Raid The North: Deerhurst Resort
Designing Deerhurst
Chris Koch / 19.07.2005
Geoff Langford (Raid the North owner) chose Dave Hitchon (Team Spirit Canada) to design his upcoming July 22-24th Raid the North race in Deerhurst, Ontario.Geoff - Can you tell me why you chose Dave to be the course designer for RtN Deerhurst? What do you typically look for in a course designer?
It seemed to be destiny. Dave had worked on some of the first Raid the North courses in western Canada with Dave Zietsma and Lawrence Foster. And it was only days apart that Lawrence called to confirm he was going to race, and Dave called just to see what was going on. I immediately saw the ironic beauty in the role reversal - here\'s the guy who\'s probably been through more of the \'challenges\' of Dave and Lawrence\'s courses over the years, if I can just convince him that he should design the course. He hesitated, until I threw out the fact that Dave and Lawrence were racing. He jumped at it.
Course designers for Raid the North have a lot of weight on their shoulders. The race is an icon of Canadian AR, so I have to be sure it\'s in the hands of someone with a solid racing background, Raid the North experience, and an understanding of what we\'re all about when we say Real Wilderness, Real Navigation, Real Adventure. Dave is certainly one of a small handful of people in the country with a broad, deep appreciation for that. Plus, he\'s easily paid with beer.
Dave - What is the first thing you did in laying out a course for Geoff?
I was given a Finish line a 36 hour race time line and a large ideal area close to the finish that was off limits to us (Algonquin Park). Given that this race is all about the wilderness experience I focused on isolating a corridor that would give us our remote experience. I then sourced some more detailed maps of those regions and tried to research any unique or compelling features that I would like to incorporate into the race. Things like canyons, cliffs, good single track for mountain biking, areas of historical significance and of course some nasty stuff. I then plotted and highlighted all the beer stores and built the course around that.
Dave - Knowing that Lawrence Foster and Dave Zietsma were racing your course did that have any influence in your design?
I would like to say no, but that fact that I thought about how they would approach each section tells me that since it was on my mind it must have had an influence. Just by default the fact that I consciously tried not to let it affect me means that there had to be some sort of impact. Good or bad remains to be seen.
Dave - What are people going to remember about this course?
I think I have put together a superb course and had I not already done each section twice I would love to race most of it again. I think what\'s memorable will be based on what your experience and skill level is. New racers will likely remember the rappel, and the two paddling sections most of all (one section because they loved it and the other because they hated it). The ‘peloton’ will remember the river trek/swim and the easy finish after a long tough race. Elite racers will remember the ebb and flow of the tough sections followed by fast and fun sections with racing \'jewels\' thrown in (nice single track, river running, linear course). All the navigators will remember that vast number of choices and everyone will remember the deerflies and the distance.
That is such a difficult question to answer because I have to generalize. There are so may specific features I love about this course because they are fun or unique or crazy and given the number of choices available each team may experience a different mix. However, I didn\'t want to force a route any more than I had too for safety reasons.
Here\'s a random list of what I consider hi-lights: deep river crossing with your bike;
Dave - You\'ve raced around the World. What would you say is \"Canadian\" about this course you\'ve designed?\"
It\'s remote. There is lot\'s of wildlife. It\'s wide open for route choices. There are three or four variations within each discipline (trek, bike, paddle) that will impact speed and level of effort. This will challenge all teams mentally... it is not an off-road triathlon.
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