Canadian National Adventure Racing Championships
Tent City
Doug Doyle / 30.05.2006
Authors Note: I have been in the field for stage 2, day one, with limited communications ability, only stopping briefly in Elk Lake to check in on the CP 7/TA2 site and upload race reports onto the Sleepmonsters.ca site. Due to thunderstorm activity cutting power to the Town of Elk Lake, I haven’t been able to provide updates during the day – currently the internet is down, likely due to the local router needing to be reset and this is something I can not do. Thankfully, Mike at the Eco-Resource Centre was able to conneck with with Kelly at the Elk Lake Mill operations and they have allowed me access to their office computer to file my reports. A big \"Shout Out!!\" goes to Mike, Kelly, Tara and the Elk Lake Mill for assisting Sleepmonsters.ca and the National Adventure Racing Championships.
The drive in to Beauty Lake CP3/TA1 is a long, dusty rough road (a donkey trail the locals call it) the support crews tackled after watching their teams leave the start line hours ago. They have positioned themselves for the indeterminate wait for their respective teams.
I spoke with the support crew with Team Runningfree.ca who were looking comfortable in their tent lounging in chairs watching a DVD and free from the persistent, pesky blackflies. Bob and his wife Theresa indicated this was their first time supporting for an adventure race and told me “It’s not the preparation of the tent site, cleaning gear, repairing bikes or travelling from transition area to transition area that is difficult, it’s the waiting (for our team.�)
Denise was racing with Team Runningfree.ca yesterday but a bike incident injured her right hand and she was nursing her right arm, wearing a sling. Her right pinky finger was splinted and her right wrist was taped and she was applying ice to her arm.
She was disappointed she could not continue racing but is cheering her team with her support crew as the three remaining racers have continued on the course unranked.
The support tent city spirits are high with all support crew having established their team sites. It is close quarters in this tiny area; space is at a premium on this isolated logging road framed by Beauty Lake and the trees, neighbouring tents butting up against each other and the multitude of support vehicles and trailers. Each crew has settled in and readying their area to provide maximum comfort and support efficiency for their teams when they arrive. Support crew will likely be given a ‘guesstimate’ of their teams arrival team after clearing CP2, but due to the racers progress at this point it is unlikely an accurate advance notice of their teams arrival will be given as it seems the racers are not travelling through the bush as quickly as expected. This could be due to the heat experienced today (approximately 31 degrees) or yesterdays’ sprint race took more of a physical toll than anticipated.
The teams are on the trekking portion of stage 2, having started the race some 48 Km eastwards. They are not expected into CP3/TA1 until 6:30am the following day. I do not have any updates from CP1 Ishpatina Ridge (unmanned) or CP2 McCollach Lake Portage. The lead teams should have made it to CP2 by now (9:27pm) however race HQ have not reported the progress of any teams yet.
From CP3/TA1 the teams get to rest their tired and swollen feet and trade their trekking gear for paddles for a 65km combined canoe paddle with multiple portages waiting for them. It doesn’t appear the teams will have to worry about paddling in the dark as they will likely not commence the paddle until the following day after dawn. At this transition area, teams will decide whether to have a quick transition to the upcoming paddling section after fuelling and hydrating, or choose to sleep after their 48km gruelling bushwhack.
00:19am: Elk Lake: Thunder and lightening is building again in the east, which will remind the teams of how drenched they will be should it start to downpour as it did just prior to the start of stage one at the Mattagami First Nations Reserve.
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