Swamp Stomp race reports.

Photo Meg Roberts

Monika:

Washington DC had never seen so much snow as in early February of 2010. Being forced to train inside, I only could wish for sunny and mild weather. I never imagined that my wish would come true until I received a phone call that the team Calleva needed a female racer because their female racer was stuck in snow. Without hesitation I got ready and 30 minutes later I was heading towards Tampa, Florida for the 30 hours adventure race: Swamp Stomp. The race consisted of a paddle prologue, three bike sections, two foot sections and a final paddle section.
And yes, the name of the race tells the story. The second bike section which was about 12 hours into the race and in the dark gave the race’s name all its proud. During the night, we entered a remote park. Not only the signs with “Do not enter, you will get shot” but electrical fences and swamps left and right with unfamiliar animal noises made this section an adrenalin-heightening experience.
The most epic part of the race was an hour or more (I lost the sense of time) of wading through knee-deep swamps….with bike. My inherited ineptitude for balance as well as my unsteadiness caused by seven Red Bulls (the race was sponsored by Red Bull which meant free drinks at the Transition Areas) made my graceless fall into the swamp inevitable. However, the thought of being stuck in the snowy DC made me appreciate the wet, cold and dirty conditions of Florida.
Although we finished unranked due to the loss of our intern, it was an invaluable experience. Before this race, all my teammates have been American. It is a new and fun experience to race with Russians. I recommend the adventure!

Fred:

When I received a call from Dima inviting me to a 30 hour race in the swamps of Florida I didn't know what to expect. I was quite nervous to be racing this competition with 2 crazy Russians and an equally crazy German. We got off to a slow but solid start in a five mile paddle section and after a short break, began biking. The section was primarily on the road so did not last very long either. It was the third section, however, that nearly killed me. Approximately 29 kilometers of running on trails and bushwhacking quickly took its toll as I attempted to follow my European teammates (who, curiously, don't tire like normal people). By the time we rolled into the next manned checkpoint that evening, I was spent. Sadly, at this point I dropped out of the race, wishing my teammates good luck and met them the next morning at the finish line. While I did not complete the race, what I did compete in was amazing. All that I can say is next year I'll make it through the whole thing if it kills me, which it almost did this year.

Dima:

This race was absolutely unique. It started for us from the record snowfall here in Mid Atlantic and very upset fact that Courtney can not make it down here from CT on time because of snow. 2 hours before our departure I got call from Mark. He was on his way to Florida and I explained him our sad situation. He promised to help and 30 minutes before our departure I got a phone call from Monika: “Dima, I want to go with you guys and I will be ready in 30 minutes”. That’s how 2 crazy Russians and one team Calleva intern teamed up with even crazier German female racer.
For Fred it was the first long race. I hoped that it will be easy in warm flat Florida, but it was as hard as it can get. The first 12 hours of very fast biking and running were pretty much warm up before really tough part during the night. The volunteer at the gate to the endless Florida swamp instructed us about a very limited rescue access to the area and extremely tough conditions after 3 days of continues rain. The temperature went down to 27 degrees when we entered knee deep water with bikes on our backs. The fun part began! For the next almost 20 hours we stayed wet or totally soaked, but always very cold. We finished strong and happy with only one little upset of missing all alligators that went into deep hibernation in this cold temperature.

The race was sponsored by Calleva Outdoor Adventure. Thank you guys!
More Swamp Stomp photos by Meg Roberts at TeamRacePhotos.com
Race results are here.