Balance Bar Adventure Sprint
Mud and Mirrors At the First Balance Bar Sprint
12.05.2004
The Balance Bar Adventure Sprints made their first stop of the season in Austin, Texas, this past weekend. Team Balance Bar won the race, while hundreds of adventure-seekers raced through challenging terrain at Muleshoe Bend Recreation Area. In this introduction to adventure racing competitors tested their skills in trail running, mountain biking and kayaking and faced various special tests, which included: the mud pit, a swim/run portion, mirror kayak, climbing wall traverse, the four-legged challenge and the 12-foot military wall.
The race began with the 7-mile Nike ACG trail run, consisting of two 3.5-mile laps. Halfway through the run, teams faced the first special test, the run/swim, where team mates had to stay in contact with one another while in the water swimming. After the run, teams went into the mud pit, known on this Mother\'s Day as the Mud Spa. For the first half of this challenge all 3 team mates had to keep one hand on a small circle ring, while hopping from \'lily pad\' to \'lily pad\'. After successfully completing this, teams spent the second half of the mud pit, hugging, dropping and \'tootsie-rolling\' to the end of the pit.
They then faced the first mountain bike leg, riding 4-miles, mostly single track. For the 1.5-mile kayak section, teams took out two kayaks, with one paddling solo while the other tow had to face one another for the entire course, \'mirroring\' one another\'s rowing.
After the kayak section came another special test, the four-legged obstacle course. Teams stood together, with the middle member having his/her leg tied to one leg of each team mate while the entire team had to crawl in and around various structures. Then came a quick splash into Lake Travis while running to the transition area, before the 7-mile mountain bike course.
The final two special tests were a climbing wall where a team moved horizontally from left to right, traversing, using wooden block holds, with their feet on a narrow slanted wooden base. The rule was that the first team member on the wall had to be the last member off, so the other two had to pass their team mate on the wall to complete the task. After completing this they were onto the final test of the day, the 12-foot military wall. Once all three were over the top, it was a quick sprint to the finish line.See All Event Posts
