Training Log Archive: Timato

Headed out to Halifax with Audrey to do the Eco-Endurance Rogaine. I had heard good things about this event and when Audrey and I tried to go about picking a Rogaine to do this year we decided on this one.

This race is put on by the Halifax Search and Rescue group and you definitely saw that with all the safety put into the race. There were at least 6 different emergency points setup on the map where you could stop by a warm fire and to grab water if needed. Also the main road was highlited as being patrolled and when ever we were on this road it probably wasn't more then 10 minute between seeing an ATV or truck with someone looking out for racers in need. The race had 161 teams entered so there were also lots of people out on the course which made it a lot of fun to be constantly passing people going in different directions.

We started out heading south and took a long outside loop around the course. My goal was to get to the line-o section by around 4 pm to be able to complete it in the daylight. It turns out that the Line-O wasn't nearly as tough as in a GHO event and we should have taken a bit more time to pick-up a few more controls even if it meant getting to the Line-O in the dark. Came across the top of the map with a long section under hydro lines. The trail on this section went from flooded, to barely there back to easy to follow a number of times and made this very interesting to move along. We hit the Aerial Photot section in the middle of the night. We probably moved along here a bit slower because it was in the dark, but we were able to move through it without any issues. I really liked that section because of the change of pace it gave you in the middle of the race. The only major issue we ran into was at a small group of controls near the start/finish. I just couldn't figure out the hill tops were were trying to find and eventually we decided to bail and continue on with a plan to come back if time allowed. We then headed through the start/finish again and worked out way up the middle of the course to collect other check points. At some time along this point I realized 2 things. One, I'd missed one point with high point value early on as we worked the outside loop and two, we probably shouldn't have dropped any controls as it was probably doable to clear the course, or at least come close to that.

We came through the start/finish again around 9 am and now only had a few points we could pick-up without going to the far end of the course again. So first we went back and grabbed the 3 from the night before that I had botched up. Then as we worked our way out of the woods we realized we had just a bit less then 2 hours to try to get the one I'd forgotten the day before. We headed off with a 4-5 k road run around the main road, then headed into the woods to grab it and then had another 4-5 k road run back to the finish. We were able to do that in about 1:20 h and pulled into the finish still able to collect the 20 points bonus for finishing before 11:30.

Ended up in 4th place overall. The first place team cleared the whole course and were done around 8 am. Second and third also cleared the course, and finished around 10 am. Looking at it again I think we probably could have cleared the course, but I don't expect we would have finished before any of those teams. So we felt really good about our race and where we ended up. Also discussed a few ideas for next time to help us avoid making mistakes like forgetting to grab a control.

I'd definitely recommend this race to anyone interested. Race is really well run and finishes with a full roast beef dinner at the awards ceremony. Also the area is very interesting to navigate in with a healthy mix of trails, dense woods and clear cut areas.

C • Congrats!!! 5

C • Congrats! 16

Event: Tenth Annual Eco-Endurance Challenge
 

Goot time tonight. Played at Waterloo Memorial which is much larger area. Lots of running.

Run to and from work today. Keeping it light for this weekend.

C • Have a great time in NS! 7