Adventure Racing – WSI Cycling Team

October 6, 2014

BattleFrog Pittsburgh

I never figured myself to be the type of guy to do an obstacle course but it is also rare for me to turn down requests from friends either. I was recently asked by a family friend to compete in the BattleFrog Pittsburgh OCR. What is BattleFrog? Well, this is direct from their site “To challenge even the most rigorous obstacle course / mud races in the market today, former Navy SEALs have launched BattleFrog , the most adventure-packed, 15K, 5K or 1K obstacle course race (OCR) series in the history of the sport. The race raises money for the Navy SEAL Foundation, the Navy SEAL Museum and Memorial and the Trident House, underscoring BattleFrogs commitment to memory, legacy and family. The obstacle course challenges are inspired by BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) Training.” So, for my first ever OCR, I decided to go BIG and tackle the BattleFrog Pittsburgh 15k!

BattleFrog Pittsburgh was held at Mines and Meadows in Wampum, PA on Sept 27th. The Pittsburgh event was the first time that a mine was included in the OCR series! Tim Castleberry, Chris Gillette and I did the event as a team as part of a birthday adventure for Tim. The course was 9 miles of over 20-plus obstacles with plenty of hills and switchbacks that kept us out there for hours (just under 4). We could not have asked for a better weekend….road trip with lots of laughs, beer and a very challenging obstacle course!

Our wave went out at 8:30 a.m. but it was the events leading up to the start that really put the event into perspective. A ceremony honoring fallen SEALS really made an impression and, for me personally, made me thankful to have people willing to put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we enjoy in our GREAT country! I am truly in awe of the feats that our armed forces men and women are able to accomplish and I was proud to honor them in a small way through the event (and challenge myself at the same time).

After a mini boot camp of jumping jacks and push-up’s complete with unison counts (or having to start the push-ups again) we were given the command to scale the wooden fence to the starting corral and prepare for the start. The race director made it clear that the goal in the open division was to work as a team and help out the fellow racers (unlike the Elite racers who had left the chutes before us). Being part of a team is something that puts me at ease so I was able to get my mind and nerves settled and really enjoy the start!

Two explosions marked the start of the race and the herd of runners maneuvered down a bed of rocks and into a field to hurdle a 4 foot wall, followed by another wooden wall with a picture window opening and finally into our first of many mud pits. Runners began losing shoes and I was thankful our team from Battle Creek had made it through without any issues. The next phase was onto a creek bed run. The water was just over my toes so my feet were numb pretty quickly into the run. The creek run was fun as it forced you to constantly evaluate the terrain, scanning for rocks, roots and anything that was going to have you face planted.

One of my fears going into the event was how I would handle the climbing obstacles. Coming out of the creek bed, we hit the first wall built of 2×6 boards, forcing the participants to climb up one side flip the legs up over the top and climb back down. Thankfully, I did not have time to think and I was able to get up and over without issue. The next set of hurdle walls I had to rely on my teammates for boosts to get up and over but I was determined to get through as many obstacles as I could! I really felt a sense of accomplishment as I was able to scale all of the cargo net obstacles and the A-frame climbing obstacle without hesitation or assistance. When I bellowed my first Hoorah! After the A-frame obstacle I heard a man behind me say “I am glad to see that there are civilians out hear that get the meaning behind Hoorah!”. Turns out that man was a former Navy SEAL who had broken his back and was told he would never walk again. What an inspiration! The man still had little strength in his left arm but there was absolutely no quit in the man. After seeing and talking to the man on the course, I had no issue attempting the 12 ft. wall climb. I still cannot believe that I got myself up and over that thing!

When we reached the mines portion of the event we were roughly 3 miles in. I thought it was so cool when they started handing everyone a head lamp to enter. The temperature immediately dropped when we got into the mine and I just tilted the head lamp down toward the ground and started jogging. We had one climbing wall to traverse but the rest was just natural rolling hills and terrain….until we hit the water. All participants were told to grab an intertube and hit the water. Someone said the water was 49 degrees and I don’t think they were lying. Once I hit the water, I remember telling myself to breathe as the shock just made people lose their breath. We were able to wade through the water for a bit but it eventually dropped off to over 8 ft. so it was time to get on the tube and start paddling for the other side. The picture below is me post water turning in my tube.

I only bypassed 2-3 obstacles on the course which was better than I thought I would do given the short amount of time we had put into training. I had some comical dismounts throughout the day, falling backwards off a cargo net, slamming my head off the backside of an inverted wall and getting my leg caught in a wire robe ladder that are still being joked about by my team. The event really made me push myself, both mentally and physically. I did things I never really thought I would/could do and it also really hammered home the power of working as a team. Below are a few more photos from the event. This event taught me so much about respect…for our military, for myself and for my team. I just can’t say enough great things about BattleFrog!

December 8, 2013

And they’re off…..

Last Night WSI Team Active Racing got together to kick off planning for the 2014 Season. Eric Cook was nice enough to host at his house and, since I was driving from out of town, I convinced WSI Team Active 2014 Kick Off him to go for a ride in advance of the team meeting.

That may not have been the best idea. Dwight joined us and is (for some reason) at mid season form and Eric is, well what Eric always is…a machine. I was a bit late for our departure time after making some much needed purchases at Team Active, although I was dressed and ready to go, my bike still needed to get prepped and I wanted to put toe warmers in my boots and hand warmers in my gloves. Not sure what the temperature was, I remember seeing about 20 degrees. While I was prepping my gear, I told Eric and Dwight that I needed about 5 minutes. Dwight said “Okay, you get all ready, then we will start spinning and warm up on our way to the ‘Dump’.” I thought he meant, we would have time to warm up, not that we would get on the bike and proceed to ride at 22 mph right out of the driveway! I got warm, but not much of a warm up.

We met Kathy at an intersection about a mile from the entrance to the Dump. It was too cold to socialize too much, but very good to see her. I had not seen her since she returned from RAAM. The Dump is a great technical morass of cement, tar and tile and, if you go down, something gets scratched or broken.

Last time I rode the Dump was 3 years ago, that was in the middle of the summer and I was much more comfortable handling my bike than this ride when the ground was frozen and I was cold. Nobody fell, though I did do some sight seeing a couple times, but all in all a great ride through the woods. On the way home, Dwight pulled and I locked on to his wheel as if my life depended on it.

My feet were so frozen, that they were numb, and (you know the feeling) I wanted to cry they hurt so bad when they started to thaw out. But then we went to Crazy Horse for some pizza and a beer…then all was good.

All got much better when I saw the team that I started riding with 5 years ago. Mike, Eric, Kathy, Dan, Danny, Hannah, Devin, Chuck, Charles, Dave, Dave Sr., Eric, Cameron, Dwight, April, Keith, JJ, Groat, Josh, (and I probably forgot a couple guys), have all been around since I started riding. (JJ brought his daughter with him, it was great to meet her too.)

There is something about the internal fight you have with yourself while you are putting out a big effort (or fighting the elements) and then get together with friends who do the same thing. It is a fraternity and sorority and a family. It was great to see everyone, go for a ride and talk about all of the great things coming for 2014. I value our friendship and look forward to an awesome 2014. For those who could not make it, we missed you.

Go WSI/Team Active Racing. Jack.

May 28, 2013

Getting Caught Up – A Collection of Race Reports

Fort Custer Stampede. Battle Creek, MI. 5/5

I raced the expert 40-49 div. which had 27 riders and was 2 rows deep at the start line. I positioned myself in the front row hoping for a top 5 start. As we got the go signal I got a good jump looking to make a move into #2 spot. Then my foot slipped out of the cleat causing me to almost go down and all the riders behind me to check up. I was able to calmly clip in and recover for a top 5 spot. The first two riders had dropped the three of us behind them as me were making our way through the slower riders from the waves that had started ahead of us. I was feeling good mentally after the first lap but the miles and lack of training this spring was adding up. I lost a couple spots just before entering the red loop. Trying to hang onto their rear wheel was the best I had until the switch back on the green loop at Erin’s rock they had dropped me for good. I was left alone with no one to push or pull me I had to finish alone. I was pleased to finish 9th out of the 27.

Infiterra Sports Adventure Rage 28hr adventure race. Oscoda, Mi. 5/18-19

This race started at 5am sat. morn. and the cut off was 8am sun. morn. Our team was Andy Weeks, Paddi Thornburg, Sara Williams and myself. Even though the actual race didn’t start until sat. morn. It really starts the moment teams get their maps and finish the race briefing which was fri. at 9pm. With a 5am start time and a 45 min. drive to the start. That left our team 2.5hrs to work on our maps and route choices, pack food and mandatory gear, leaving only 3hrs. of sleep. Awaiting the start with the other 19 teams we decided to just ease into the race not to rush and race our race. We started with an orienteering sec. with 6 CP’s. which took us 4.5hrs. and we were 6th overall. We then moved onto a biking section on roads to the Rifle river single track. Locating CP’s along the way. After completing the bike section of +-20 miles. We arrived at our first TA knowing we wouldn’t have food or water for the next 7-8hrs. we loaded up for our first of 2 river paddling sections. With a 4mile run in between the two.The first was 7miles and the second was a mind numbing 11miles with 12-14 portages over downed trees that caused me to have a complete melt down. I threw my paddle into the canoe cussing and swearing as Sara told me I don’t handle anger well ??????? I was tired of lifting and dragging that damn heavy aluminum canoe. I through so many F bombs. That’s what makes adventure racing so fun?????? So we finished the paddle around 7:30

14hrs. into the race arriving at TA2 in 8th place. We then started a 10-14 mile trekking section along the AuSable river with 5 CP’s along the way. We made it to the 5th CP at 12:30am to learn the leaders had finished. With a few miles left in our trekking we would arrive at TA3 at 2:30am sun. This was our last TA of the race which we finished with a 30+ mile biking section with an optional orienteering section with in it where time management would be crucial. As we arrived at the orienteering sec. around 3:30am a team we had been leap frogging back and forth with was going to bail and continue the bike section. I talked them into working with us to go get at least one CP. which proved to be positive. It took us an hour to go 1mile total before getting back to the bikes. We decided to leave the rest the CP’s so we made sure to finish in the allotted time. With 20miles and 2CP’s to go we only had 3.5hrs to finish. So we linked up with the other team and agreed to finish together. This was a great idea as it helped all of us stay awake along the ride to the finish. We came in at 7:40 am on sun. Finishing tied for 7th overall and 4th in the 4 person co-ed division. With only an hour sleep and a great post race breakfast I had the hardest time fighting the sleep monster on the 4hr. drive home.

Seahorse Triathlon 5/26

Not a lot to report with this one. I did the relay option with Danny Wolin as our biker and a speedy swimmer Kathy Roche-Wallace hooked us up with. Olivia came out of the swim in 25min. Handing off to Danny he did the 40k bike in just under an hour. I took the chip for the 6.6 mile run. We finished the olympic distance race in 2:22:45 with a first place in the relay div.

The next race on the calendar is RAAM which everyone can follow at GoKathyGo.com, on Kathy’s Facebook page or on the RAAM website 6/11-6/24.

Chuck Brenner