GILMORE ADVENTURE RACE
2004 Race Report and Results
This year's race was based in Watson Lake Park in Prescott.  Teams arrived and started checking in at 6:30am, just as the sun was coming up over the old lava dome that is Glasssford Hill.  As the teams set up their transition areas, the race organizers were going over last minute questions and answers with the checkpoint personnel. At the pre-race meeting, race director Dave Sewell, and director of safety Charlie Reyes covered race details with the anxious teams.  For some of the teams, it was their first try at adventure racing, so it was very beneficial to have some experienced teams like Monster Energy, Team Ascent-AR.com, SierraAdventureSports and Backside there to answer questions and help show the first timers how to do it.

At 8:03am, 45 racers bolted into the first leg of the race that was a two mile trail run.  Coming off the trail to the first mystery event, Backside was in first place with Team Ascent-AR.com and Ruination hot on their heels.  All the teams successfully completed the task of flipping a 10-foot log end over end for 150 feet, then carrying it back to where they started.  After the log flip, they picked up their boats and carried them 200 yards to the water.

Once on the water, teams were to make their way to 8 checkpoints scattered around Watson Lake in any order they chose.  One of the checkpoints required them to get out of their boats, climb up onto a large rock shelf and then choose whether to rappel, or to boulder hop their way through beautiful Granite Dells to and from a flag over a quarter mile away.  Another paddling checkpoint required teams to pull a pair of concrete filled boots up from the bottom of the lake by hand over handing the rope they were on.  Two checkpoints were simple flags attached to trees standing in the water, and another was a volunteer floating in just 8 inches of water way back in a swampy cove.  A brainteaser awaited the teams at another checkpoint, a "Where's Waldo?" test that teams had to pass in order to continue.  The other two checkpoints on Watson Lake involved teams beaching their boats and finding the checkpoint volunteer a ways from the shore.

The first team off the lake and into the transition to biking was first time racers BLB Crew, who were just 2 minutes ahead of Team Ascent-AR.com and 3 minutes ahead of Monster Energy.  At the TA, teams were given an unmarked map on which they had to plot the checkpoints for the remainder of the race.  The teams took different strategies at this point, with some plotting the first point then heading out on there bikes, while others plotted all the points and used the down time to rest and refuel before starting the bike leg.

At CP5 teams encountered yet another mystery event.  Teams worked to unlock 3 combination locks (they were given a list of 5 possible combos).  Once the locks were off the box, inside they found a paintball gun that each team member had to use to hit a hanging coffee can about 25 yards away. Once all team members had hit a can, their checkpoint card was punched and they were off on the bikes again.  Checkpoints 6a and 6b could be obtained in any order.  Teams had to leave the wide trail they had been riding and venture out into the world of cow trails and fading ranch roads.  The teams took several different routes to the two checkpoints and then on to CP7. 

Team Ascent-AR.com led Monster Energy by only 1 minute as they dropped their bikes and started on the 3-mile overland trek toward CP's 8, 9 &10. This leg would take them, without any trails, up a thousand feet to the top of Glassford Hill, then back down to get back on the bikes for the final 5 mile ride toward the finish line.  Near the top of the mountain, with Team Ascent-AR.com just ahead of them, Monster Energy's Vickie Nelson sprained her ankle on the rough volcanic rocks.  But true to her reputation, Vickie toughed it out and somehow made it through to the final bike leg.

At the finish, teams found 2 final tests between them and the finish line.  The first was an elevated tangle of twine that teams had to carry one of their members through.  The team approached this with different strategies, some more successful than others.  The final obstacle was the dreaded purple monster, a 10' high wall that teams had to get up and over before a short run to the finish line.  Despite Vickie's hurt ankle, Monster Energy made a move at the wall, and passed Ruination to squeak into a second place finish in the co-ed division.

At the finish, teams that had already finished partook of the hotdogs, subs, fresh fruit, chips, and Sandy Gilmore's home made brownies.  In a display of true AR team spirit, everyone gathered around the finish area to cheer on all the teams as they arrived and made their way through the final tests.

The race was a huge success, and a great time was had by all!    

Official Race Start Time 8:03am
Bib #
 Team Name
 Coed
 Men
 Ven
 CP1
 CP2
 To Lake
 To Bike
 CP4
 CP5
 CP7
 CP9
 CP11
 Finish
 Pen
 Total Time
83
 Team Ascent AR.com
1
8:13
 8:22
10:05
 10:34
 10:49
 11:30
 12:27
 12:50
 1:21
 :30
 5:48
86
 Slow Neutrons
 1

8:14
 8:24
10:19
 10:50
 11:08
 12:00
 12:51
 1:22
 1:56
5:53
87
 Monster Energy
 2

8:12
 8:26
10:06
 10:34
 10:50
 11:31
 12:37
 1:34
 2:02
5:59
89
 Ruination
 3

8:13
 8:22
10:21
 11:00
 11:13
 12:04
 12:54
 1:26
 2:03
6:00
79
 Backside
2
8:14
 8:21
10:09
 10:45
 11:13
 11:58
 12:52
 1:29
 1:57
 :20
 6:14
80
 Slow 'N Steady

1
 8:15
 8:26
10:22
 10:52
 11:16
 12:18
 1:27
 2:13
 3:08
7:05
75
 Team Ramrod

2
 8:14
 8:23
10:14
 10:39
 10:57
 12:35
 1:44
 2:38
 3:20
7:17
84
 Friendly Pines Camp
 x

8:16
 8:26
10:24
 11:07
 11:34
 12:36
 1:39
 2:34
 3:25
 :20
 7:42
88
 SierraAdventureSports
 x

8:18
 8:31
10:38
 11:04
 11:19
 12:17
 1:37
 2:32
 3:24
 :30
 7:51
76
 BLB Crew
 x

8:14
 8:23
10:03
 10:24
 10:48
 11:35
 12:51
 2:20
 DNF
miss CP10
85
 Kilquade
 x

8:18
 8:31
10:24
 10:58
 11:15
 12:08
 1:48
 3:30
 4:13
past cutoff
82
 The Dragons

x
 8:17
 8:30
10:55
 11:45
 12:04
 1:21
 2:47
 3:46
 DNF
past cutoff
78
 Three Stooges

x
 8:19
 8:31
11:37
 NA
 12:22
 2:13
 NA
 NA
 DNF
past cutoff
77
 La-Z-Boys

x
 8:18
 8:33
11:44
 1:13
 12:23
 2:13
 NA
 NA
 DNF
past cutoff
81
 The Cobras

x
 8:17
 8:30
11:16
 11:56
 12:23
 2:30
 NA
 NA
 DNF
past cutoff

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