39 teams started the 2004 Midnight Rush Adventure Race, only 12 finished in the 12 hour time limit. I was expecting double that to finish. My first Race Director duties turned out to be a success from all that I’ve heard so far. A number of people commented on the tough first leg, a 16 mile trek (a total of 21 was on foot). I expected that to really wear some people down and it did. I like to run so I thought I’d make the race different and include more miles on foot than on bike. Many races have loads of biking and I didn’t want the MRAR to be the same. The nav wasn’t overly hard but it caused some very real problems for some teams. A good bit of bushwhacking and loads of route choices made Leg 1 the hardest of the day. This leg really made or broke your day.
All in all I had a great time with the race though. Man was it a ton of work! I really enjoyed race day though as finally I had people out there racing what I created. It was a great feeling.
Some pictures of the event:
http://checkpointzero.smugmug.com/gallery/191298
Well, registration for the Midnight Rush Adventure Race closed last night. We have 39 teams of 3 racing. We ended up one short of selling out but I’m still proud of the results. Directing this race was a big undertaking, probably the biggest thing I’ve ever organized. I’ve received great feedback from everyone so I feel like I did a good job. The final test will come Saturday when everyone begins the race! I know I’ll get some negative feedback from certain portions of the race. I can’t please everyone but I hope that the vast majority of the people have fun and enjoy the race. Well, tonight I’ll finish up the race packets and then I’m done! Last night a few people came over to do the schwag bags. Man, my entire dining room is full of racer bags! They are getting some good stuff though. That’s enough for now I guess. Wish me luck this weekend!
Race website: http://midnightrush.trailblazerar.com
I came across this article today while looking for some news on the AR WorldC hampionship: http://www.sleepmonsters.com/news_article_window.php?article_id=349 What a load of crap that is! I can’t believe they are keeping an adventure racer out of the country for ’souveniring’ a poster 10 years ago! Sure, we let terrorists in our gates, but not adventure racers who wanted a banner. Nathan is one of the best racers in the world and he seems to be a nice guy to boot. I briefly met him last year at Subaru Primal Quest in Lake Tahoe.
Speaking of SPQ, I’m off to Seattle in mid September to again volunteer for SPQ. This year I’ll get a helo ride into my point because it’s so remote! How awesome is that? I’m pretty excited about getting two weeks off from work too! Although my packcheck when I return will be a big fat zero since I’m a contractor. It’s so worth it though.
Midnight Rush Adventure Race news: We are down to only 10 spots remaining now! Six weeks ago I was nervous we wouldn’t even have 20 teams. I’ve felt from the beginning the race would sell out but about 6 weeks out we had 5 teams. This race has been harder than I thought to put on. Come race day, I’ll see how everyone reacts to the course that I think will give some teams trouble. We’ll see in less than two weeks!
