The North Georgia Adventure Race
Suffering in North Georgia
Earring Doug Judson / 20.01.2010
But even they do not come back year-in and year-out to do this race because they need time off to recover from it both mentally and physically from the suffering you will put yourself though if you dare to submit the entry form. The allure surrounding this race and how hard it is due to weather, and terrain is what got us to sign up for this early winter race. After all it is why we lace up our shoes to head out to train when everyone else is staying inside to keep warm right? And why not race yourself back into shape after taking some time off during the holidays!
We came to this race looking for a top finish against some of the better competition from the East coast USA. We were excited to see where we were in early season form, so we could do some fine tuning for the long and challenging 2010 racing season. Both Checkpoint Tracker teams were there as was Enduradventure from Georgia, and powerhouse NUUN from the west coast as well as us, Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic from the west coast, all vying for a spot on the podium.
Real good competition for any race, and we were unveiling a new team, and this was to be our first race together, so we were excited to see the team gel, and develop some chemistry. What race in mid-January gets 35 teams to sign up to suffer? Not many, so when you see one that does get that many entries so early on in the racing season, you have to take a good hard look at it, and consider coming to play. We did, and we got our monies worth for sure.
The race started Saturday at 9 am with cloudy skies, and blistery winds. The previous week Georgia had a record breaking cold spell with highs in the low 20's, and snow and ice on the ground. It had warmed up into the 40's for the race, with lows in the 30's at night. But a storm was a-brewing, and it was only a matter of time before the teams were tested, some beyond their abilities.
The race started near Elijah, Georgia with a 1.2 mile running prologue to break up the pack. We got into the 3 person canoes in the lead heading out onto Carter Lake, the setting for the book and eventual movie "Deliverance", and headed out for a 3+ hour paddle to hit 5 checkpoints. Nuun, a three person all-male team, and Tecnu Extreme stayed right on the heels of each other till a tricky portage late in the stage over a small steep mountain proved tricky for us. We saved hours of paddling but lost 32 minutes to the front runners.
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