This year's race was based at Willow Lake in Prescott.  Teams arrived and started checking in at 6:30am, just before the sun came up over Granite Dells.  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 huge field of teams.  For some of the teams, it was their first try at adventure racing, while for others this was just another race (right!).

At 8:00am, 26 adult teams (71 racers) racers bolted into the first leg of the race which was a two mile trail run.  At 8:15am, 9 more teams of Venturing aged racers (22 in all) also took to the course.  We started them a few minutes apart in hopes of avoiding a bottle neck at the rappel later in the race.

Coming off the trail, Team Monster Energy had a  30 second lead, but saw that evaporate during the transition to the paddling leg.  Three teams hit the water at the same time, and when they arrived at CP2, Anodyne Therapy had a 1 minute lead on Monster Energy, with Team Ascent-AR.com just 2 minutes behind them.  Several of the less experienced teams forgot to plot CP2 on their map and headed to one or more of the other paddling checkpoints before discovering their mistake and having to backtrack.  The other points on the water 2a-2e were scattered all over the lake. Teams could ger these points in any order they chose, so boats were everywhere!  A few teams failed to realized that the topo map was over 3 years old and the deltas in the lake had reshaped themselves thus making points that appeared to be in the water actually on land, and vice versa.

After the paddle, teams encountered the first mystery event.  Anodyne Therapy was the first team there, now leading Monster Energy by 2 minutes.  This event ws called Hawaiian Horseshoes and involved thowing 2-inch washers into a 4-inch hole on a platform 15 feet away.  One team took only 1 minute (Team Ascent-AR.com) to accomplish this, while others took as long as  11 minutes.

The trekking leg was next, and teams were told during the pre-race meeting that they would need their rappellng gear on this leg.  Teams had to plot CP3 and then go there first before getting the other 3 points 3a-3c in any order they chose.  There were many different routes that teams could take through the huge rock formations called Granite Dells, some faster than others.  When the lead teams arrived at 3a (the rappel) The two man Team Ascent-AR.com (Josh Sprague and Jack London) had moved into 1st place overall. At 3a teams were given the coice to rappel or perform the alternate task.  The alternate task was to plot then do an out-n-back trek to another point in the Dells.  At the rappel, teams had to drop their packs, put on their harnesses and head up flagged ravine and up and over the back of the rocks.  Here they met the safety crew that double checked their gear, and told them which set of ropes to go to.
The descent itself was 125' overall, enough to make your guts quiver a little bit looking over the edge!  Teams had a blast and race staff and volunteers did a great job. 

Coming off of the trek, teams found the second mystery event.  A huge version of an old Chinese puzzle known as The Tower of Hanoi.  This task involved moving a stack of circular discs from one peg to another using a series of moves that had to conform to the rules given to the racers.  Like the first mystery event, Teams took from as little as 4 minutes (Venturing Team Round Trippers from Casa Grande) to as long as 26 minutes (not naming names!).

The final leg was mountain biking with a short hike-a-bike and 2 more mystery events thrown in.  Teams had to plot CP's 4, 5,& 6 themselves, then ride to CP4 where they were told to follow the flagging through a section of hillside covered with scrub oak and weeds.  Some teams tried to ride this (flat tire city) while others pushed or carried their bikes.  Once through the hike-a-bike, teams followed a dirt road around the campus of Embry Riddle to CP5 and on to CP6 where the third mystery event awaited them.  This event was called Bike Jousting, and each racer had to use an 8' lance to joust a 4" ring  that was hanging up about 30 yards away.  Racers held the lance and rode toward the ring, if they failed to get the ring on the lance and return it to the start without touching the ground they were told to "Joust Again!" by the Joust Master.

From here, teams had the ardous task of finding 6a-6f in any order they chose, but it involved some very difficult navigation, as none of the trails (singletrack or otherwise) were marked on the map!  Teams had to use the SWAG method to determine which trail would get them to the point they were looking for, and our race staff learned that this was a lot to ask of even seasoned racers much less the beginning teams.

6d was the last of the mystery events, racers had to lasso a "bull" made from a sawhorse with a pair of bike handlebars as horns.  The experienced teams immediately out-thought the event designer and figured out a way to accomplish the goal via their own method.

The tough navigation and lots of flat tires took their toll on teams, and race officials had to shorten the course to insure that all teams would finish before the end of the day.

Then it was back toward the TA (the hike-a-bike was now looking more like a trail) and the finish.  At the finish, teams found 1 final test between them and the finish line.   The  dreaded WALL a 10' high wall that teams had to get up and over before a short run to the finish line.  It is really a treat to watch this part of the race, as teams manage to come up with a wide variety of ways to get themselves and their packs over the wall.  Team Monster Energy finished first overall and in the Co-ed 3 division with a time of 5 hours and 10 minutes.  Red Energy was second overall and first in Co-ed 2 with a time of 5 hours and 50 minutes.

At the finish, teams that had already finished partook of the hotdogs, hamburgers, fresh fruit, chips, and ice cold drinks.  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 over the wall.

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

Final Team Placings are  below, the detailed time spreadsheet is available HERE

    Co-ed 3 Person                          Male 3 Person                       Co-ed 2 Person                         Male 2 Person
1st  -  Monster Energy                      Team Matt                              Red Energy                                 Team Ascent-AR.com
2nd -  Ruination                                Salt River 172                         Team Tubac                                Start Slow and Taper
3rd -  Anodyne Therapy                   Beowulf                                   Team S.O.A.R.                          Team Inviticus
4th -   Monster Energy/racelab                                                         Team H2O                                 The Salty Seamen
5th -   Backside                                                                                                                                 Those Guys
6th -   Slow Neutrons
7th -   SierraAdventureSports.com
8th -   Swiss American Racing
9th -   Eye of the Liger
10th-  Rage Racing!
11th-  Kilquade
12th-  The Rage
13th-  The Flyers
14th-  Bringing Up the Rear


   Venturing 3 Person                                     Venturing 2 Person
1st -  The Choir Boys                                          Pepsi 172
2nd - Grandview Griffins                                     La Huella
3rd - Pure Punage 172                                        PCM
4th - Goony Girls                                                Park Boys 172
5th- Round Trippers 2919