Storm the 10 Adventure Race
Saturday Sept. 20th 2008
Kelso Conservation Area
The Lead-In
Have any of you ever raced against Kalon Sparks? Well, if you have, you know why I was pretty psyched to team up with him to race the Storm the 10 relay this year. After we battled each other lap after lap last year when we both opted to race solo, we decided to join forces to attack the course together as a tag-team entry. For those of you who don’t know, the Storm the 10 is designed as a fixed course where racers are asked to complete as many “laps” of the course as they can. The 11 km race course involves paddling, trail running and mountain biking at the amazing Kelso Conservation Area. With our experience of racing solo last year, Kalon and I decided to race in a tag-team style, where we would race the course solo but alternate laps (Kalon raced the first lap, I raced the second etc).
The Race Course
Each year, Sean Roper and his crew from Storm try and find new ways of challenging their racers right from the get-go. This year was no different. Before the first lap, racers were given a sealed envelope that included a map that with a checkpoint that all racers had to find before they began their first lap. This year, the checkpoint was located at the high point of Kelso on top of the ski hill. After securing that checkpoint, racers headed to the water for a short 750 m paddle across the lake. After the paddle, racers had to hoof it over to the base of the ski hill where bikes were waiting. The bike was pretty similiar to last year as racers were forced to climb the back end of the hill using a series of switchbacks. Upon reaching the top, the course opened up a little bit with some fast-rolling singletrack that really got the blood flowing. The bike loop spat racers out at the top of the chair lift where they transitioned to a 3km trail run across the top of the Niagra Escarpment (really fun loop). Racers ended up back at their bikes and were told to head down the hill using a trail mixed with gravel, dirt and loose stone (the best part of the course!). Racers then dropped their bikes at the bottom of the hill, ran back to the water where they paddled their boats back to the start and tagged off to their partners.
Our Race
Kalon and I both knew that if we both raced well we had a shot at winning this thing so our strategy for the day was to go all out every lap and use our time off the race course to fuel up and recover for the next lap. Kalon started us off on lap one and raced a great lap at just over an hour to put us in a good spot. As I finished lap 2, it was obvious that consistency was going to be our edge as my lap time was almost identical to my partners. Back and forth we went thoughout the day, with our times either falling just below or just above the 1-hour mark. With little fluctuation in our times, we were able to stay at the top of our division from the 2nd lap on and never relinquished the lead. We finished the day with 9 laps in the tank with a total time of 9:10:37, good for 1st place overall in the Men’s Tag Team event and the 3rd best lap total and overall time of all racers.
Wrap-Up
Really had a blast racing with Kalon and was really proud of what our team was able to accomplish. Looking forward to teaming up again to defend the win at next years race. Wanted to also congratulate Kalon’s wife Jill who won the Women’s event for the 2nd year in a row!! Also wanted to congratulate members of my Aurora High School AR team who once again came together to race at Storm. We had a total of 18 athletes compete with teams either winning or placing in all of the events entered. Way to go AHS!!
A huge thanks right back to you Marcus. Having the two of you there was great reason for me to get my butt moving. Wish I could have challenged you guys a bit more and kept up with you. You both were flying and way too fast for this girl. Always a pleasure to be at a race with such a positive and supportive Running Free Team Member like you!