Raid the North Canadian Championships
The Fast and the Furious
Susan McKenzie / 20.09.2003
“It’s been really intense,� he continues. “We keep crossing paths with the same teams. We pass them, they pass us. That means we’ve known who’s behind us, and who’s ahead of us. The pace has been relentless; we actually ran about twenty kilometres of that last trek. You just can’t let your guard down for a minute.�
His teammate Wendy Sims agrees. “We’ve always been aware just who is around us, who’s in front, who’s behind, who we’ve passed and who may have passed us.�
The Raid the North Championship Race has always been a tough challenging and competitive event. This year, however, competition is especially fierce. That’s because the top five teams are guaranteed spots in the 2004 Adventure Racing World Championships, which will be held in Canada and organized by Raid the North.
“I’ve been really happy with the weather this year,� Sims says as she packs her gear. “The rain wasn’t pleasant, but once that cleared it’s been cool and just right. It was quite amazing watching the sky clear up last night; we could just see the line of cloud moving across the sky. We could see the Big Dipper, too, which I can also see from my hot tub at home. We were walking and all I could think about was being in the hot tub, being with my kids.�
Like the three teams ahead of it, Running Free doesn’t stick around the TA for very long. They are on their bikes and off on the advanced route for the course, which includes an extended trek with some interesting and challenging route choices.
SleepMonsters
