Dino CIA 12hr AR...Back at it, the right and fun way

 After almost one year without Adventure Race together the TJ79s were finally back as a 3 male team for the 2020 edition of the DINO CIA 12hr in Lafayette, Indiana (http://www.dinoseries.com/central-indiana-adventure/)

Marc and Matt got Chris to join them for his first AR knowing that he will handle it like it was nothing...and they were right. 

For once, the full team was ready and all packed for the race the night before at 10:30pm, which gave them enough time for a nice night. Lots of new racers were here which is really exiting for the development of Adventure Racing.

As a first, the all team was ready 5min before the start and without map but on kick scooters or long board. At the start bell and as usual, the pink and blue went for a full speed start crossing some patches off grass before jumping on their wheeled vehicles to rush down the main park road direction  the visitor center to finally get the race map along the coordinate of the first 2 CPs.

After a quick but not the fastest plotting among the field, they punched the first CP in 3rd position...first little mistake from Matt who missed a turn to head to the next CP. The mistake was resolved quickly and once back on the right track the TJ79s were in middle of the pack...They climbed back to the top 5 during the next 12km of wheeled fun and finally arrived at the CP2 which was a transition to a canoe leg.

The plotting went faster this time and they started their progression in the canoe....2min after starting paddling Marc noticed that something was wrong, impossible to turn the canoe.....and he was right as the team boarded the canoe in the wrong way. The mistake got corrected pretty quickly as for the first time ever the team flipped the canoe and were wet and cold and would stay this way for the rest of the canoe leg.

What should have been the strength of the team today with 2 international rowers on the boat became a slow progression in the shallow stream. Clearly not a good day for 3 dudes in the boat, the low level of the stream and the weight of our 3 TJ79s led to the need of jumping out of the canoe too many times and dragging it too often. 

The first 2 CPs of this leg were cleared quickly, and after removing the water from the canoe the team continued their slow progression in company of RIB team. 

Landing for the 2 next CPs at almost the end of the legs, 3 boats were in front and the team was apparently  still in the top 5. Back to the boat, RIB were right in front and landed to the TA for the first trek 2min ahead. 

Quick plotting and decision on the way for the next 3CPs, and the boys were now on their legs. After the first CP on the river shore, they passed RIB on the road on the way to the next CPs. The extra map that was given at the end of the canoe leg was used to reach on the top of Prophet Rock. They kept their lead reaching the next CP using the trail system depicted on the extra map, a statue in Battlefied and arrived back at the race start passing 2 other teams before plotting and jumping on the bike for the next leg. 

The estimation was that 1 or 2 team(s) were in front, good!!!! The decision was made to go to the north of the map first before heading on the way back for a MTB trail section. The choice was made as the CPs on the MTB trail were plotted on a separate map and right on the trail so no risk other than finding the trail head. This would make the way back easier just focusing on having a nice pace. It also allowed to clear CP12 which had an obvious access from the park, at least more obvious than going the other way. 

A bit of hesitation for CP13 as Matt didn’t realize that the county boarder on the map was right on the road going to this CP...after some slowing down and thinking, Matt finally got it and CP13 was cleared. RIB was arriving when TJ79 was living this CP and the lead built during the previous leg was evaporating.

The lead would totally disappear because of a mistake in the scout camp where they went for the wrong archery range. Finally reaching the right one, RIB was already leaving the camp and TJ79 had now to clear an archery challenge. Let’s make it clear, without Chris, Marc and Matt will probably still be shooting arrows all over the archery range at this time. Well Chris made most of the job in less than 10minutes and after getting a last CP just next to the archery range, the team was now heading to the MTB trail. On the way they punched CP16 before some gravel fun going south.

The MTB trail was a blast for the all team, flowy and fast trail with 3 CPs. Back on the road, the TJ79 were on their way to transition again in 4th position for what will be the last leg of the race, a long trek in the Prophetstwon state park. 

RIB were leaving when TJ79 arrived and DINO team was plotting....the team realized quickly that the 7 last CPs were already plotted on an extra map they got at the end of the canoe leg and skipped the plotting to save a bit of time. They left the last TA in 3rd position, it was time for a last battle as RIB was approximatively 10min ahead and DINO just left. 

The choice was made to head for 3CPs at the east first as the longest distance will need to be covered and as more orienteering was needed, so better doing it when the tanks were not empty. First CP26 then 27 where they caught up with RIB as they had some difficulty to find the CP. 

After punching CP27 and seeing RIB getting on their way back to the west by the same trail they came here, the TJ79s went up to the road to try another strategy....it didn’t work, RIB jumped in front of them close to CP25.,,no gain, no loss.

Matt made a right call and aimed almost directly to CP25 exactly when RIB was punching it....one good call for a bad one, as Matt didn’t see the trail going right from CP25 to the west in direction of CP24...Instead the boys were now bushwhacking in a swampy area to get back on another trail..well RIB was still in front and the TJ79s were pushing to keep up and try to catch them.

Almost caught up at CP24 and now the 2 teams were in direction of the 3 west last CPs, 2 minutes of each other. 

Once reaching the road, RIB disappeared, clearly they made a different choice for getting those last 3 CPs. It was not the time to worry about it and the team decided to aim for the furthest and obvious  CP22 to then punched on their way back CP23 which was also along a trail keeping. From CP23, the TJ79s went down a slope to follow the edge of a cornfield heading to the east end as CP21 was indicated at the extremity of the cornfield...and it was, well 20/30feet from the end but no time was lost looking for it as it was also indicated at the edge of vegetation and meadow.

Back on the top of the slop on the direction to the visitor center, Marc noticed a team running back on the track from the furthest CP....It was RIB also heading to the finish line, but TJ79 was now just a little bit closer to the end and were leading on the west side with no idea where DINO was. 

The last 2km were done pushing to keep some distance with RIB and finally finishing the course and clearing it in 10hr54min....but wait, DINO team was not here neither.....Yes!!!! The TJ79s were first, not even 2min after  RIB also crossed the finish line...unbelievable to all finish so close after almost 11hr and a full day passing each other. DINO arrived 15min after and the top3 teams  (top4 to be exact as Mike Garrison raced as solo along RIB) were done.(http://www.dinoseries.com/storage/results/2020/cia/CIA-12-Results.html)

Big shout out to Brian, the organizer, for again coming up with new ideas and setting up a nice race in an area which doesn’t look like the easiest place for AR. 

As always a big thanks to all the volunteers helping and giving some of their time to let us have so much fun. 

This course was a first on many points:

- First race for Chris who handled it like a champ....but we had no doubt about it 

- First canoe flip....and obviously on a cold day and in cold water 

- First scooter/long board leg.....as always Brian the organizer found a new idea to spice up his race

- First time finishing with such a small gap between the first 3/4 teams....it made the whole day intense and fun 

- First time clearing a DINO course...one last thing on the bucket list :P

The qualification for USARA National 2021 is done and so the objective was achieved with some extra bonus taking the first place

Topo Trail Marathon to finish a rough year on a good note

After being stuck 8 weeks in Taiwan waiting for Visa after their wedding, Matt and Vivian were back in US....just right on time for the Topo Trail Marathon. On time yes, but only 2 days before the race with a 24hrs trip and 13hrs jet lag. 

Better being out there in the woods than unsuccessfully trying to sleep, so Matt signed up last minute the night before the 2019 Topo Trail Marathon. 

As expected, short night and Matt woke up at 3am, plenty of time for breakfast and preparing the bottles and drink for the 42km ahead. 

Beautiful sunny day with temperature around 8degC which allowed for short sleeve outfit and not too much worry about hydratation. 

At 9am the 50 runners of the full marathon were set free 15min before the half marathon runners and 20min before the 10k group. 

Matt and Billy took the lead of the pack, chitchatting getting into the pace on the paved part of the race. First turn left and first (and only) mistake, taking the first trail on the right which turned out to be the end of the loop :P

Back on the road, pushing a bit to take the lead again before hitting  the right trail this time half a mile later.

Matt kept a comfortable pace accompanied by Billy and without noticing it they started to create a little gap...they will keep all along the race as no runners will catch them for the next 40k. On the last couple of miles the track was running closed to another part of the race and Matt and Billy could see runners from the 10km race pushing their way on the trail.

Finishing the first of the 4th laps together after 58min and some muddy and sometime overgrown fun trails, Matt slowed down after changing his hand bottle. 

The decision was made to keep it easy and not following Billy who took the lead, first as the lack of sleep was really present and second to make sure to finish the race strong and trying to avoid to hit the wall. With all the 500+ runners already on the loop, the trails became more and more slippery and muddy. A bit of stomachache in this lap which was cleared after a quick stop outside the trail :P 

Second lap finished and Matt was 2mins behind Billy feeling quite sleepy but with good legs. After grabbing a new bottle and starting a new lap, it was time to get a caffeine pillto shake the sleepiness out and getting ready for the second half of the race. Half an hour later, the caffeine kicked, the legs were still moving good and the stomachache was gone allowing to keep on the energy intake strategy. 

Reaching miles 22, it was time for Matt to start pushing to finish on a strong note. Around mile 23 Matt saw Billy right ahead of him giving him motivation to keep pushing an try to catch up.

Few minutes after, Matt passed Billy that went down on the trail around mile 20 and had to slow down his way to the finish.The 2 last miles went good with still some energy left for Matt to create a little gap and finishing the 4th and last lap in 1st position just 3min ahead of Billy.

The race went pretty good, pace and energy intake where spot on and well adapted for the lack of sleep. Brian did a really good job changing the race loop last minute because of the rain and still hit pretty much an exact marathon distance.

A good way to finish the 2019 season which had been a bit rough for the TJ79 US members with injuries and life events keeping them to train and race together as much as they wanted....now it is time to recover and think about 2020. The rest of the year will be a mix of orienteering events and short trail races used as tempo run training. 

SEE YOU ALL IN 2020 FOR NEW ADVENTURES!!!!!! 

Long silence period...but we are back and here some updates!!!

This year and season has been challenging at different levels, travels, injuries....even some weddings for what I heard 😁.

Despite all the life events happening, TJ79 US were  still at it and raced here and there.

First big race was at the end of 2018 in Chile, were Marc and Matt met our friends from TJ79 Barcelona for ElCruce stage trail run race. 

3 stages for a total of 100km and more than 3000m of elevation in central Chile. Marc and Matt raced in the duo category and despite not being well prepared for mountain climbs they took a final 4th place in the male duo division. An unexpected results and a race that will have some long impact on 2019 season.

Back in mid December, it was time to rest and recover from this race....high time. Not long after, Marc started to have issue in is lower back and it will take him the all season to get this injury fixed and started training again....

Not much group ride this season as spring turned to be a rainy mess and lot of work during weekend and family life added on the crappy weather. 

Matt participated to different short orienteering meeting to work on navigation skills for bigger event and finally race the 361 Frigid 4hr Rogain where he took 1st overall finishing just seconds ahead of the Minto Father and Son team. 

Matt the raced in 12hr Conquer the cross road Roagain in Indianna. The race went extremely well and after 68k and 1800m D+ of navigation Matt took first overall for the second year in a raw.

As Marc was still injured Matt teamed up with other great AR racers from No Complaints, Doug and Jim, to win the 12hr NO Sleep AR in early June. A nice result with a competitive field but with the beginning of pain in left legs that would last for month.

After taking first in the Topo summer series trail race at Big Bone leek stat park, Matt went to Europe for work and stopped in France for some mountain time where with an old friend Arthur. They spent time mountain-biking in the Alps with not much run to spare Matt's left legs.

Back to US, Matt started to work on clearing his leg issue with the help of Iain Hughues who will get this issue fixed in couple of physical therapy session.

To add to the left leg injury, Matt crashed pretty bad during the Red Kite round 200k gravel race. After DNF, Matt was brought back to finish line by Doug who also dropped the race to help (less than poor organisation on this race with nothing set-up to pick up racer in case of issue).

 Lot of wounds and scratches with a pretty bad right hip cut that will take more than one month to completely hill.

At the same time Matt teamed up with Doug again. 2 weeks after the crash, to race the 361 Dead Fred 9hr AR where they took first overall. A great day with a perfect strategic navigation from Doug put them in a serious lead by the middle of the race.

By the end of Spetember, Matt left leg was finally good and the serious run training would restart with the objective to run the Ultra Maokong 50Km trail race in Taiwan where Matt will stay for his traditional weeding with Vivian.

Before that Matt joined Bill Fletcher from OutlawDonkey at teh Dino CIA 12hr AE Race along with a young new female teammate, Mackenzie, to help Bill for a last minute qualification for USARA National. Race went pretty well for this new trio and they took a nice 3rd overall and 2nd Co-Ed team places after 11hr27min. Job done!!!


To continue to work on long endurance and navigation, Matt put a last race before going to Taiwan during the Topo East Fork 12hr Challenge, and after a really entertaining race design with couple of lack crossing swimming, Matt got a 1st overall finish. 

Couple of orienteering meeting, some trail run but obviously not enough hills after and Matt was on the starting line of the UMK50 at 4am after only 2hr of sleep and a capricious stomach. After 9hr01min, 50km and 3500m D+ on wet technical and steep hills of Taiwan, Matt crossed the finish line 3rd Ex-aequo. The race went better than expected with the short sleep and stomachache for most of the race who led to a difficult food intake. 

Right after the UMK50, David and Arthur joined Matt in Taiwan for a 5 days bike trip on the Taiwan east cost before Matt wedding.

During this time Marc went to Barcelona couple of time and work on his back issue with ElMago and he is know recovering and getting back on training. 

Clearly the 2019 season has been a difficult one but with some good results and podium in almost every races and always tons of fun and friendship all around the world!!