Post-Race Notes from the Race Director

Great job to all the racers!!!!! I hope you all had the adventure you were looking for. Thanks to the Bushwhack Crew for allowing
the Gleneagles Challenge to go to the next level. Your races rock, like no others, and I am glad I was able to be a part of it. Special thanks to all our amazing volunteers - Debbie (Medic), Chris (Photographer), Marcey (Coursework), Rob (Utility Man). We also truly appreciate all the racer support in retrieving the Control Points after the event. That type of help really makes the post race tear down much easier.

We would love to see your pics from the race and hear about your adventure through your race reports, particularly your route choices in this rogaine style event. When posted, please send them our way, so we can post a link for all to read.

Gleneagles Challenge Results Are Posted!

Click here to see the results in a Google Spreadsheet.

Congrats to everyone who came out to race - you are all winners!

There were no "no shows" on race day, and no DNF's.
There were no serious injuries, just a few minor scrapes and scratches.
No team was "lost" past the end of the race. I can't vouch for anything that happened during the race.
We hauled a decent pile of "unique trash" out of the park, as well as a stack of the largest pizza boxes I've ever seen.

The 50/50 prizes for the top team in each division will be processed later this week. You'll get an email with your 50% discount serial number and your 50% entry fee refund will be processed through Google Checkout (or by check if that's how you paid).

Thanks again for racing! Hope to see you at the Falls Lake Challenge!

First Set of Pictures Posted

http://adventureracing.meetup.com/17/photos/898898/

Success!

What a great day of racing! The rain held off until the last part of the awards ceremony. No racer got seriously injured (scrapes and scratches notwithstanding). All but one team made it back to the finish by the cutoff time. That one team was only 1 minute late!

Twelve teams cleared the whole course, with Team E2Zissou placing first overall with a time of 4:04! Racers pitched in after the race to help retrieve the control flags and had all but 2 of 27 picked up by 5:45 pm - thanks again to everyone who helped!

Detailed results and pictures will be posted this week. Check back soon for more info!

Don

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The GEC10 is underway!

All 49 teams showed up to race this morning! Slighty overcast this morning and in the 60's - perfect!

Team List

Team #	Team Name	Division
107	Beer and Nuts	2 Person Coed
108	Dos Amigos	2 Person Coed
109	Isotopes	2 Person Coed
117	Live Free or Die	2 Person Coed
118	Nacho Cheese	2 Person Coed
120	The Hard Way	2 Person Coed
	.
130	Bringing It	3 Person Coed
139	E2Zissou	3 Person Coed
144	How Now Brown Cow	3 Person Coed
145	Losin' It	3 Person Coed
146	TBD	3 Person Coed
147	Boozin' it	3 Person Coed
148	GoBushwhack.com	3 Person Coed
189	Two pieces of Scheidt	3 Person Coed
	.
149	My people don't run	4 Person Coed
150	VHP (Beta)	4 Person Coed
	.
156	Girls on Singlespeed	2 Person Female
157	Karmageddon	2 Person Female
158	Suckin' Wind	2 Person Female
159	Team Green	2 Person Female
160	The Wonder Twins	2 Person Female
161	Whine and Cheese	2 Person Female
	.
162	All Butter	3 Person Female
163	Learner's Permit	3 Person Female
	.
164	Roundabouts	4 Person Female
	.
165	Buck N Blue	2 Person Male
166	Don't Wait Up	2 Person Male
167	Flash in the Pan	2 Person Male
168	GungHo	2 Person Male
169	Left Brain-Right Brain	2 Person Male
170	LostBoys	2 Person Male
183	M&M	2 Person Male
184	older, slower, no wiser	2 Person Male
185	Palmetto Tarheels	2 Person Male
186	Sham Wow	2 Person Male
187	Sham Wow Too	2 Person Male
188	TeamHalfwayThere.com	2 Person Male
	.
190	Buckin' Elks	3 Person Male
191	Finding 'rPath	3 Person Male
192	OTG	3 Person Male
193	Strange Brews	3 Person Male
194	The Thirsty Turtles	3 Person Male
195	Where's My Sherpa	3 Person Male
	.
196	I'd Rather Be Drunk	4 Person Male
197	Niner Niner	4 Person Male
198	Pathfinders	4 Person Male
199	Pity the Fool	4 Person Male
119	Team CD	4 Person Male
200	Va Mountain Men	4 Person Male

Registration is Closed

We have 126 adventure racers signed up to race next weekend, representing 47 teams. What a great showing from the AR community for this new event!

If you missed getting registered for this one, there's still time to register for the Falls Lake Challenge, to be held on May 22, 2010.

ISO Teammates?

Anyone out there still searching for a teammate to race the Gleneagles Challenge with? Post a comment below and let others know you're looking, before it's too late. Registration closes on the 18th!!

View from the course

Patrick and I had a great time vetting the course. It took us 6:46 to get through it. Before you start panicking, let me say that we did not have the advantage of those 11" x 11" orange and white orienteering flags to look for. We also made a few course corrections where we found the info on the map didn't match the features on the ground. Our goal is to give you a race map that can accurately lead you to where we will put the flags on the ground. Of course, you still have to be able to read the map and then find your way to the flags!

When you see the race map and plot the checkpoints, you will realize there are lots of options for how to go after this course. We brought portage wheels with us, and decided to use them when we portaged our canoe. Portage wheels aren't on the required gear list (they are on the recommended gear list). Having portage wheels just opens up more options for your race strategy. You will have to portage your boats - how much depends on your race strategy. Other options for portaging boats include just grabbing the handles and carrying them by hand, hoisting the boats up on your shoulders, hooking loops of webbing to the handles and slinging the loop over your shoulder like a purse strap, bribing another team to carry them for you, etc. Dragging boats along like a stubborn child is not recommended, and is prohibited if you're using one of the rent-free canoes (you know who you are).

There are quite a few new adventure racers doing this race. I'm not sure what your expectations are concerning how dry you'll stay on the course. I'd recommend that you expect to step in the water at least once, maybe more. You'll waste less of your valuable time if you don't hesitate when it's time to step out of the boat and go. The rest of you will probably be wet from sweat and dirty from playing in the woods, so why would you expect to have clean dry shoes and socks at the end of the race? :)

What are our predictions for top finish times? There are lots of variables involved, but I think several of the strong, experienced teams will probably clean the course in a little over four hours. There has been an explosion of foliage since we vetted the course, and that may slow them down a little. A fit team that can navigate ok should be able to come close to cleaning the course within the 6 hour limit. Time management is the key, making sure you don't waste too much time in the TA and making sure you leave yourself enough time to get back to the Finish by the cutoff time.

No matter how your team does compared to other teams, if you come to the Gleneagles Challenge with the goals of having fun, being safe, and challenging yourselves, then you can succeed! We're setting up a great event for you to come enjoy a day with friends while playing in the great outdoors - you can't beat that!

Racer Update #1

Hi adventure racers!

We've got a great course designed and we're looking forward to sharing it with you!

Bushwhack Adventures loves to present teams with plenty of navigation options in a race. The navigation component and route strategy is what sets Adventure Racing apart from other sports. This Gleneagles Challenge course is going to be as close to a pure rogaine format as we've been able to achieve so far. When the start whistle blows, you and your team will be standing there with all your adventure racing "toys": bikes, boats, shoes, compass, race map, etc. It will be up to you to decide how and when to use these "toys" to help you get to as may of the checkpoints as you can over the next six hours. We've pared down the restrictions you have to abide by to a bare minimum. The rest will be dictated by geography. 

Some of the checkpoints will be pre-marked on the race map. You will have to plot UTM coordinates for the other checkpoints. If you're not familiar with plotting UTM coordinates, there's a brief tutorial here: http://www.smacworld.com/new/pages/NAVIGATION_FOR_AR/using_plottong_utm_coordinates.pdf   We'll try to put together a tutorial document soon for the way we run Bushwhack events, but the basics are the same. Bushwhack will be giving every racer a UTM plotting tool at check-in, in case you don't have one yet.

The rogaine format and location of this event also means that we can operate with a single, central transition area. You will be able to revisit it as often as you like during the event to refill water supplies, snacks, etc. This TA is also where you'll park, so your vehicle can be your TA setup. There is no water supply there, so please bring all the water you think you might need for drinking, washing off, etc.

There will be a good mix of new and experienced teams racing in the Gleneagles Challenge. Some teams will "clean" the course, finding all of the checkpoints with time to spare. Other teams will use all 6 hours and still not find all of the checkpoints. I encourage all teams to come with the goals of having fun, staying safe, and challenging yourselves against the course. You'll have to go out of your way to NOT have a great time!

Thanks for racing!

Don Childrey

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Bushwhack Adventure Racing
GoBushwhack.com