Raid International Eco EnduranceAventure
Team Hunger/Tree Huggers heads for the Starting Line
Barb Campbell / 15.08.2006
OK, so actually, we weren\'t quite ready to go. First we had to learn more about a couple of disciplines that weren\'t in our AR repertoire - specifically cliff jumping and adventure swimming - and we wanted to assure ourselves that our navigation skills would be tested in this race. The format is new to us too. Over a 3-day period, the 250 km race takes place in several stages - some in daylight and some at night - with mandatory rest stops where the teams will camp together. We are accustomed to a non-stop format that favours my \"more endurance, less speed\" skills, but it\'s always interesting to try something different. Another cool aspect of this race is its international flavour. There will be racers from seven countries, and the organizers have suggested that we bring our country\'s flag.
The more we learned about the Raid, the more interested we became, and suddenly I was booking hotel rooms and U-Hauls, researching swimming aids on the Internet, and stuffing chocolate espresso beans and blue corn chips into little plastic bags. The four of us took over a local children\'s wading beach to test the relative speediness of our large heap of pack rafts, air mattresses, masks, snorkels, fins, goggles and hand paddles. (I can\'t give away the answer in case any of our competitors are reading this.) I was into that pre-race silliness mode that is one of the really fun aspects of AR.
Our team name gives it away - yes, we are an amalgamation of several southern Ontario teams. Wayne Cassidy is the captain of Team Hunger, Tim Grant is the captain of the Milton Basement Racers, and Richard Ehrlich and I are from the Tree Huggers. The four of us have never raced together in this combination, but we\'ve all done enough racing that we seem to have come together fairly smoothly. (Check for my post-race recap next week to see if I was right!) I\'m looking forward to racing with such a strong group of guys, all of whom have a great sense of humour, which is as important as most other skills in AR. We\'ve all been salivating over the web site photos of the amazing scenery north of Quebec City, and we can\'t wait to get on the road with our experienced support crew, Pete Dobos and Lenora Delaney.
Live web coverage of the race will be provided at www.enduranceaventure.com/siteweb2/p2/eco1/home.htm. The race starts on Friday morning and finishes on Sunday night. You can send messages to friends on the course using the forum on the www.enduranceaventure.com website - simply put the team name in the title. I\'ll be back next week to share a racer\'s eye view of the Raid.
SleepMonsters
