Wenger Czech Adventure Race 2014
The Heroes at the Back of the Pack
Jan Smolik (Czech Adventure Race) / 27.08.2014
When you are only following the performance of the top teams on GPS tracking on at the leaderboard it is easy to forget adventure racing is mainly about adventure. It looks just like other ordinary marathon. It is only when you hear all the stories on the finish line that you realize that these people were on an actual expedition, where they were exploring country they were in, and their own limits.
The further back you get in the pack of the teams the more the adventure prevails. For the top teams that have raced in a week long races in the jungles of South America, the bush of New Zealand or the high ranges of French Alps, this is just an another ordinary race. But for those people at the back even a race in the mild conditions of the Czech Republic is an adventure of a lifetime.
It is always wonderful to talk to those people at the back. When you are the member of the organizing staff for 11 years even adventure racing becomes ordinary. But seeing it all through their eyes suddenly makes the effort of organizing the race worthwhile. I would like to dedicate this article to the heroes from the back of the pack.
Team EPO Safety First was completely composed of adventure racing novices. All of them had experience from shorter races but this was their first time in such a long race. Zdenek, well over 50, had a lot of experience with long treks (in the Himalayas) and various one day races. After the race he told me he was actually surprised it was in some aspects easier than short intensive races. He was glad they managed to use their experience from other sports as what to wear and how to take care of their feet. Thanks to that he managed to get through the race without a single blister.
Franta decided to compete to honor the birth of his now one month old daughter. He kept sending her messages during the race. “Agatka, I made it, you will be healthy. Daddy,” he wrote in the message that was automatically posted to the race website. Betka who was only told that she would race with them two days prior the race and Kuba the short selfless guy were other member of the team.
The team was the most vigorous poster to the race website (they were able to post by sending SMS messages). Thus we have learned they visited restaurant “Skilocker” where they competed with another team EPO Sandpaper. They did not suffer from the cold and rain as much as the other teams as they had a hit of “thermohysteria” and they kept changing clothes and adding or removing layers several times an hour. They kept falling asleep while walking and apparently also sending messages from their sleep as one message arrived three times.
Another team at the back was named “EPO Sandpaper in Between Buttocks”. It was their second participation at the Wenger Czech Adventure Race. They are the best in posing for photographs and as they made it to the race poster they had to arrive once again. During the second day of the race they managed to walk at a killing speed of “two naps an hour”.
While this is funny, it is important to note that both teams walked and biked tirelessly through both nights of the race without a longer rest. They are good sportsmen. This merely shows their motivation was to have fun and enjoy the race. And their good humor and sense of camaraderie carried them through the race.
Dutch Adventure was a team that was difficult to read. Before the race they looked as pros in their team sweatshirts. When they were the last team in the first transition area they looked like one of those teams you wait for at every CP. But during the race as they learnt to read the Czech maps correctly they returned to the race and they actually managed to get into the competition for the podium positions. They actually looked fresh during the second day of the race (though when I commented on this they told me they did not feel like that) and you could see they were racing when they swept through transition on the day three.
They told me their biggest problem were the mountains. The mountains appeared suddenly on their way to Jeseník. They crossed flat Netherlands, flat Germany, and flat Poland and only a few kilometers before arriving to Jeseník, mountains appeared.
Another team from the Netherlands Dutch Psycho Runners registered long before the race, but with only two people. They really wanted to compete and hoped to get another two people. But they failed to find them and arrived as a two-member team. It seemed they had some trouble reading the map and from the very beginning it was clear they will only pick the best bit from the course. Their control cards had more missed CPs than completed ones. They had to withdraw due to injury on day two, but it was clear they enjoyed the trip.
The 2014 edition of the Wenger Czech Adventure Race was hard. The mountains and cold rainy weather made it so. The organizing team had decided it is much more pleasant to organize a race in a nice weather and will order some sun for the next year. But the heroes from the back made an impression on me.
I hope they will serve as an inspiration for other people who want to try but have some doubts if they can make it. We, and other race organizers throughout the world, will be glad to welcome them.
SleepMonsters
