Looks pretty ominous doesn't it? This was the road ahead as Scott, Maggie and I drove to Milford Lake, KS to camp and run our first adventure race. We were planning on camping at the lake's campground and packed enough gear for what seemed like an entire army but as we drove and passed through rainstorm after rainstorm, I began to think that the cabins listed on the website might sound a whole lot better than being outside. Scott didn't agree. His philosophy was that it wasn't an adventure without a little rain...I don't think we saw one other tent in the entire campground. Camping was free with your race entry, but I think most people were chicken (I think I might've grown a few feathers if given the chance).
Thankfully we arrived in between rainstorms and had the opportunity to set up camp, make a fire, eat dinner and have our s'mores (I would've cooked s'mores over a butane torch if I had to-there is no camping without s'mores!) before the skies opened up.We decided to leave Chloe at the kennel (she goes to daycare there and loves it) which was a terrific idea because I cannot imagine how freaked out she would've been in that little tent when the thunder and lightning came through. We did bring Maggie for her first camping trip and she had a great time, especially when Scott was cooking so close to the ground...
So here was the radar photo that shows the nasty storms that passed over us as we were hunkered down in our oh so dry tent. Maggie and I were not big fans of the thunder and lightning that barraged us throughout the night. We got into our tent at around 6pm and didn't come out until 7am the next morning. We were ever so pleased when race day turned out to be a beautiful day-sunny and 80 degrees!
As you can see, Maggie & I ended up being pretty comfortable and warm. Scott unfortunately had about 2 feet of sleeping space due to Maggie's sleep stretch.
So what is an adventure race? So glad you asked! An adventure race is a bit like a triathlon in that you compete in three different sports-canoeing, trekking (trail running), and mountain biking. However there is one additional piece that makes the race a whole lot more challenging. Each team is given a series of coordinates that they must plot on a topographic map. The plotted points are what the teams are looking for. Each team carries a card that must be punched once they find the point. Some of the coordinates are found canoeing, some are found biking, and some are found trekking.
Teams can choose to run the race in whatever order they like. We chose to trek, then bike, and canoe last. Teams are placed according to completion times and time penalties are assigned for things like missing a punch point, littering, going back to find a point once you've moved onto a different section of the race, and being more than 30 feet from your teammates. Scott & I had a great time running the race and as it turns out we are a pretty darn good team! We placed 2nd out of 6 teams in our division (2 person co-ed teams), which isn't bad for our first time out. The great thing about this race was the variety of people participating. There were at least 6 kids who were on teams with theirparents and even a grandparent teamed up with his grandkids to compete, and overall everyone was very positive and supportive.
And while we raced, Maggie hung out in the shade of the tent, guarding our stuff...
We are definitely planning another race and who knows where this will lead...Amazing Race, watch out!!!
