US Adventure Racing National Finals – October 23 - 24, 2009

Pilot Point, Texas

Transcript of the Team Verve

Post-race Interview

Interviewer: This is Doug Long of radio KVRV with a special report with Team Verve at Lantana Lodge.

Interviewer: 25 hours and 31 minutes; 16th place overall out of 67 starting teams; Congratulations on the US National Finals this weekend. That's a long time to race in a very competitive field. The first thing that must come to most people's mind is why do you do these races? Have you ever considered that golf is only 4 hours?

Christi: Why does one do races like this? Well, probably for the same reasons people golf - challenge, to see if you "can", to be outdoors with good people, to have fun, and to try to get better than you were last time.

Peteris: It’s trying to answer the question - how far can I go? Then, how fast can I go far.

Murray: All of those, but also, these races give a whole different perspective on being outdoors, especially at night.


Interviewer: Tell us about the course. What were the highlights for you?

Christi: My favorite highlight during the race was singing "help" with Peteris while we were paddling. It was hard to steer our boat and Murray was working his ass off not only to keep us going straight, but he was also working hard at coaching both me and Peteris. He finally just started asking for "help" with steering, which made me want to sing the classic Beatles song. Peteris sang with me. It was great.

Peteris: There was an old country road somewhat similar to those rails to trails trails, just a bit worse. We rode our bikes during the night at a great speed with very low lights. Awesome!

Then, another time, just before dawn, we came to the checkpoint which was in water - that one was pretty cool as well. I would even say cold and wet.

Murray: I agree. The course was not very pretty, but the mud and high water gave an extra sense of being extreme that we enjoy. I was disappointed they had to shorten the course because of the flooding. That is what made this course so interesting.

Interviewer: Were there times when you thought you might not finish, or where you were struggling?

Murray: I think the word “struggle” is a good one. But I don’t ever think there was a time we weren’t confident that we would get through. In the canoe, there were 30 mph gusts coming at us from the side. It was a struggle, but I was more concerned about our forward speed compared to whether we could do it. We were so focused on time that Christi even told me I shouldn’t be filling up my water bottle. This race, I drank less than half of what I normally would for a race

Christi: We had lots of equipment problems. The first was when Peteris could not find his bike shoes, but he can talk about that. The next time was when my headlamp went out and billowed smoke. The other time was when my bike chain would not go around the sprocket without catching due to the level of mud that had built up on the derailleur and brakes. I was pretty sure equipment was going to be our downfall in this race. But then, Peteris pulled two extra headlamps out of his pack - awesome.

We also had a hard time with three-inch long thorns, briars and other "sharps" piercing our skin and clothes. At one point Murray had to stop and pull a spike out of his foot. He wanted us to see why we were waiting and flashed the thorn in his hand covered in blood.

The final struggle was when we had to get a point on an "earthen dam" that was under water. Wading up to our knees was ok, but when I slipped into chest high water, I was sure I was going to freeze for the rest of the race … and I did. Although, I guess for Peteris this is what he called a highlight.

Peteris: Hey, we also lost our clue sheet. So sometimes we did not know the exact rules. With regards shoes - it is both good and bad - I put my shoes somewhere near my bike before the first bushwhacking session. Once we come back, they are gone. The first word was of four letters from me, then Murray says: "Peter!" and I start apologizing. We look around, but the shoes are gone. So what can I do - let's just ride with my running shoes as in the old days back in Latvia. Although then I did not have SPDs. I question some teams if they want to sell me their shoes, but there are no volunteers. At start/finish TA we figure out the shoes have been found, but I still never got them during the race. After the race I got the Dave Boyd award for good spirit shown. I guess I did not express my emotions too loud then. And I got a Merrell shoe gift card.

Interviewer: As a team, when were you really competitive with the best?

Peteris: I think we were pretty good. All we were missing was some experience. The rest - we were as good as the third place team.

Christi: Our team continues to improve, but this was not our best race. We made mistakes that moved us down the pack, but we ended up doing ok.

Murray: Our fitness and stamina are excellent, especially Christi. I would say she is the real backbone of the team. Typically, I start breaking down in the middle of a race, and she pushes my pace. Also, when Peteris is navigating well, it’s like magic. The checkpoint just appears directly in front of us.

Interviewer: You were in 6th place at one point, then dropped to 16th. What happened?

Christi: We had some navigation difficulties that moved us down. Every time we spent time off route, we knew we were moving down the finishing places. There were lots of good teams, and the times were close. Every minute counted in this race. More than we are used to.

Peteris: I'm blaming lack of sleep in the nights before.

Murray: The course was very flat, so there were very few landmarks to use for navigation compared to what we practiced on. I think we needed to change our strategy out there, but that is difficult in a race.

Interviewer: Any really dramatic moments out on the course?

Murray: Well, I liked the time I was riding down a muddy slope and I turned my head to warn Christi and Peteris about a washout in the road. I turned around to shout, and my wheel dropped right into it. So I went over my handle bars. You can only laugh about that sort of things.

Christi: Only a few that will remain "off the record"

Interviewer: What's next for Team Verve?

Peteris: Offseason! Beer belly growing. Also, planning the next season. I'm thinking of increasing the team size to around 6 people, but that is still under a question.

Murray: Yeah, it is the offseason and time for some less intense stuff, but I need to get in shape to keep up with these guys. We also need to work on our technical skills, ironing out some of the minutes and seconds that push us down in the rankings.

Christi: I am off to Peru for a vacation that includes climbing three peaks over 18000 feet and a mountain biking trip to Macchu Picchu. I will think about what to do about racing next year while I am there.

Interviewer: Thanks for speaking with us and congratulations again. Back to you Bob

Bob: Thanks, Doug. Now back to music with Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony.

Big Tahoma Rogaine

This was my first Rogaine. None of my friends have a clue what a rogaine is. They all think it somehow relates to men's hair tonic. My understanding of a rogaine is that you run around finding checkpoints that are all worth a different number of points. The goal is to grab as many points as possible in the allotted time. We had 24 hours and our ultimate goal was to get them all.

Of course, this goal came after we stated our original goal of "training for nationals" without injuring Peteris' knee further. We spent a great deal of our conversation during the race on Peteris' knee. It hurt him the entire 24 hours with a few exceptions. We walked much of the route because of this. By the time we were 6 hours into the race, I was pretty sure we would not get all the points we were hoping for, and I felt fine about that. We have an obligation to keep Peteris healthy.

Usually I am the first one to opt to go back to camp and sleep. This race was different. Toward the end of the race, probably the last 3 hours of the 24 hours, I felt more determined than ever to go past the hash house and get the two points we opted to skip on our way out.

Mari and Kyle "Militant Hippies" were racing beside us the final 6 or so check points. They are definitely faster than we are and I was convinced they had more points than we did. It's funny how I always assume we are the losers in these situations. We have only been racing together one year, and I have only been in 3 other 24 hour races. A novice at best.

Peteris was SO in his element. His micro navigation blows my F______ mind. How can anyone see that much detail in a squiggly line? I get the macro navigation, but once we leave the main road or trail and head to the micro area, I am useless. This is the first race that I have carried a map the entire time. It was great to be actively helping with the navigation, but I do have a lot to learn. I hope Peteris will continue to teach me, as he is amazing and is certainly why we were able to get all of the check points.

Our first bushwack was up to the Hut. We cut up a ridge that was easy traveling. We were pretty psyched that the off-trail travel was so easy and clear. We cruised straight up to the hut with no trouble at all. Hooray! Bushwacks were going to be the way to win the race - and sure enough they were. Our team is pretty fond of bushwacking and Murray is always happiest when we are off trail. This worked to our advantage for sure.

We did spend a lot of time on logging roads during the race. It would seem this was the "easy" part of the race. We were thankful for the off-trail travel. It made the race much more exciting. Our bushwack up to CP 64 was amazing. We went up one ridge which led to another ridge. We spread out along the final ridge so we were sure to see the welcoming reflective tape on the CP. Peteris told us when he thought we were close, and sure enough - we walked straight to the point. I spotted it first (which I find exciting) and was super surprised at how easily we arrived at our destination.

After CP64 we "waded" through soaking wet huckleberry bushes. We were shortly soaked and were out in the wind. This ended up being the coldest part of the race. I was hording my warm clothes for the "middle of the night", so didn't put them on because I was sure it would be colder yet. I was wrong. I did break out my hand warmers and we passed them between us. Murray had fig bars and date bars that he shared. They were so delicious and made us feel warmer. We kept moving, eventually got out of the wind, dried out, and didn't get that cold again.

We went on to many, many more check points before being slowed down at number 40, which we never found. We targeted it from three directions and finally gave up (in agreement) and moved on. In hindsight, we probably should not have doubted our location as much as we did, because Eric had put the point on the wrong place on the map. It was his error, not ours.

About 3am Murray started to slow down. He was hurting. I knew he would spring back, as he always does; I just was not sure when. We talked him into giving his pack to Peteris - and Peteris dropped his pack. Murray's Fig Newtons were weighing him down a bit, so I ate three to help lighten the load. The least I could do. We had one more 100 point CP, next to another 50 pointer to get and we really needed it to finish strong. Peteris made the trek quick and painless and when the 50 pointer was easier than it looked on the map, Murray came back to life.

Now, all we had to do was get through the last 15k and then the 2 CP's past the finish line. We were lucky to run back into Militant Hippies at this point. They seemed to be "racing" against us. Being the fiercely competitive spirits that we are, their presence breathed new energy into us and we ran almost all of the final 15k back to the hash house. I kept thinking in my brain "I don't think I can run any more" but then I would think "yes, I can, it's only 3 (2, 1) more hours and we have already done 20 (21, 22, 23)" and then I would just keep on moving.
We finally lost the Militant Hippies. I couldn't believe how good it felt to actually pass by the Hash House (finish line) to get our last two check points. We walked the steep hills with plenty of time to spare before the 24 hour deadline. We chatted away about our training plans for the rest of October leading to finals. Peteris promised not to run too much and I promised to train on paddling once my wrist feels better. Murray just stated that he was going to continue his program as usual. We talked about where we want to finish in Nationals in order to feel good. I am glad we are not putting too much pressure.

We walked back to the hash house and turned in our passport. Eric told us he was surprised we finished all of the points and then told us we were the only team to do so. What a great feeling.


The Stats: 97km or 58.2 miles, 15000 feet elevation gain, 23.50 hours.
See the route

Big Tahoma

Team Verve @ Big Tahoma - Christi Masi, Murray Maitland, Peteris Ledins
Report by Peteris Ledins

In short - we did great! And now the details.

Route planning gave us 85 km which increased to 95 during the race. I had planned some 2 more bushwacking sessions we opted out of (see km 61 to 64km and also 47.5 to around 52), but any way the global estimate of 95 and then measuring 97 on a digital map is a very good result.
The increase from 85 to 95 was mostly caused by very short planning time of less than an hour. The backwards measuring of distance was created with numbers like this: 10, 20, 30.., 80, 90, 90, ... 120, 120, 130.... 160 - together 80 km + 4km of appendix at the end. (Once you figure out the route, you try to measure distances from different points in the route. This way you always know how much is left and whether you have to cut something short and how much. I was using 20cm unit string to measure distance of our route, so 10 is actually 20cm, or 5km at the 25k:1 scale. Double counting is bad.) Christi and Murray made fun of my numbers during the route: "It was already half half an hour ago," etc.
Opponents - 3 teams stronger than the rest - Maxim and Gena (M&G) all male team and then two co-ed teams, one being Militant Hippies, including Mari Chandler and Kyle Peter; the other one had O' Team Canada member Louise Oram. I was mostly concerned about Kyle and Mari, especially when I saw how fast M&G left the hash house after the start, I did not have illusions for catching them. After all - training race, painful knee (I took 800 mg of vitamin-I at 8 and then at 16 hours).
How did we do? Christi was as strong as usual, never tired during all race. I and Murray had our weaker spots. I had trouble around 8th hour when I tried to figure out whether to give up and save my knee or eat some ibuprofen and continue. I did not navigate for a while and we managed to make some small error, which did not cost too much as our plan was to go further and then come back, so we got a second try for the CP. Sometime later I was also floating a bit. I had regular weak cramps, but I guess it was good for navigating. Murray seemed to suffer close to the end of the race, but the very last run up the hill was perfect for him. We beat all hour estimates.
Our route, highlights (see map to follow the kilometers) - from km 5 up, CP20 to 68 - a lucky bushwack, steep, but good - some 18 minutes. CP30 to CP52 (from km 14), misery bushwack. G&M had taken the small creek bed at once. I took it for the last 100 meters; Murray and Christi went all the way on the side of the creek. Christi fell on some slippery branches hitting her shoulder on a stump really bad. Thankfully now she says that her feet hurt and that's about it. We bushwacked to 54 and back from it (km 17), very nice and open forest there.
Km 26-27, around the Yurt - getting colder. When running away from the Yurt, freezing. But found a money clip - full of credit cards etc. Turns out it belonged to a fellow racer Cliff whom I talked to after the race. I remembered about the credit cards when I was driving home.The best bushwack was the first one during the night - to CP 64, km 46-47. Very precise up to CP. Then getting wet in the huckleberries and freezing on top of the mountain.We wasted an hour on 40 (the only CP misplaced), did not find it and went for the next.Starting from Water 1 (around km 71) we were feeling short on time. Started to be aggressive on our routes. No mistakes except a bit of bad bad bushwacking where forest was trying to turn us back around 47: we could not find the trail for a while. After taking it we went back to road. Once we got to 59 we had ~3 hours 30 to go and a bit more then 15k left, so we ran a lot (at that time it is a lot). The last interesting bushwack - around km 90 down to road. We clearly did it a fast manner.
How did our opponents do? We saw lots of Militant Hippies - first time around CP27/36/54 and then every two hours or so. Our general direction was very the same with them, but some choices were very different - when we first met them I could not figure out what they were doing. It seemed that they were going for 52, but then came back for 27. However, they did not seem to go for 54, so I assumed they had taken it. The next big route difference was getting up to 64/51. They chose to go around - 31/39/50, while we did 49/31/56 then up to 64 by bushwacking. I believe we beat them on this choice - they were moving faster on this choice, but somehow after all of it we came out almost together to Water 1. They earned an hour on our playing around 40 which they chose not to even try. For 47 - they passed it at first and then came back after doing the NW loop. I saw them coming out of the small road leading to 47. From then we felt like it was a battle between us and them. We believed they had taken already everything but what was yet to be taken by us; we convinced to run just because of the possible tie. 28, they catch us. 34, we take almost together. We choose to bushwack, they go around. 57, we think we are in front, we don't see them. 24 - we see them 300 meters behind. We push. I ask Murray, what happens if you sprint for the finish after 23 hours of activity? We get to hash house in good time. And we still have some left to take 26 and 46. We take it, we come back. And turns out - we are the only team with all CPs.
Other opponents - we saw two veteran guys who were very optimizing their weight - they dropped their packs on each out and back CP. Robin and Cliff looked rather fast in the company of some Darci who was a first time rogainer. I also enjoyed seeing some clearly non-competitive teams - having their picnics or just fun in the woods. M&G had trouble with some of CPs and did not do too well after all.
Funny episode - when seeing Militant Hippies I always made some comments on their route choice or running style with the exception being after CP40 - when we are coming out of it and they are running by, asking "how was 40?" Rogaining rules say you are not supposed to spread such information and especially in this situation I had no intention of saying anything, so I replied with "OK".
Thanks - they go to Eric Bone for setting up a rogaining in Washington; Seattle Running Company and all other sponsors of the race.
BTW - venue was very impressive especially when the clouds went away - RAINIER is FANTASTIC.
Useful information - results will be here. Christi already wrote about her experiences here.