Raid International Eco EnduranceAventure
This Raid rocks!
Barb Campbell / 29.08.2006
The Raid attracted twenty-two teams, with racers travelling to beautiful St. Raymond, Quebec from seven different countries. The mix of languages and accents gave the event an exciting international atmosphere. All instructions and briefings were provided in both French and English. Team Sole was there, fresh from a 7th place finish in Primal Quest. Lyne Bessette, the Olympic cyclist, was on another strong team. Amazingly, Team Hunger/Tree Huggers was the only team from English Canada. How do adventure racers in Ireland and Italy know about this race, when most teams in Toronto have never heard of it?
Following the team presentation ceremony and map distribution in the local theatre, all racers and support crews camped together on the banks of Riviere Sainte-Anne. We only received instructions for the first stage of racing, so we were tucked into our sleeping bags early. Just as well, because our campsite had a great view north up the Bras du Nord valley, and we could see the steep mountains that awaited us.
The Raid format includes three mandatory rest stops where all teams arrive at an intermediate finish line, then the race is restarted several hours later. Instructions for the next stage of the race are given to teams at the finish line, along with any e-mail messages received on the race web site that day. After the night leg, we were also handed a steaming cup of homemade chicken soup. Our team raced from early morning Friday until midnight, then on Saturday from early morning until dinnertime, starting again at midnight for a few hours of night racing. On Sunday, we raced from early morning until dinnertime, when we arrived at the final finish line. Faster teams got longer rests between stages, so their advantage grew exponentially through the event. We knew beforehand that the rest stops would not act in our team's favour, since our strength is not our speed, but rather our ability to pace ourselves and keep going steadily for several days. However, we could respect the organizers' desire to keep closer tabs on the teams and not spread out their volunteers too far. The stages turned into four separate sprint races with increasing sleep deprivation as the weekend went on. Because of this, combined with the rugged terrain, this was the most physically challenging event I've ever done.
It was also really, really fun! There was a mix of short and long sections, and a range of activities, with enough navigation challenge to keep me happy. We did the usual river and lake paddling, biking on rough trails and gravel roads (and through dense forest for awhile - ouch), bushwhacking, trail running and different kinds of rope work. We also did cliff jumping, adventure swimming, and a canoe/portage loop. In several places, the team had to split up to take on different tasks, forcing us to think through the best strategy. For example, two team members ascended 130 meters beside a waterfall on ropes, while the other two team members hiked the long way up on a trail, then the team was reunited at a beautiful lookout point above the falls. The excitement level was high throughout the weekend, with a helicopter at the starting line to film us, and volunteers, race officials and interested locals cheering us like rock stars whenever we appeared at a manned checkpoint, let alone a TA or finish line. We never knew what to expect in the next stage - not even the start time - until we finished the previous stage, which added to the adventure.
It was the first time that Richard Ehrlich, Wayne Cassidy, Tim Grant and I had raced together, since we normally race on three different teams. I'd wondered how it would work, since three of us are accustomed to being captain/navigator of our own team, and some of us (OK, that would be me) are not as speedy as the others. It turned out really well. We had some laughs, everyone focused on being a good teammate, we all had our chance to help and be helped, and - thanks to the section where we shared 1-man pack rafts between two people - I think we all know each other better now. (Maybe a little TOO well.) Oh, and our support crew, Pete Dobos and Lenora Delaney, were awesome.
Because the teams never had a chance to spread out, we saw the race organizers frequently over the weekend. The race had a wilderness feel and took place in a stunning landscape, yet the course was designed to be very compact, safe and controlled, so that any search and rescue operation would take place within a limited area. There were several staff at each ropes section to help the racers, and rescue kayaks were present in areas where racers were adventure swimming and cliff jumping. We were told that 60 volunteers worked on the race, many of them related to one another, which lent a family feeling to the event.
The finish line was in the back yard of Auberge La Bastide in St. Raymond. Upon finishing, each team was announced on a loudspeaker, cheered by teams at the banquet, greeted by the race director, and handed a bottle of sparkling cider for their podium photo. The Auberge chefs provided us with a delicious post-race banquet in a large tent, then every racer was brought onstage and presented with a soft-shell jacket. (Darn, I was really hoping for a T-shirt.) Not surprisingly, Team Sole won the event, but the level of competition was high, and several teams were close behind them after four stages of racing.
I love non-stop races with 24-hour off-road treks, and those events suit my style of racing the best. But the Raid International Eco Endurance Aventure is different and fun, and English Canada needs to discover this hidden treasure. Information and hundreds of race photos are available on the web site at www.enduranceaventure.com.
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