Posted: May 2, 2006

Adventure Racing: Wild Miles Adventure Relay – No Repeat Of Heat

PINE VALLEY, Calif. (April 30, 2006) – It’s not every 183-mile running event that gets accolades for race day temperatures in the 90s.

Participants in the 2nd Annual Wild Miles Adventure Relay were relieved and thrilled that the weather in year two was not a repeat of last year’s when the mercury soared to a record high of 118 degrees. The 2006 edition of the 183-mile relay race took place April 29 and 30 in the Southern California desert.

“Last year it was 90 degrees by 9 a.m. and we had our first report of a heat-related illness by 10 a.m.,” said race organizer, Lynn Flanagan, president of In Motion, Inc. “We were able to move the event date up three weeks this year, which helped immensely.”

Temperatures were all over the map during the weekend, depending on the time of day and location on the course. A 48-degree low was reported early Saturday morning just outside of Borrego Springs, an idyllic winter-time resort town near the Anza Borrego Desert State Park and the site of the race start. By mid-day it was sizzling in the high 90s inside the Grapevine Canyon, the relay’s 9.7-mile point.

The fifty five- to ten-person teams had staggered start times, ranging from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.The teams with the slowest anticipated times started early and those expecting fast times started later. Staged primarily on rural roads, the relay’s 30 legs ranged from 3.4 to 14 miles and each team was timed individually at 29 checkpoints.

Cooler conditions did not necessarily make the event a walk in the park for the runners. “It’s a true adventure and challenge to properly prepare for the event, to navigate the winding course, to support your team and to run numerous legs – including those at night with a minimum of sleep,” said Flanagan.

Team vans were stocked with mandatory equipment such as headlights and reflective vests for the runners with night leg responsibilities, electrolyte replacement drinks, ice, first aid kits and other supplies.

The hilly course had its strenuous stretches including the arduous 14-mile Grapevine leg. Undoubtedly the most challenging leg of the relay, the Grapevine course features loose gritty sand through a secluded canyon. The majority of the teams ran the furnace-like Grapevine in the heat of the day with only aid station volunteers to cheer them on.

“I loved the Grapevine,” said Sean O’Brien of the Los Angeles Frontrunners team at the post-race party and barbeque. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about.” O’Brien’s one hour, 56-minute Grapevine split was the fastest of the day and helped secure his team’s first place overall place and a finish time of 20 hours and 26 minutes. Runner up, Team NaCl, finished just 12 minutes back in 20 hours and 38 minutes. NaCl, an acronym for the fictional National Association of Competitive Lunatics, is also the chemical formula for sodium chloride, common table salt.

NaCl, whose team members are primarily San Diego County based, tried to make up for lost time after Hieu Nguyen, their sole out-of-state runner, made several navigation errors. The Middlebury, Vt. resident and Wild Miles first-timer veered significantly off-course during the relay’s second leg. Team members were able to get him back on track but it took about 25 minutes to do so. To add his Wild Miles initiation, Nguyen mistook a darkened irrigation ditch for an asphalt road and found himself in chest-high water. “I was soaked but it felt pretty good,” said Nguyen of his 2:00 a.m. water stop. Embarrassed but unhurt by the misstep, Nguyen scrabbled out of the murky trench and continued on.

The blunders cost NaCl an overall victory but they won their division (Mixed Open 10-person team) by almost two hours and seemly took their loss with a grain of salt. “We really just do this for fun,” said Meghan Morris, NaCl team captain. “We had a great time.”

“The Frontrunners won fair and square,” said Mick Gieskes, who ran the NaCl’s Grapevine leg. “Knowing the course is part of the race.”

“Mixed” teams include both women and men. The overall winners, the Los Angeles Frontrunners, a gay running club, also won the All Male Open 10-person team division but O’Brien, the team captain jokingly claimed they should be considered mixed. “We have one straight runner on the team.”

Last year’s event had the opposite results when NaCl won first overall by 8 minutes over second place Los Angeles Frontrunners.

Mother Nature also placed well during the weekend. Desert flowers were in full bloom giving the nearby vistas a carpet of bright green, purple and yellow vegetation. The first wildlife sighting of the weekend and a classic “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore” moment occurred at the Borrego Springs Resort, the host hotel, where a rattlesnake was spotted slithering down a hotel corridor. Out on the course, runners reported encounters with a tarantula, a Gila monster, numerous coyotes, a swarm of bees, rats, rabbits, junk yard dogs and plenty of “road kill.”

The course also gave the participants’ sense of smell a workout as they were treated to the scent of alfalfa, orange groves, cacti flowers and fresh country air. A dairy farm downwind from Check Point #18 offered an unforgettable aroma of large quantities of cow manure.

Team spirit was overflowing at the Finish Line Bash in Pine Valley where team members brought their runners home by running the last mile with them to the finish line. “The camaraderie and support within the teams and among the teams were incredible,” said Lisa Foster of Walk This Way, a co-ed team who wore Hawaiian dresses and skirts their entire journey. “We are looking forward to doing the race next year.”

The event benefits the Challenged Athlete Foundation, a non-profit organization which provides opportunities and support to people with physical disabilities to pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and competitive athletics.

For full results and information on how to reserve a spot for the 2007 Wild Miles Adventure Relay, visit www.wildmiles.com or call In Motion, Inc. at (760) 692-2900.

 
Top Finishers:
10-Person Teams                                 Hours/Minutes
Los Angeles Frontrunners (All Male)        20:26
NaCl (Mixed)                                         20:38
Night Flyers (Mixed)                               22:35
MAWTS-1 (All Male Military)                   23:31
Liquid Carbs (Mixed Masters)                  23:34
 
5-Person Teams
Too Fat Too Slow Too Ugly (All Male)      24:12
ARR We There Yet? (Mixed)                   25:49
Biffle Dinked (All Male Masters)               29:19

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