes bigger than quarters, just hours into the race.
- Two flats on a canoe caddy.
- A lake with a current. A lot of current.
- Mud. Thick, gooey, “I can’t move, my shoe is coming off!” (Charlie), bottom of the river silt mud.
- Getting the first O-course out on the racecourse. Mark saying, “This isn’t a six hour orienteering section, it is a 12 hour one.” Charlie concurs and we make the difficult decision to drop half of the points, and follow our projected timeline to make the 2 am time hack for Sunday.
- Fog. At night. The kind that makes your crazy expensive lights useless.
- Tanking a point, then walking into it on our way due North.
- Wondering for days (literally) if we were too conservative early on.
- Freezing on the bike descents as the dawn broke on the second day of racing.
- Convenience store biscuits, a life saver.
- Crushing the Pipestem O-course.
- Banking 30 minutes of sleep after Pipestem in the warm sun.
- Constant uphill or downhill pedaling. I don’t think there was a flat piece of terrain any longer than 50 meters the entire race!
- Getting a “Ghost Tour” of every cemetery within 80 miles of Hinton.
- Countless interactions with our fellow competitors. We race with and against the best people!
- Multiple sightings of my son and Arlen filming the race.
- Seeing the two TeamHalfwayThere.com teams and their colors out on the course.
- Wondering what teams were where, and who had how many optionals.
- A ride straight up the mountains from Bluestone State Park. This was a “forever” series of climbs.
- Absolutely flying through the woods on the third trek trying to bag the last two mandatory points and return by 2 am.
- Low point of the race – realizing we weren’t going to make the 2 am cut off.
- High point of the race – almost immediately after the low point. Coming together as a team, we’re still racing, time to modify our plan. Going to get the three mandatories and the two optionals.
- The walk/ride back to Bluestone. 5 am, leaking bladder, soaking wet and sleep walking while pushing a bike up a mountain.
- Nearly tipping the canoe falling asleep on the final paddle. Trying to stay awake and in an attempt at conversation asking, “So Charlie, do you mountain bike?”
- Final portage up the hill to the finish.
Ronny did a great job putting together a truly challenging racecourse. This race provided breathtaking scenery and a unique local flavor while forcing the racers to be constantly vigilant of their progress through the mountains and waterways of West Virginia. Additionally, the camp was great and I especially liked the pre and post race social atmosphere. It was great seeing old friends and making new ones the night before the race and at the dinner, awards and celebrations the night after!
Mark, Sara and Charlie, thank you for choosing to spend your precious time on a modified “camping” trip with me. The journey was definitely memorable and epic. To all of our sponsors – we truly couldn’t race at the level we do without your assistance. A special thanks to our title sponsors, the On Point Foundation and Odyssey Adventure Racing.
See you outside!
Shane
