Patrick Haab On Point Foundation Sponsored Athlete
2011 Planet Adventure Indy Amazing Adventure
3rd Place
Team ImONPoint.org – Labrador Adventures
Ah, this short fun race definitely made up for the disappointment of the last
race I wrote a review of. It was the Indy Amazing Adventure, a family and beginner friendly race that took place at one of the country’s largest city parks- Eagle Creek Park on Indy’s west side. I’ve raced and volunteered at several events held by Planet Adventure, the race directors, and knew about what to expect. As this event was for teams of 2 or 3 only, I had to find myself a teammate. This was only the second race where a teammate was required and both my previous teammate, brother, and sister-in-law weren’t up for the challenge. There’s just something about trying to find willing teammates for this sport, not sure what it is. Luckily, I found a teammate by posting a ‘wanted’ ad on craigslist.
Maureen had been doing a lot of working out and had competed in several running competitions but had never done an adventure race and wanted to give it a try. I had to do a lot of reassuring that this race would be an excellent choice for a beginner and that the main goal was to have fun but she agreed to give it a shot. We met up at a grocery store that is on the way to Indy for both of us and she took to my dogs pretty quickly and they accepted her as well. On our drive down to the race we talked about anything and everything in order to get a feel for each other, as racing together can strain any relationship, especially two strangers. Her bike was having some shifting issues and I told her that I had an extra bike that I could bring along for her. I was somewhat concerned when she said that we needed to stop on the way and pick up a bike helmet for her, my thoughts were about what other gear she was missing. Well, the other missing equipment ended up being a water system, but this was not a big issue since I had won a small hydration pack at the last race as a door prize, funny how these things work out.
Upon arriving at the park, the pups jumped out and did their usual greeting/exploring and got a warm welcome from James, head of Planet Adventure. Due to the short length of the race, I asked if he would mind if the pooches raced with us. He said it shouldn’t be an issue and the girls got ready for their first race together. The first challenge was to fold a paper airplane and get it to cross a distance of about 10 feet before we could get our first race directions. Maureen claimed to have the skill necessary to craft a flying machine of great flight worthiness. After a maiden flight of less than 3 feet, she quickly handed the project over to me. An extra fold or two and a couple of tosses and we got past the required distance and received our first instruction sheet.
The course was divided into three separate sections with one third of the teams attacking a different section first. Our first section was the longest and included a bike across the park to where the water was. We picked up a checkpoint or two on the way to the reservoir and when we arrived there our first challenge was to go to the nearby nature center and count how many snakes were on the first level of the building, count how many deciduous tree bark samples there were and find out what plant is commonly mistaken for poison ivy. After writing down our answers, we rushed back to where we were and dropped our packs and put on climbing harnesses. I think we were the second team to get to the zip line and that was a good thing as there were only 3 carabineers and there was quite a wait for teams arriving later. Maureen went first and since the zip line crew was working on perfecting things, she got quite wet on her way to the opposite shoreline. I got lucky in that I got strapped in a bit higher on the rig and sailed across with my shorts barely skimming the surface of the water.
After getting unhooked from the zippy line, we traded our harnesses for lifejackets and after the Labs went for a swim we loaded them into our canoe and paddled toward our first checkpoint on the water. There was a pretty short paddle to another two checkpoints and other than concentrating on not tipping over due to puppy weight shifts it was fairly uneventful. Our next task was to return to the start/finish area and get started on another section. Between each section, there were additional challenges to be completed. The first one was a carnival style ball toss at a box of aluminum cans in which they all had to be knocked over. Maureen came through on this challenge and later admitted that she was actually aiming at the other box but succeeded in knocking over all of the cans in one of the two, so either way, we were good.
Our second section was the orienteering one and we headed out on foot. This is where the dogs really shine, they just love to be off their leashes and following trails. We quickly found the first couple checkpoints and then headed off the beaten path towards our next goal. After missing an overgrown trail, we ended up figuring out where we were and found the next few points without too much hassle. We were then faced with another challenge back at the start/finish line. This time we had to stack ten 3/8” nuts up without using our hands. Maureen had seen another team struggle with this earlier and quickly learned that the quickest technique was to get all of the nuts around one of the two pens they provided as tools and then turn the upside down on the table and remove it. Just that quick, we were given our final section.
The biking was our final stretch and we left the pups there to avoid a high speed doggie pile up on the roads. While I had taken them both for a ride a few days before to get things ironed out and teach them proper running next to bikes etiquette, they were still pretty green and my borrowed bike didn’t have the best brakes. As we pedaled to the first checkpoint, we joked around and I threw an elbow her way to poke some fun at her as I passed. We easily found the next few points and only had to make one u-turn as we had a communication breakdown; I thought we had reached our last point when there was actually one more to go. No big deal, we simply pushed ourselves even harder on the way back to the finish. The final challenge was to use three floor tiles to make it across ten feet and both of us had to remain on the tiles at all times. A little leap-frogging and we were done.
There weren’t that many racers there when we finished and I knew that was a good sign. We rehydrated and ate some tasty treats from the grill as we waited for the others to finish and the results to be totaled. Maureen and I reviewed our efforts and she said that she had a lot of fun and thanked me for encouraging her to race. She was surprised and even happier when the results were announced. We had cleared the course and were only a short time behind the two teams in front of us, taking a strong third place. We got plaques for our achievement and the pups even got their own plaque! Overall we had a great time on a good course with excellent weather.
We finished our trip with a drive down south to the Yellowwood State Forest to do some hiking on the Tecumseh trail. We picked a nice campsite right next to a 17 acre lake on a private campground. Within two casts of my fishing pole, I pulled out a very nice largemouth bass. Hard to beat weekends like this!
Special Thank You to our Donors and Odyssey Adventure Racing
