The AR World Championships - Costa Rica
Tecnu's World Championship Race
Garret Bean (Team Tecnu) / 22.12.2013
The Costa Rica Adventure Racing World Championships was mostly described as brutal, arduous, massive, tortuous, incredible, amazing and exhilarating. The teams were stacked, and the competition was at one of the highest levels in years with many teams vying for a podium spot. I found a new respect for the people that I competed against, a great appreciation for my steadfast teammates, and I have never felt so much inspiration from friends, family, sponsors and other team supporters. With such an amazing support crew it was hard to fail, but the 815 km course would test those limits.
The Costa Rican Race Directors had a vision to showcase the diversity of this country; they created an exceptional course that would take us from Panama to Nicaragua and from the Pacific Coast to the Caribbean Sea. The race directors took us down Class IV river rapids, to the highest peaks on Mt. Chirripo, through mangrove estuaries with crocodiles, and onto untouched indigenous trails typically off limits to Costa Ricans and tourists alike.
We were provided an experience that will never be duplicated and that we will look back on fondly after our feet heal. There were grumblings about how tough this race was, and many people argued that suffering seemed to be one of the athletic disciplines. In my opinion, we were fairly warned about the challenges that this race had in store for us and our team expected and embraced the suffering that prevented so many from completing the entire course. Heck, this was the World Championship, it better be hard!
The Race
There was a lot of energy at the beginning of the race. Helicopters were buzzing around and our team even received a police escort through the first couple of small towns while we were riding our mountain bikes. We raced through small villages and the locals were out cheering us on. One simple salutation of Pura Vida was resounded by crowds of spectators 10 times louder, PURA VIDA!!!! It was exhilarating going through these small towns but soon we would meet the adventure side of Costa Rica.
The next couple sections involved kayaking, trekking, and portaging. Bob did an exceptional job navigating the difficult maps and we did our best to maintain a comfortable position in the front of the race pack. You couldn’t win a race in the first two days but if you made some major mistakes you could lose one. In the first couple legs of the race we became accustomed to paddling some slow boats and also trekking with over 50 lbs of equipment.
One of the highlights in the first couple days was a 20 hour paddle through the mangrove estuary. There was amazing wildlife, crabs landing on you from trees, howler monkeys calling to you, and crocodiles lurking behind you checking out the lunch menu (gu packets, pop tarts, and adventure racers). The 10 foot tidal swings created gushing rivers through the mangroves and would catapult you forward or could turn against you so that your fastest speed was less than a km an hour. Needless to say, strategy on acquiring your checkpoints in the mangroves was key; you would also need to pay close attention as the checkpoint may require you to jump to pluck it off a high tree or find the flag submerged under water.
Here the top teams were all within striking distance and having some difficulty navigating channels that would appear and disappear as the tide flooded and waned. We came out of this section around 4th, and with a few new crab friends in our boats. As we headed in from the mangrove paddle, the film boat found us and in their excitement rammed us a couple times. My birthday wish of paddling for 20 hours in the mangroves was granted.
Following the mangroves we hit the bikes and another highlight of the race, the Superman Zip. They locked our team in straight jackets, probably because they knew how much we would freak out as we were hurled down the 2 km zip line at 140 kmh. I’ve never seen Bob so pumped up, he was probably as exciting as when he scored his first hockey goal or Shannon agreed to marry him. On our way back up we saw Columbia who was trailing us and Silva who was just ahead. Unfortunately, the reason we saw Silva was they had to put the brakes on because Josefina had fallen off her bike and dislocated her elbow. We were bummed for our friends and fierce competitors. Robert, Silva’s 8 foot 360 pound stallion, said, “Race hard”, and that is what we did for the remainder of the race.
Following a mandatory 4 hour stop at midcamp we headed up to summit Mt. Chirripo, Costa Rica’s highest point. This would be one of the hardest sections of the course. As we ascended rapidly from midcap we were starting to approach the summit of the mountain at 3800 meters (12,500 feet). Around 3,200 meters Kyle began to feel a bit tired, have headaches and seemed to be getting quite confused. We decided to take a brief sleep on our ascent up the mountain and let Kyle try and recover a bit.
Kyle was still struggling with the 13% oxygen as opposed to the 20.9% oxygen at sea level less than 24 hours before; we debated on descending for recovery but knew we would be in the same trouble the next day. At this time rain and sleet pelted us in the side of the face as it was thrown from extremely gusty winds. I remained warm since I was carrying my backpack and Kyle’s backpack totaling over 100 pounds (team mandatory equipment, 12 liters of water and 72 hours of food for the both of us). Bob and Karen were moving fast along the ridgeline to stay warm, and Kyle tenaciously staggered along at a relatively quick pace keeping up on the narrow ridgeline. After several hours we had navigated through the darkness and inclement weather to a hut where volunteers provided soup and shelter.
After a quick nap and chicken heart soup we headed down the indigenous trail following Seagate, Thule and Columbia by 4-5 hours. This mudslide trail was awesome; it dictated our route and jettisoned us down head or feet first. It was so tough I actually snapped two trekking poles along the way. There was no setting your feet, more just riding out the slip-n-slide to the river below. Over the next 30 hours we navigated trails; some more used than others, and traded places with numerous teams.
Bob kept us pointed in the right direction, Karen kept us focused, and Kyle regained his strength to lead us. Our team was back and pushing the pace. Eventually if we kept the pressure on we knew we would make time on the first teams and put some time on the teams behind us. We knew we would not make the dark zone cut-off for rafting like the three leading teams before us but we would be there early and get a lot of sleep to prepare us for the remainder of the race.
After the dark zone cut-off we had to wait for first light. We were ready and in the boats for some sunrise class IV river rafting. We launched ourselves down the river, and it was a rush. The cool water pelted us in the face keeping us semi awake and alert. It was a rough go and all teammates were thrown into the water except for me. Bob and Karen were flung in on their own, and Kyle only went in because I flew off my side of the raft, checked him out of the boat, and took his seat. A skill I perfected playing shuffleboard as a young child and more recently in the bars. I dragged him back in the boat in the middle of the most dangerous rapid uninjured. We were awake!
For the remainder of the race we fought back and forth with adidas Terrex Prunesco, this unrelenting team kept the pressure on and we did the same. At the last leg we were still neck and neck, we were aware that we were battling for 3rd place since Seagate had dropped out due to issues with their feet. We hoped that Thule and Columbia would move slowly and that our rest might allow us to push harder and come within striking distance. As we entered into the last bike we were 25 minutes behind adidas, and were working on closing a 15-20 hour gap on Thule and Columbia. We completed the last section in 11 hours and 30 minutes compared to 21 and 19 hours for Thule and Columbia, respectively. adidas completed this section in about 12 hours comparatively. As we narrowed the lead, we were unable to catch the first and second place teams as they crossed the finish line but we arrived at the last cycling checkpoint with adidas.
Both teams pretended not to know where it was, hoping that the other team would move on. Unfortunately with two of the best navigators in the game, we were at a stalemate and it could have become a sprint to the finish. The CP was in a difficult location, across 2 fallen trees that no one in their right mind would call a bridge. Both teams were quickly going through every possible scenario. We could sprint now for the checkpoint, and beat them on the bike. If we can get to the zip line ahead their race is done, unless something weird happens at the zip. We could race on the raft too and just hope that we have a better guide. Heck, I’m sure the Brits were envisioning us slipping off the logs and falling 20 feet into the river as they rode off to victory.
Well, after running through all the scenarios in our heads it was abundantly clear that the remainder of course, the zip line and rafting, was not raceable; and we weren’t going to jockey for position on that bridge and send someone plummeting down to the river below. Out of mutual respect and after 170 hours of racing we decided to head in together. We traded off on the zip line and shared boats through the final rafting section. adidas was an amazing team, we were able to relive some of the stories and jointly push forward to the much deserved finish line where beers, champagne and the Race Directors awaited us. It was a brutal and epic course and not too bad to share our 3rd place victory with equally talented and tenacious competitors.
Afterthoughts
Some teams complained about poor maps and trails not matching up exactly. True, but every team had the same maps and resources. There were sections that were slogs, relatively boring and long. True, but did those teams expect to zip line through the entire course? It was important to take care of yourself, your team, and maybe most importantly your feet. I will remember the slogs, poor maps, wet feet and a whole lot more. I told myself, this is the World Championships, it is supposed to be hard and it won’t always be pretty. But when all was said and done, we covered 815 km and went from Coast to Coast and Border to Border.
In an adventure race you never know what might happen. It is your responsibility as a team to draw from your experiences and make the best decision with the information that is available to you. Our team was able to stay focused, make smart decisions throughout the race, and draw on inspiration from each other and our supporters.
I was most impressed by the teams that had the drive to finish this race even though it took them 9-10 days. I was impressed by Merrell, who had late substitutes and did so well with inspiration from their teammate Donavan Simms watching at home. I was impressed by all the gracious and generous Costa Rican people we met along the course. It was a challenging race in an amazing country with fantastic people and fierce competitors.
Thank you to Tecnu for getting us to that start line. We could not have had such a great season without your support. Also thank you to Adventure Medical Kits for keeping us safe and healthy, and Brooks, 2XU, Julbo eyewear, Light n Motion, PHL (Endurox R4), Leki, Darn Tough Socks and other sponsors.
PURA VIDA!
Garret Bean
SleepMonsters
