Balance Bar 24 Hour Adventure
Nokia Catch the Train, but get the Wrong Answer
Rob / 26.09.2003
Nearly 150 adventure racers arrived for the start on an open field at Lake Sebago, in Harriman State Park, just north of Manhattan, at 5:00 a.m. With a countdown in the early morning darkness, racers began the first leg of the 100+ mile course with a 1.5-mile trek. After the first Passport Control (PC), teams next faced 17 miles of mountain biking through PC’s two, three, four and five.
Nokia Adventure took the lead at PC five and were determined to not look back. Putting pressure on the Finns for most of the race were Nike ACG/Balance Bar and Montrail. Team Gregory was in third place for a while, but were given a one-hour penalty at PC nine for neglecting to pass two mandatory crossings.
After PC 10, teams took on a 17-mile kayaking section to PC’s 11 and 12. Once finishing this section of the course, the urban fun began. While all racers knew they each needed $12.00, they did not know that this money would buy them a train ticket from Ossining, New York into Grand Central Station.
Nokia Adventure built on their first place lead, catching an earlier train and arriving at Grand Central 40 minutes prior to Nike ACG/Balance Bar and Montrail, who were on the next train, battling for second place.
From Grand Central, the remainder of the race was all trekking. Teams wove through the streets of Manhattan, making their way to Chelsea Piers to PC 13, into the heart of the Adventure Village on Pier 62. Teams then headed to the second to last PC, the U.S.S. Intrepid, for a spectacular ropes/rappelling course.
Racers rushed onto the top deck of the aircraft carrier and first rappelled down the front of the ship approximately 60 feet into the Hudson River, free falling from the rope the last 10 feet. Then they swam to the front of the ship and climbed the inside of a giant cargo net back onto the deck. Finally, they made their way over to the side of the ship and one by one, clipped onto a zip line and glided down into the river once more. Then they dragged themselves from the river and trekked on to Madison Square Park and PC 15.
Here they were given a set of trivia questions, for which all the answers could be found within the park. After obtaining the answers, they trekked west on 23rd street, making their way back to Chelsea Piers (PC 16) to get their quiz answers verified and cross the finish line.
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