Urban dwellers in six cities in the UK and Ireland are set to see their landscape transformed in 2009 with the arrival of the Rat Race on their doorstep – a sporting test with a difference. The Rat Races bring
adventure to the city and offer urbanites a break from convention as they are offered up the challenge of one of the world’s most unorthodox, yet thrilling sporting challenges.

The director, Jim Mee, explains the idea of the competion: “The Rat Race is all about doing the unfamiliar in a familiar environment. Most of us live and work in cities; the rat race is designed to encourage people to use these spaces as our playgrounds as well. The cities that we’ve chosen all have an abundance of great places and green spaces and anyone taking part can be assured that we will be making the most of them. We get incredible access within the cities and people will have the chance to go to places that they’ve never been to before, even if they live there!”

Using the cityscape as the playground, teams will engage in a variety of mental and physical challenges: Contestants will run, bike, abseil, climb and kayak the streets, structures and waterways of the host city, whilst navigating their way around a course that’s only revealed to them hours before they begin. Buildings, streets, shops, offices and canals all feature in the event as competitors face challenges engineered right out of the very fabric of the city.

Challenges in previous events have seen competitors abseiling from Twickenham Rugby stadium and the iconic Tyne Bridge. There has been bike descents of hair-raising stairs, underground navigation in pitch dark tunnels, shopping centre assault courses and zip wires from skyscrapers. The 2009 events promise even more adventure on the streets of the country’s coolest cities.
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Well, since my last post, we’ve all been busy preparing for Primal Quest. Not only in terms of training but also getting the right gear together and planning logistics. It’s been time consuming but we’re slowly getting there. It’s amazing how after years of racing, every race requires a new piece of equipment. Our garage at home can no longer accomodate a single car. Just the way it should be!

Since my last blog, I’ve been putting some consistent training sessions with 2 notable longer ones.

Three weekends ago, Sean and I rode from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to Wrightwood and back along Hwy 2. It’s one of the most beautiful roads in the nation winding its way through the Angeles National Forest. When we got back to our cars we had ridden 130 miles and climbed more that 13,000ft (our 2 altimeters registered different total gains so we’re not exactly sure what the actual total is. one registered 13,100ft and the other 13,900ft). It was an incredible and satisfying day but I wasn’t feeling good at all. Typically long days in the saddle are what I’m all about. The more climbing there is, the happier I am. But, that day, it wasn’t meant to be. Within one hour on our first climb, I started overheating and even had the thought of ripping my helmet off which was clearly a bad sign. When that thought hit me, I knew I was not going to have a good day. I simply overheated. Although it was hot out, I typical perform well in the heat. But, I hadn’t been in the heat much this year and figure I wasn’t well acclimatized. Real bummer because I spent the rest of our ride to Wrightwood in a really tough physical and mental state. I kept telling myself that all this suffering would make me better acclimatized for Primal Quest. I think it has but it was little comfort in the heat of the moment. The ride back from Wrightwood was a lot better as I had somewhat recovered from the intense heat.
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The July numbers are available for the USARA National Rankings.

Presented By:

August 5, 2009

TEAM NAME/ POINTS
1. Nature Cure 193.00
2. Berlin Bike 180.00
3. Checkpoint Zero/Inov-8 131.00
4. Alpine Shop 127.00
5. Vignette 122.00
6. Shake-A-Leg Miami 101.00
7. Bushwhacker 95.00
8. Eastern Mountain Sports 88.00
9. Citgo/Gray Goat Multisport Team 87.00
10. Proformance Physical Therapy 82.00

In a little over a week, Primal Quest Badlands will start in South Dakota. There are approximately 35 teams participating in what has been dubbed “The World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition. As of the end of last week, that number has been reduced by one more as Team Nike has withdrawn after Mike Kloser was injured in an serious accident last week while mountain biking. He was taken to the hospital with a broken collarbone, a collapsed lung and 5 broken ribs. The team made the decision to withdraw from this year’s event and will not be back to defend their title (5 and holding).

Team Merrell/Zanfel Adventure (2nd place PQ Montana-2008) will have a replacement for the team’s captain this year. Denise McHale (on Team Peak Adventure last year in Montana) will take Robyn’s place on this year’s team as she has gone under the knife again to have her other hip resurfaced (one was done in 2007).

There are a lot of other experienced teams out there this year that will be focusing on that top spot while competing in an an epic location. Some of the teams to watch are Team Bones, nuun-FeedTheMachine, and Salomon/Crested Butte. However, do not count Merrell/Zanfel Adventure out of the equation just yet.

For those not familiar with Primal Quest (or checking out adventure racing for the first time):

Primal Quest Badlands is an expedition-level adventure race in which endurance athletes from around the world will compete with one another and against a 600-mile wilderness course. The 600-mile course through the Black Hills and Badlands will encompass various disciplines including:

Trekking/Off-road running
Mountain biking
Caving
Flat-water swimming
Kayaking
Fixed-line ropes course
Teams must pass through a series of mandatory check points along the course, the details of which will be disclosed during the pre-race brief when competing teams are provided maps and course passports. Racers change from one mode of transportation to another at designated transition areas. Transition areas and check points are staffed with race officials and medical personnel, as well as more than 75 volunteers from around the world.

Teams travel non-stop, day and night and the winning team will finish the race in approximately six days. Other teams will take as many as ten days to complete the course, and others will complete shortened courses as deemed necessary to reach the finish line.

We wish both Mike and Robyn a speedy recovery.

The 13th Annual Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race returned to Hawaii this year, the competition held on July 26th. Considered the world championship of stand up paddleboarding, solo men and women, as well as two-person teams, made the arduous 32-mile paddle across the storied Molokai (Ka’iwi) Channel in pursuit of paddling’s top honor. Along the way they battled tough seas, summer heat, physical and mental limits, not to mention, each other. This year´s long distance mile open ocean race offered a record prize purse of $16,000 and brought all the top athletes in the sport, including record holder Jamie Mitchel (Australian) who won for the 8th year in a row.

In an interview he described the race:
“It felt like six hours today,” said Mitchell, who couldn’t believe he came in under five hours. “The first two thirds was good, but that last third… it took forever to get close, then the current, then the backwash. It was definitely the toughest (race) of the last three or four years for me.

“It was real technical today. It wasn’t easy to catch the bumps. You had to be really on your game to get them…The current had a stationary wave effect. You’d be trying to get down it and it would be sucking you back up.

“The last couple of hours was pretty painful for me,” Mitchell added, supported by his cheese-grated feet that bore the brunt of the hard work. “I felt strong, just the conditions today made it a lot harder than previous years.”

I was checking out some of the photos and videos of the Yukon River Quest and it looks like it was an absolute blast!
Having the opportunity to boat 460 miles of the Yukon river with a bunch of other paddlers from Whitehorse (a Canadian town with a great microbrewery) and ending in Dawson City (a cool old gold rush town) would have been a great adventure.

When I was in Dawson City, the locals told me about a guy who lives in a cave across the Yukon River, and that every year when the river starts freezing over, huge chunks of ice block the ferry from crossing. However, every year this guy continues crossing in his canoe, sometimes getting pushed hundreds of yards down the river by floating ice chunks and has to drag his canoe into town. That and while walking through the town some random drunk challenged me to a duel to defend his honor. It is a quirky town, and loads of fun.

Here are some photos from the event:

And thanks to the PilotGirl for putting these videos together, visit her blog to see more of her great work!

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After a physical and mental torture, Christian Maurer (SUI) crossed the Red Bull X-Alps 2009 finishing line in Monaco at exactly 11.24 hours local time on Wednesday morning. Having set off from Salzburg armed with only a paraglider and hiking gear, the 26-year-old extreme sportsman came out on top in the toughest of battles across Europe’s highest mountains against 29 other athletes from 23 countries. The 2007 winner, fellow countryman Alex Hofer, was the only other athlete to reach the Mediterranean principality.

MONACO. Maurer covered an incredible 1,376 kilometres on the edge of physical and mental exhaustion during the planet’s toughest adventure race as he became the first athlete to plunge into the refreshing waters of Monaco’s legendary harbour on Wednesday morning, writing extreme sport history in the process as he finished over a day ahead of Hofer.

However, the Swiss athlete’s route to the millionaire playboys’ favourite playground on the Mediterranean Coast was anything but luxurious. As well as completing turnpoints at mountains including the Gaisberg (AUT), the Watzmann (GER), the Grossglockner (AUT), the Marmolada (ITA), the Matterhorn (SUI), Mont Blanc (FRA) and Mont Gros (FRA) with no external help, Maurer was also forced to withstand the worst nature could throw at him, including heavy rain, fierce storms and extreme heat. Yet, thousands of vertical metres over rough terrain with bleeding blisters and extreme flights despite sleep deprivation weren’t enough to bring Maurer off course as he emerged victorious in the 2009 edition of the race.

Third place went to the American athlete Hozna Rejmanek as he recorded the best ever result for a non-European racer. The pain in Rejmanek’s knees was so extreme during the final days that he had been forced to walk down the mountains backwards.

Only 18 of the original 30 starters made it into the final standings, with 12 athletes retiring from the race early or being disqualified. Meanwhile, Maurer began to take stock of the toll the race had taken on him: “My body is totally exhausted, I won’t move a metre over the next few days. I was on the edge during the whole race, but since landing in the water I feel better than ever – mentally, at least!”

The Swiss athlete spent a total of 42.17 hours in the air, ran for a further 87.32 hours (and spent a mere 100 hours resting!) as he covered no fewer than 34,890 vertical metres on foot and 999 kilometres with his paraglider during the 1,376 kilometres from Salzburg to Monaco.

The finishing area remained open for 48 hours after the winner’s arrival, with the final position of the athletes still on the course being used to calculate the official race standings after the cut-off point. In 2007, five athletes reached the line in Monaco.

Final Result Red Bull X-Alps 2009:

1. Christian Maurer (SUI)
2. Alex Hofer (SUI)
3. Honza Rejmanek (USA)
4. Aidan Toase (GBR)
5. Evgeny Gryaznov (RUS)
6. Michael Gebert (GER)
7. Jouni Makkonen (FIN)
8. Pal Takats (HUN)
9. Ramon Morillas (ESP)
10. Thomas de Dorlodot (BEL)
11. Julien Wirtz (FRA)
12. Andy Frötscher (ITA)
13. Kaoru Ogisawa (JPA)
14. Max Fanderl (CAN)
15. Tom Payne (GBR)
Jan Skrabalek (CZE)
17. Filip Jagla (POL)
18. Peter Vrabec (SVK)

Withdrawn:

Helmut Eichholzer (AUT)
Toma Coconea (ROM)
Martin Müller (SUI)
Masayuki Matsubara (JPA)
Vincent Sprüngli (FRA)
Lloyd Pennicuik (AUS)
Raul Penso (VEN)
Ronny Geijsen (NED)
Pierre Carter (RSA)
Leone Antonio Pascale (ITA)
Primoz Susa (SLO)
Christian Amon (AUT)

At 11:24 Christian ‘Chrigel’ Maurer (SUI3) landed in Monaco to become the 2009 Red Bull X-Alps Champion.

“Flying from the middle of the Alps to the ocean has long been my dream” Maurer said, just after landing. “And I did it!”

Maurer travelled over 190 km yesterday and did what many thought was impossible, by flying right over the coast to land at a beach east of Monaco by the evening.

He then hiked up Mt Gros, the final turnpoint, but when he arrived at the summit failing light and poor wind conditions meant he had to wait until today to complete the race.

Maurer flew and hiked the 818 km course in just 9 days, 23 hours and 54 minutes: this is a new race record.

The Red Bull X-Alps race will now finish at 11:24, Friday July 31. Rules state that the race closes 48 hours after the winner touches down, so the remaining athletes must push hard if they are to make Monaco.

Alex Hofer (SUI1), winner of the Red Bull X-Alps in 2005 and 2007, is currently 150 km north of Monaco, and flying fast. Race Director Steve Cox predicts he will arrive within the deadline, but it will be tight.

“This has been the toughest Red Bull X-Alps in history,” said Cox. “Athletes have had to contend with strong headwinds, fiercely turbulent thermals and a whole lot of pain in their journeys,” he continued.

Photocredits: ©Dean Treml, Olivier Laugero and Chris Hoerner/ Red Bull Photofiles.

It´s amazing to see that there is a race like this going on. Certainly an event that warrants the often used label, “extreme”. Here is a recent press-release giving details about the progress of the athletes. More coverage to come in the future. Watch the action unfold on Red Bull Mobile Live Tracking at www.redbullxalps.com

Christian Maurer (SUI3) is raising the bar at the Red Bull X-Alps 2009, creating a huge lead over his rivals despite extreme flying conditions.

Thirty athletes began the race at 11:30, Sunday July 19 from Salzburg, Austria, and in just five days, Maurer has completed more than 350km of the 818km course.

It’s a stunning achievement when considering he has passed the turnpoints around the summits of Waltzmann, Grossglockner and Marmolada with nothing more than his hiking boots and an unpowered paraglider.

This morning, July 23, Maurer hiked up through a forest near the border from Italy into Switzerland, west of Tirano. He was over 325 km down course when he launched his paraglider and started surfing the ridges heading west towards turnpoint 5, the Matterhorn.

“It’s looking windy today,” he reported just before taking off, but I’m going to fly low and fast.”

Defending champion Alex Hofer (SUI1) is further north, trying to close the gap on the leader by taking advantage of lighter winds as he approaches the eastern Swiss border. Continue Reading

This past weekend Aaron Rinn and Myself, RVG, joined a handful of other Pacific Northwest seasoned racers in the fourth annual Peterisoba. This is an underground AR that is held just out of North Bend, WA and is within 45 minutes of Downtown Seattle. A majority of the race took place on the mountains that divide the North and Middle Forks of the Snoqualmie Rivers and had up to 9,000 feet of climbing and took teams from a base elevation of 1,000 feet up to the Green Mt peak of nearly 5,500. This was exactly what both of us needed to help get us primed for PQ.

The race started off with a short bike with a switch to a river run or creekteering, to ensure that everyone’s feet were soaked. A quick trek up a ridge, a small bushwhack and a fun rappel down had everyone pumped. From there we were off Climbing up 2,500 feet for our first views of the race. From there we bombed back down to the North Fork of the Snoqualmie river where we bumped into a handful of gold miners…thought we went through a time warp.

The next three hours were filled with Steep climbing and navigating our way up to Green Mt. via old logging roads. Lucky for me my bikes are in the shop and Aaron let me borrow the Orange Bomber, which had a loose cassette and no way to torque in granny gear without issues. This made for some painful biking and lots of dismount practice. Soon enough we ditched the bikes and were on foot trekking to Green Mt and then the next mountain to the south. From there we ridge ran back to the North and dropped to the end of the line and then bushwhacked/boulder hopped to our next road…was this perhaps the access to road to Bessemer? Soon enough we were bombing towards the TA to a 12 hour rogaine and glad to get our buts and heavy packs off of our bikes.

We decided we wanted to take some time with our route planning and come up with a rogaine loop that made sense. It would be a clockwise loop and we would not go for any of the 90 pointers that were out of reach. By the time we got back we had completed our loop but learned that the Race Director was baiting unsuspecting racers into attempting short bushwhacks through the depths of hell, or dense thorn and mosquito infested areas. So we started opting out of the more aggressive CP’s and sticking to the loop. We by no means won the rogaine but were able to post relatively good results on both legs enough so to land on top of the ranking. It was an honor to see the local racers out and about on the course and to be able to participate in such a stellar event in our backyard!

Posted by Ryan Van Gorder

Untamed New England crowned the ATP/Salomon team as champions when they crossed the finish line 68 hours and 43 minutes after starting the race. ATP/Salomon, a team of 3 Canadians and 1 American, won in decisive fashion when factoring in their 16 hours of time credits they
earned by visiting 4 extra “bonus” checkpoints over the course of the event. Second place honours went to Team Kinetic, a team from Quebec, Canada; Team Kinetic crossed the finish line 66 hours and 50 minutes after the race began, but did not accrue any time bonuses.

The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel made for a luxurious finish line to the arduous 3-day test that was Untamed New England 2009. Teams negotiated muddy and rocky trails on their mountain bikes; racers paddled and battled through churning white water; the event featured hours of orienteering through the mountains of the Crescent Range and the Percy Peaks Wilderness, including miles of off-travel navigation; spanning the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, the 2009 Untamed New England was a
showcase of the beauty, challenge, and variety this region has to offer.

“A true world class course,” commented ATP/Salomon’s Scott Pleban, “you couldn’t let your guard down at all.” Other racers described the course as fun, but relentless: Andrew Reeder from rookie team Had No Plans explained, “I thought we’d come closer to finishing than we did. Now, I have no choice but to come back next year with the aim of doing much, much better!” Only half of the teams that started the race reached the finish line 3 days later; fatigue, injuries, and the weather forced some teams to withdraw prematurely from the course.

Team ATP/Salomon trekking through the Percy Peaks Wilderness on Day 2

The field of 44 teams assembled for Untamed New England 2009 made this the biggest expedition race (The Untamed New England Adventure Race) ever for the Northeast.

The official race podium results are as follows:
• 1st Place: ATP/Salomon
• 2nd Place: Team Kinetic
• 3rd Place: Berlin Bike / Eastern Mountain Sports and NYARA (tie)

Photo at top: Big whitewater on the Androscoggin River on Day 1

Photos by Luis Moreira