Suburban rush

I woke up Saturday morning to a cold and overcast day. After my usual pre race breakfast, 2 packets of instant oatmeal apple/cinnamon I took my bike and dropped it at the bike drop. For those of you who don't know, this race is an adventure race, combining running, mountain biking and some mystery event. The race start with a run and take us to our mountain bike. After picking up my map I came and got ready as the race start is close to where I live. I'm always nervous before races but I was a little more this time as I was the defending champ from last year. As I showed up to the start of the race, I noticed that the usual suspects were there to battle in the solo male with some new addition. As the gun went off I usually set a fast pace. I would rather being caughtnthan chasing people. As the climbing began on the run, I was passed by 2 competitors that appeared to be new this year. We would eventually get into transition close to each others. More climbing greeted us on the bike and I caught up to the second place. By the time I reached check point 3 I had caught up to the first place racer. I knew then that this year would be a battle for first place. We both got to our bikes and headed to the technical decent. By the time we were on the road we were neck to neck. Reaching checkpoint 4, our first mystery challenge greeted us, which consisted in finding the picture of a mountain in the woods. I came out first of the challenge and would arrive slightly ahead at checkpoint 5, which was an orienteering course. By the time we finished, 4 of us were now neck to neck out of the check point. I passed the leader and headed down the single track. By the time I hit the road, I didn't know how far behind anyone else was. I reached the finish line and final challenge, dropped my bike and as I was finishing, was told by the race director that I had to rack my bike, which at that point cost me the race, crossing in third. Amidst much controversy, the race director decided to give me the win as there were no rules on racking and without me having to go back to my bike, I was clearly ahead. This was a though race with 4 solo males finishing mere seconds from each other. As for me, it was the seventh year of me doing the race, I have competed in every division I could. The good people at trailside physio were on scene and I took advantage of a massage as I was running in the half marathon the next morning. Happy trails!

Carpe Diem