Countdown!

We’ve been watching the weather and hoping for cold and snow.  NOAA has one forecast, Weather Channel has something different.  Typical.  Don’t let their crappy forecasts convince you to stay home or you will miss out!

KIND Healthy Snacks has provided us with a load of their awesome bars to be handed out during sign-in.  I hope we have enough for everyone, but don’t be late – quantity is limited!

Lori has been busy working away with her vinyl cutting equipment to design and cut these cool decals for all SHITR finishers.  They are now complete and ready to be passed out at the finish line:

And don’t forget the mystery event.  I was 46 yrs old before I got to check this item off my “gotta do list”. 

MId-Week Adventure

Had the new gravel bike out for a shake-down ride on a mid-week adventure.  Can't believe it almost hit 50 degrees in January.  The Blueberry Pecan KIND bar tucked in the side of my seat bag didn't survive the ride.  These bars are my new favorites!

Come Run With Us - Details

Plans for the SHIvering Icy Trail Run have been coming along nicely, which is good, because it’s coming up soon!  So here are some more details:

Date is January 12^th, and our start time is 5pm.  The start/finish will be at the Mound parking lot.  We have to go off on time, so it would be good to come a little early.  There will be an amazing $68,000 Schwag package tossed around and Robin will make some announcements about the course and the mystery event. 

We have gotten a lot of help organizing and promoting the SHITR from the 100+ Project .  Please consider dropping a donation in the 100+ bucket at the start line to help the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

 Course Description

In true adventure race fashion we will start by running uphill.  With one out-n-back to the top of the mound (the highest point in St Charles County).   The mound is closed after dark, so we only get the one trip to the top and it has to be at the start.  Bonus Cool Points to anyone that slides back down on the handrails.  I am sure SuperKate could be talked into making some side bets on it before the race!

We’ll then continue down the Hamburg Trail before turning right onto the steep gravel hill dropping onto the Lost Valley trail.  Take the first left turn possible and do the loop in a clockwise direction, then back up the gravel hill to the Hamburg and the finish. 

GORC has a great overview of the trail and the area here:  http://www.gorctrails.com/trails/mlostvalley.asp

And here is a Garmin track I made of the course.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/253849989

There will be a sign-in sheet where we are asking everyone to put in their name before the start, and their finish time when they complete the loop.  If you don’t care about time, just write Finish, Left Early, or You Suck.  This way we know if anyone is left laying out on the trail with a broken leg, so please don’t leave without putting something on there. 

 

We will try to get some reflective tape out on the course ahead of time, but don’t count on it.  It’s an unsupported adventure for experienced trail runners, not a pre-planned summertime 5K in the city park.  

Mystery Event

If there is a mystery event, it will be part of the run.  You might be asked to solve a puzzle or find a specific piece of information to bring back to the finish line - thus claiming your share of the custom-made unique prize identifying you as a SHITR finisher.  The bit of information will only be found / deciphered by visiting an exact location which you will not be told.  (The smart guys will check our previous “Come Run with Us” post for the mystery event clue.)

Castlewood 8 Hour Adventure Race

Due to LIFE getting in the way, I am just now getting a race report for the Castlewood Adventure Race out.  And since I have waited so long, I don't remember a lot of the details.  This is what I do remember. 

Chuck and I decided to have two teams this year, a guys team and a girls team.  We had some newbies that really wanted to try Adventure Racing and some people that we showed the ropes in the 2011 race that wanted to do it again. 

The guys team was Chuck, Jacob Vohsen, Keith Timmins, and Patrick Albert.

Of course I was on the girls team, it was Lori Vohsen, Jenny Norton, Krystal Giltner and me.  Lori was our navigator and I tried to help where I could, but it was really all Lori.  I think Chuck told her, what ever you do, do not let Robin navigate, which is really good advice. 

We started the race hanging with the guys, but then they got restless waiting for us so they took off.  Oh don't worry they didn't just ditch us, we had decided before the race that we might do a couple CP's together then go at our own pace.  Plus we got to test our skills without help. 

The day was beautiful and we quickly went from long sleeves and pants to shorts and short sleeve jerseys.  Lori's orienteering was spot on all day long, we were hitting the CP's dead on. 

Krystal and I sucked at paddling and we were just dragging the team down during the paddle, but we did better on the bike.  I think the hardest part of the entire race was dragging the canoe off the beach.  Everyone we knew was at the manned CP's.  It was a like an Adventure racing reunion and so good to see everyone who wasn't racing.

We worked together like a well oiled machine, it was a great team that we had. We ended up in second place, although we had the same number of CP's as the first place team, but our time was slower.  We missed the last two CP's because we were short on time so skipped them. 

Below is our race in pictures.

Figuring out which way to start

 

Hanging out with a great race volunteer



Good Friends

Checking to see if we have time to pick up one last CP

Both ROCK Racing teams

Punching the CP

Another CP bites the dust

One More CP

Lori, which way do we go now?

Blood, that makes it a great race



We got it, lets move out

Some time on the water



The fast paddlers

Krystal can paddle, but Robin steers all over the river

A taste of a bike leg

The Finish Line

Jen, Krystal, Robin and Lori 

 



Come Run with Us!

Team Virtus – CAC and Cedar Cross

100+ Project - 12 hr Trail Run and Cycle 100

Metro Tri Club – Creek Run

See that list above?  All of the cool guys have been organizing fun grassroots events over the past year.  ROCK Racing has been participating and loving the good times.  Now it’s time for ROCK Racing to make a contribution of their own!

One of our favorite trails is Lost Valley in Weldon Spring, MO.  Great single track, great parking, hills, fast-flowy sections, techy sections, and open after dark.  It is the perfect place for what we have planned. 

Come join us for a 13.1m trail run on some of the best singletrack in the area. 

 

What could make a trail ½ marathon fun you ask?

Let’s do it in the dark.

In January.

 

Unsupported.

An event of this magnitude has to have a great name:

The Lost Valley SHivering Icy Trail Run

Reserve the date on your calendar now 1/12/13.  5pm start time.

(More details coming soon  - Did I mention this was free!) 

 

This picture might or might not be a clue to the mystery event....if there is one.