Wild & Wonderful race report

Written by Nick Josties.
Odyssey Wild & Wonderful 24-hour Adventure Race
May 19-20, 2012



With our fearless team captain Dima off racing the Longest Day Race in New York's Catskills Mountains for the weekend, the 4-person co-ed team of Robin, Tamir, Nick, and Greg took on the hills, valleys, and rivers of West Virginia's New River Gorge in the annual Wild & Wonderful 24-hour adventure race organized by Odyssey Adventure Racing. The weather was perfect, with clear skies, the high temperature around 80 and lows in the 50's at night. Race headquarters and the finish line were at the ACE Adventure Resort near Oak Hill, West Virginia.

The race started in its traditional way, with teams bused to the starting point on the bank of the New River to load up into 8-person rafts for some Class III to Class V whitewater rafting. Each raft was provided with an experienced river guide for the 14 mile first leg of the race, ending at CP-1 beneath the iconic New River Gorge bridge (the fifth highest vehicular bridge in the world, and the third highest in the Americas at 876 feet above the river).

At CP-1 on the east side of the river, teams transitioned to a trekking section consisting of six checkpoints, all located on the west side of the river. There were three options for crossing: swim the river, or choose one of two bridges (the high bridge at 876 feet up, or the old roadway bridge at about 50 feet up). Team Calleva chose the high bridge and soon discovered why we were the only team to do so. Halfway across, we were visited by a State Trooper who happened by wondering if we were the "jumpers on the bridge" that he had been told about. We assured him we had no intentions of committing mass suicide, but his concern was about illegal base jumpers. After several minutes of pleasant conversation about adventure racing (wtf is that?), maps, route choices, and general foolishness we convinced the young man that we were not a threat and would get our butts off the bridge pronto.



Being on the highest point around and having avoided jail time, we felt the race would be all downhill from here and ran on to CP-2, CP-3, and CP-4 at the end of a beautiful ridge spur overlooking the gorge. The next checkpoint had a prescribed route in the race rules of travel, which directed us to the Kaymoor Miners Trail with CP-5 being at the end of this trail. It turned out that this "trail" was in fact a staircase, with 817 steps down to the bottom of the gorge, following the old path of a conveyor left over from an old mining operation and the 1900's town of Kaymoor, which was abandoned when the conveyor cable broke in the 1950's. Remnants of the conveyor and many of the old structures are still there with old mine openings blocked off with steel bars. CP-6 was, of course, back up at the top of the the stairs and CP-7 back up on top of the ridge. Along our chosen routes, this leg of the race was approximately 15 miles.

At CP-7 we transitioned to bikes to pick up 7 checkpoints along about 11 miles of brand-new and very nice singletrack. Then at CP-14 we transitioned back to trek to tackle the o-course, which offered 10 optional checkpoints. The team picked up three checkpoints before darkness fell and our pace slowed as navigation became critical. Other than being a bit confused for a short time, which ended when we literally stumbled into one of the checkpoints, we executed the o-course well having picked up 7 of the 10 available checkpoints before making a strategic decision to move on to the remainder of the course. At CP-22, which was the end of the o-course, we transistioned back to bikes for the remainder of the race having covered approximately 11 miles on the o-course.

We biked another very nice singletrack trail from CP-22 toward CP-23 and were doing well until at about 2 a.m. the derailleur hanger on Nick's bike broke in half. Being short on spare parts and competent bike mechanics, Robin made a valient effort to MacGuyver the derailleur back onto the bike, but despite the wire twist-tie, shoelace, and duct tape was unable to rebuild the bike. The bike would coast down hills, but would be little more than a scooter otherwise. At CP-23, it was 3 a.m. and decision time for the team. Most of the remaining checkpoints were optional, with a 6 a.m. cutoff time at CP-28 and a 9 a.m. cutoff time at CP-33 (the finish line). The rules of travel allowed a team to miss the 6 a.m. cutoff at CP-28, but that checkpoint was still mandatory, so we would have to get there and back to the finish by 9 a.m. in order to finish the race officially. This became our goal.

We figured out an alternate route along mostly paved and hardpan gravel roads from CP-23 to the race headquarters (CP-33 / Finish Line) and decided to head there first, then we would head out to pick up CP-28 which was only about a mile away, then back to the finish. It was a good strategy, and we reached the race HQ by 6:30 a.m. At that point, another team was finishing their race and offered to let Nick use one of their bikes. The rules of travel do not allow race officials or volunteers to help the racers in any way, but do allow other teams to help in any way they like. So lending the bike was within the rules and the team took advantage of it. We biked to CP-28 and back again to finish the race at 8:00 a.m., one hour ahead of the cut off. This final leg from CP-22 until the Finish covered approximately 19 miles along the routes we chose. The distances traveled by discipline were: 14 miles whitewater rafting, 26 miles trekking, and 30 miles biking for a total of 70 miles.

Proud of finishing officially with a busted bike, we headed off to eat and shower before the awards ceremony. It was during the awards that we discovered that we had missed one of the mandatory checkpoints, CP-32 which was very close to the finish line and we could have easily gotten it in the hour we had remaining, but having not reviewed our rules of travel before finishing, did not notice the mistake. As a result, we did not get an official finish for the race, but were still proud of our performance and looking forward to keeping our heads in the game for the next race.

The Longest Day and other trainings

With Untamed New England around the corner we are using every possibility to get ready for this brutal race. Last weekend part of the team that didn't go to Wild and Wonderful, spent long day and night in Catskill mountains. Marcy did perfect navigation job and prepared the most detailed race report. We used the same gear we will use at Untamed new England and it was the last big test for our gear and body.

Yesterday was another good training day:
Packraft upstream along islands of Potomac: (run, unpack, inflate, paddle, deflate, pack) x 2 + 3 hours bushwhacking with packraft, PFDs, paddles and all other gear + 30 miles of biking including 5 miles of technical single track. Biking was also with packraft, PFDs, paddles and all other gear, because you never know what to expect at Untamed NE race. In the process Druce learned that stingy nettle grass is the national Russian tree.

REV3 Epic- My first adventure race.

Race report by Robin Blendell



I know, 26hrs probably sounds crazy for my first adventure race but what the heck, go big or go home. This adventure started around the time I started trail running in Sept 2010 at an Odyssey Adventure's Trail Race. After that they sent me with emails about their other events: adventure races. As someone who likes to be outdoors and loves an adventure, I was intrigued. As I learned more about adventure racing, I was sure I wanted to do a race, but was nervous about my ability to navigate. So, I signed up to take an orienteering class last spring with my fiance with the hope of convincing him we could do an adventure race together. I really learned a lot in the class, but put the adventure racing goal on the back burner as I focused on run training. I ran my first 50k last June, then the TransRockies Run in August, 3 marathons in October and my first 50 miler in November and with a schedule like that there isn't much time for taking on a new sport. My run training continued this spring as I focus on the Laurel Highlands Ultra this June (and the Welcome to Watkins 5k, July 1st 2012, the day after I get married) as well as my first IM in NYC in August. Then, I met Dima after the Seneca Greenway 50k and marathon. It was a muddy, mess of a day in the woods, but a fun local 50k and while waiting to get picked up at the finish and chatting, I got roped into actually trying an adventure race.

Enough of the back story, onto the race! I was pretty nervous in the week leading up to REV3's Epic, I really had no idea what to expect. I feel strong in my running and have crewed enough 100mi runs to know what an overnight race looks like, I own a mountain bike that I pretend to ride, but I was headed out into the woods with 3 men I really didn't know! Adam, my finance, and I got to the cabin pretty late on Friday night and the rest of the team, Dima, Tamir and Nick, were pouring over maps and planning our route for the next day. I have run in these mountains, I know they are tough, but I've always on the trails and I was learning a lot from listening to them plan, I was feeling confident in my team and none of these guys seemed like an axe murderer, so I figured I was safe ;) . We got to bed at a reasonable hour, but 6am on race comes pretty early.

Paddling: I guess I don't know anything else, but a mass canoe start was pretty crazy. Our team got separated at the start as Dima and I got off to a good start. Tamir and Nick quickly caught up to us as we headed down river. There were 3 checkpoints and a challenge to complete. Checkpoint 1, no problem, a quick run up the hill and back down to get the blood flowing, checkpoint 2 was a mess as so many teams were still grouped together and most everyone bouldered up and followed the leaders to a misplotted checkpoint. I was starting to figure out what this race was all about! The challenge was interesting as we had to work together as a team.

We finished the paddling section and back to transition in good spirits and headed out on our bikes. Working hard as we headed into the woods, bushwacking with our bikes (a new experience for me) and we were able to clear the course and get back to transition in good time. It was forecasted to rain and be in the 40s, but so far the weather had been cooperating and I was eager to get out on my running legs and have some fun! So far, so good, we were making good time, hitting all the checkpoints, thanks to some good team effort and excellent navigating! We made it back from the trek just before 6pm, 3hours before our doomsday scenario. Tamir family was volunteering at the second challenge and Adam was waiting for us at the transition area to say hello. It was nice to be able to see some familiar faces, eat a frozen burrito, a package of beef jerky and a variety of other foods while packing up our gear and heading out for a long night in the woods.

As we headed out for the evening, we knew the rain was coming. We hit a few checkpoints as we made it to TA2, hoping to have enough time in the morning to come back, changed a flat in the rain (thank you guys!). But most notably, we went to a 2pointer 4k down the mountain, which can only mean one thing: Dima is going to help pull me 4k back up the mountain! I cannot thank my teammates enough for the amount of help and support I got with my biking and with taking responsibility for all the navigating. I can push these guys to run and pick up the hiking pace, but I my lack of training on the bike was pretty evident.

The night orienteering course was my favorite part. Not sure if this was because I feel most comfortable when I am treking and running, scrambling or that at night there is nothing to focus on but the race. The rest of the world falls away and you are lost in the goals of the race. This was the first overnight race I have done and which I have heard people talk about your headlamp playing tricks on your eyes in the shadows or the blood sugar lows just before sunrise, it is a totally new experience for me to actually experience them. I can't say it was a good feeling, but when sunrise comes, it brings an amazing burst of energy. We made it back to our bikes before 7am after clearing the o-course, but leaving one of the optional bike/trek points.

Not knowing how long it was going to take to get back to the start and how my biking legs would hold up we were able to get several additional checkpoints on bike. While Dima felt we had enough time to go for another 2 point CP at the top of Signal Knob and make it back in time, I wasn't quite sure. As a team we decided to skip it and head back. Unfortunately, we made it back with more than an hour and a half to spare, so we probably had time, but learning those lessons, that's what a first experience is all about.

Calleva finished 6th in prime division and 7th overall (out of 66)!



Race results are here.
More race photos are here.