ECCO - Emergency Services Adventure Race
Emergency Services Tested
Race Director / 09.06.2006
ECCO-ESAR 2006 was not meant to maim, kill or otherwise render your quads useless for the next three days – but the hills and the escarpment got the better of many teams. This was the first year ESAR had started on bikes; for those with mountain bike experience it was a chance to get away from the pack – for those a little newer to the sport this was a hairy section ripe with chance to eat some dirt. ECCO-ESAR staff observed a few spills along the 6km ride through Albion Hills – notably some of the best mountain biking in Ontario, and host of the largest 24 mountain biking event in North America. Once again, racer comments ranged from, “that was the best biking in an adventure race� to “holy crap, do they think we are pro mountain bike racers?�.
After a quick ride to Palgrave Conservation area, teams dropped their bikes and set off on the first of two orienteering sections. With detailed orienteering maps teams had the option of shooting a bearing to get to the cp or taking any of the various trails and then a quick bearing overland to find the checkpoint. Based on our observation of teams’ socks and shoes – we feel that many teams opted for taking a bearing and staying the course, through mud, bog and icky stuff. In the past ESAR has often had to go in search of teams that had not made the trekking cp’s….this year no one got lost. Many teams got turned around but we are proud to say that everyone made it through the orienteering section before the cut off. This “O� section challenged teams’ finite navigation as well as their swamp walking ability.
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