I wish we had this explained to us before the race and wish the racers also had a better explanation.  Not sure if anything would have changed in the overall outcome but it would have made it a much more even playing field.

AR World Championships 2010 in Spain!

UPDATE:  I apologize to Grant that wrote the very informative article explaining the Portugal race format and want to make clear that he does not direct or have anything to do with the event.  He was present at the race this year and thought it would be very helpful to all of us to get a good explanation out there.  Thanks Grant!

Chris Forne at the finish of the 2009 Adventure Race World Championships

After a long tough race, Nike Beaver Creek finished in a very respectable second place at the 2009 Adventure Race World Championships.  I have not spoken to anyone from the team so haven’t gotten the story from the source, but it sounds like the final outcome had to do with some confusion on cutoffs.  The latest post on SleepMonsters has a quote from Chris stating that they thought they had to be through a bike leg by 2 o’clock when in reality they just had to start by then.  Due to this, they missed three checkpoints in the trekking leg causing them to no longer have the most received checkpoints.

This race had a difficult format to follow (and race and support) throughout and I’m unsure how I personally feel about optional checkpoints and sections.  From the results, it appears that some teams skipped entire sections of the race while still finishing ahead of other teams that completed all portions.  Maybe I just needed to be there to understand better, but this doesn’t seem right especially for a world championships.

No matter what happened, the new world champions, Helly Hansen Prunesco of England, raced extremely well and strong to win in such a strong field.  Helly Hansen Prunesco received the most checkpoints and came on very strong towards the end proving they have what it takes.  Congrats to HHP!  Lundhags Adventure, Orion Health (last year’s world champs) and Navigator RaidLight rounded out the podium.

Congrats to Mike Kloser, Monique Merrill, Chris Forne and George Christison and everyone that competed in the race as it sounded grueling.  As much as I enjoy being the Monday morning quarterback, I miss being out there to experience it myself.

Mike Kloser coming in from a cold paddle.

From reading the latest reports from SleepMonsters and the ARWC site, it appears that Nike Beaver continues to lead the race.  The team came into the last few time cutoffs with very little time to spare (just about giving Mike’s wife a nervous breakdown) but continues to pick up most (if not all) checkpoints.  There is just under another full day of racing before we will know anything official.  Hopefully the weather gets a little nicer and Nike continues to race well and super strong.  The latest two reports are here and here.

Chris Forne coming off the paddle

Nike & Orion head out together. I hope Chris puts on some shoes.

Mike Kloser, Monique Merrill & Chris Forne charging in Portugal

The Adventure Race Worlds Championships have been very difficult to follow.  I honestly have no idea how Team Nike Beaver Creek is doing as far as the race lead is concerned.  The format of the race is very different from other races especially expedition races.  Most checkpoints are optional and if a team actually gets the checkpoint then it will be used as a time bonus at the end of the race.  For the first few days it was being reported that Nike was the only team to have received all the checkpoints (even Orion Health had skipped one or two) but at this point I’m not sure if Nike has gone to all of them.

Coverage and tracking is very confusing because most teams are in the same vicinity even though many have skipped most checkpoints.  I’m not sure how I would feel racing in an expedition race not knowing how the team is doing due to many variables.  Strategy is usually based on position of your team and judging whether you have time to rest or have to continue racing all out.  I know this is difficult for Mike Kloser, Monique Merrill, Chris Forne and George Christensen as they are unaccustomed to this race format.  They have a day or so more of racing so we will continue to cheer for them from afar and then wait while all time, penalties and bonuses are tallied up to determine the 2009 Adventure Race World Champions.

In the mean time, continue to check out the race site, SleepMonsters, Cris’s blog (Nike’s support crew) and Twitter for as many updates as possible.

Orion Health come across the line first!

After almost an entire week of non-stop racing, the top teams have finally crossed the finish line at Primal Quest Badlands.  Final results are still unofficial but it appears that OrionHealth has taken the top podium spot by racing out front the entire race.  Salomon/Crested Butte came across the line second several hours back and should hold onto that spot once time credits and penalties have been awarded.  Merrell/Zanfel Adventure came across the line third but it is unclear if they will hold the last podium spot due to an interesting take on the rules of the swim.

Many more teams will continue to finish up racing today and tomorrow.  Six hundred miles of continuous racing is super tough and all of these teams should be proud of themselves.  I think it’s a good thing I’ve been home enjoying short trail runs and road rides with Juniper.

Check out these sites for more reports and lots of photos:

Primal Quest

Orion Health

Salomon/Crested Butte

Primal Quest’s Flickr Photostream

Len Zanni leading Lance Armstrong & Jay Henry up the first climb in Snowmass a few weeks ago.

Primal Quest is about 600 miles and will go on for at least 3 or 4 more days so I have been more obsessed with the Leadville 100.  Of course the big thing with Leadville this year is Lance vs. Wiens and breaking the 6-hour mark.  Lance has become somewhat of a local in the Roaring Fork Valley and Wiens has been a friend for several years after adventure racing together.  So who  have I been cheering for this morning?  Len Zanni of course.  Len from Honey Stinger and Big Agnes is my dark horse to either be on the podium or take a surprise win.  Although Len works full time and has two young kids, he is strong, has been training with Lance and has been having an amazing season.   Of course I’m cheering for Dave and Lance and everyone else, but really we are just hoping Len can keep up the pace he is racing at currently and that he has no mechanicals or crashes.

My new shoes! Imogene, Wildcat & Fireblade

L to R: Imogene, Wilcat, Fireblade

What I really should be doing is deciding which of my new La Sportiva trail shoes I should put on and try out on the trail.  All three shoes look great and I’m having a hard time deciding which pair to try first:  Fireblade, Imogene, or Wildcat.  I guess it will depend on how much more rain falls this morning and how long I get to run for.  Tough decisions.  Although I’m no longer racing in the TransRockies (more on that another day), I’m looking forward to putting lots of miles on these new shoes.

As I finally finish up writing this, it looks like Lance is going to win the Leadville 100 this year despite flatting and riding with 5 – 10 miles left.  Although he won’t break the 6-hour mark, it looks like he’ll easily break the record Dave Wiens set last year.  Wiensy should be claiming the second spot on the podium and third is still up for grabs.  I hope Len can pull it off but either way it has been fun to watch.  Salomon Crested Butte is still on the heels of OrionHealth in Primal Quest with about 450 miles of racing remaining.

Here are top 10 from Leadville: 1. Lance Armstrong, 2. Dave Wiens, 3. Matt Schriver, 4. Alex Grant, 5. LEN ZANNI, 6. MAX TAAM, 7. Travis Brown, 8. Manuel Prado, 9. Mike Hogan, 10. Jason Tullous.  Huge congratulations to Len and Max and the Honey Stinger team!

I feel like the swim was a little longer than last year but I was faster which was a huge relief.  By no means was I fast in the water, just not as slow as my first race last year.  I was the last pro out of the water as usual with many of the amateur men passing me but only a few of the women.  This set me up for a better climb up Beaver Creek as I did not have to pass as many people as last year and kept me going on my own rhythm.

As has been the case for the last couple of weeks, I felt very sluggish on the bike.  I haven’t put as much time in on the bike as other years and have skipped all the local races which really gets the high end going but I’m still slower than I should be.  Around a half hour into the climb I passed a few other pro women that are great swimmers and started to settle into a pace.  The pace turned out to be slower than last year but not as bad as it could have been.  Once we arrived home, Ian discovered my rear disc had been rubbing so bad he couldn’t get my wheel to spin a full rotation on its own.  I don’t think this changed where I placed overall but I’m sure it made me hurt a bit more.

Coming into T2.

We transitioned into the run up at Beaver Creek resort with a great crowd cheering everyone on.  The run is on a combination of singletrack and dirt road and seems to climb and climb.  Although I was a few minutes slower than last summer, I was able to pass a few men and only get passed by one.  Not bad considering how I felt.

Finally finishing.

I finished in 9th place quite a ways back from the top three women: Shonny Vanlandingham, Danelle Kabush and Sara Tarkington.  With an amazing field of women I was excited to still be in the top 10 and to have finished the race.  I plan on taking a bunch of rest the next few weeks to fully flush this cold out of my system so I can hopefully start to feel closer to 100% again.  Check out the race results with splits here.

Even though I tried to persuade against it, Joy decided she was going to come and cheer me on just two weeks after having her first child.  No wonder we get along so well – we are both very stubborn and motivated.  The wake-up call at 3am came quickly but I needed to get to the start in time to register and get organized.

Having Joy and Selah with me kept me relaxed and my mind off the race which prevented the typical pre-race jitters.  Both the 50-mile racers and the 25-milers started together at 630am with a short countdown from the organizer.  I chatted with Keri Nelson for a few minutes before she stepped it up a notch and dropped me on Moore Fun.  Despite tripping and banging my knee on a rock in the first 4 miles, I was feeling well and looking forward to the remainder of the race.

Todd Kennedy (left) passing through the first aid station.

I continued to run well and steady for about 17 miles but started to slow a little at this point.  I was very aware of the large hill (I always make a point of biking down it and not up it) we had to climb and was trying to save a little energy to get up the hill and finish the final five miles.  Despite feeling well, the lack of training and preparation was kind of catching up with me.  My mind, lungs and muscles were feeling great but my hips, knees and ankles were becoming sore.  Maybe I’m just beginning to get old.

Finishing Troy Built Loop around mile 18.

My friend Todd Kennedy passed me at this point and normally this would have motivated me to push harder but this time I was very content to run my own race.  For the first time that I can remember, I had no interest in being competitive with the other racers and learned what it was like to race just for me.  I finished the race slightly slower than I had been on target for but was happy to have experienced my first marathon on such a beautiful course.  I think my time of 4 hours 13 minutes was good enough for sixth place.  Next year I hope to train a little for the race and get out there with Joy and Elinor (her baby is also two weeks old).  Maybe I’ll even try to drop a little time since I doubt I’ll be able to stay uncompetitive again.  Results are posted here.

Finished and ready for some lunch.

Todd & I at the finish. I think was his fourth time finishing this race.

Team Nike Running in the Jebel Hafeet Mtns. Photo courtesy Mike Bitton, CheckpointZero.com

It appears that Team Nike pushed hard throughout the final stage of the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, running up and over the rocky, technical Jebel Hafeet Mountains and traversing the rope sections with ease. They finished the stage with the second fastest time, just a minute behind the overall race winners, Team Desert Islands. However, in the end, Nike was unable to bridge the 26-minute gap to finish on the podium. The stage was just too short and there was no navigation to slow the teams down, so everyone was going flat out.

Sari and Chris Forne finishing

I know the team will be a disappointed with their fifth place finish but they have to be proud of the fact that they clawed their way all the way back from tenth place just two days earlier. The team will also split a nice check for $11,500, just in time for Christmas.

Sari and the rest of the team will be on a plane shortly and will be back stateside tomorrow morning. We’ve had a couple of feet of snow in the past few days…they’re in for a bit of a shock after spending a week in the desert. I’m sure Sari will be excited to shift gears and start the Rando Racing season.

Congratulations to Team Desert Islands and our boy from Colorado, Jay Henry. They had a flawless race against the world’s best. Full race results here.

And thanks to everyone for reading and for your continued support! Special thanks to Mike Bitton at CheckpointZero.com for all his terrific photography. Check out all his race galleries here.

The Desert Trek. All photos courtesy Mike Bitton.

Quick update on the race.

After 20 hours of trekking through the Arabian Desert, the top five teams all finished the stage together early yesterday morning. It sounds like Team Nike, Desert Islands, Team NZ, Wilsa Helly Hansen and Outdry/Vibram all raced through the night together, with Nike’s Chris Forne navigating for the whole group. Apparently it was really difficult for any team to truly break away in the desert dunes. More updates on the race website and CheckpointZero.com.

Team Nike resting in the shade of a Jeep on yesterday's trek.

Sari dumping the sand from her shoes. The team wore cycling time trial booties to try and keep the sand out.

With their strong effort on the trek, Team Nike has moved all the way from 10th into 5th place overall. There are 26 minutes separating Nike from both the third and fourth place teams. Leaderboard here. Tomorrow morning (tonight for us) the teams will start the final stage of the race with a 12km mountain bike into the mountains of Jebel Hafit, followed by 14km of rock scrambling and rope work and ending with a 27km bike sprint back through the streets of Abu Dhabi to the finish line.

I got a text from Mike Kloser this morning and he said that Chris has struggled a bit in the kayak but raced strong again on the trek. Sari and Micheal are hanging tough. They’re disappointed with their current standing but have not given up.

It will incredibly difficult for Nike to make up 26 minutes on this last stage, but the team was really fast on the ropes last year and I know they’ll be giving it their all to finish on the podium.

Thanks for your support! I’ll post one final update tomorrow morning.