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Racing With The Family

Tom Jarecki / 23.01.2006

I\'ve wanted to go racing with my kids but figured with a 7 and 4.5 year old that I\'d have to wait a few years.

Well, the guys at Outdoor Adventure Recreation in North Vancouver were happy to welcome all ages to their September 24, 2005 Aquafina Adventure Challenge in Deep Cove, even my little guy (though there was some silence on the line when I first mentioned their ages).

So I registered as a team of 4 co-ed (yes, it looks like my wife will come race with us too - her first adventure race also!) for the short course, which started at the very family-friendly time of 11 am.

I\'m excited about involving my kids and wife in \'my\' sport, and with the late start for the short course we should see plenty of the racers on the longer courses on the bike and run sections as they blast past us. Of course we\'re not racing, but the experience should be tons of fun and will hopefully help build their interest in future racing with dad.

Pre-race training consisted purely of viewing the videos on the Primal Quest site, both the 2006 race trailers and many of the clips from the 2004 race. The kids were super excited in the week prior to the race, and luckily the weather cooperated with a forecast for sunny skies. Here\'s how I figured the race would play out:

- The paddling part should be easy in our canoe, with the two kids sitting on Thermarest seats in the middle of the boat and splashing their paddles as they wish. I\'ll leave the spotting and recording of the paddling CP password to the kids.

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