24 Hour Adventure Race FMIJ

FMIJ - Full Moon in June.

It was the 13th and last running of this iconic race in the Western Canada adventure racing scene. it was my third time competing in the race.

24 hours is a long time for a blow by blow description, but here we go..........just kidding!

Physically, the demands of this are completely different from anything else I do. It is a combination of the duration, the sleep deprivation and the total body demands ranging from paddling on white water in an inflatable kayak, running up mountain bike trails pushing your bike and your team mate on their bike, to climbing and descending high alpine avalanche slopes using hiking poles as ice axes to climb with, all the time carrying a 30lb pack and often not really knowing where you are, how long it will last and what will happen next.

If you don't know how they work it goes like this. You show up, (with your team 4 in total), somewhere in the middle of nowhere. All you know is you are going to bike, hike, run, paddle and climb for however long it takes to finish the race. if you finish inside the cutoff (in this case 24 hours) you get an official finish and placing. 3 hours before you start you get a map and instructions. You have to plot all the checkpoints, plan the transitions and get equipment ready and go.

Strength, fitness and proficiency at all the disciplines are important but in the end it boils down to navigation skill, persistence and the ability to push through what you think is possible. Can you put away the pain? Can you run 10K after being awake for 21 hours towing a team mate fast enough to make a cut off? Can you descend an alpine bowl in the dark knowing any slip will at the least see you slide 400 meters over slick snow and ice to an unseen bottom? Can you race another team for the final podium place when your legs feel like tenderized steak, you have been out of water for two hours and you have to push one of your team mates up another yet another hill?

This year there were 34 teams starting, of whom only 5 completed every section of the race. We finished 3rd overall and the first mixed team. Even more importantly for us we were one of only three teams to complete a high alpine traverse, off trail linking two of the final checkpoints without back tracking over previously covered trail.

Over 24 hours there were many highlights. One stand out was our paddling section down a raging Elk River which saw Chris and I dumped in the water less than 30 seconds after launching. It was section that saw many teams lose major time with all kinds of mishaps. For such inexperienced paddlers we were lucky to get through relatively quickly and easily. The speed and volume of the water were incredible and combined with hundreds of fallen trees jamming up the river made for a high speed maze of rapids.

The final leg was a true race, with another team and us being in the final transition to a short mountain bike together and after 21 hours of racing it came down to a final sprint. With little navigation required we still managed to make a series of mistakes so that despite being the stronger riders we kept falling behind and watching helplessly as the slower team cruised past taking easier routes. So frustrating! Finally we got our act together and after pulling away on a flat section and giving everything to a brutal steep climb got away and crossed the line with a 10 minute advantage. It was insanely difficult this year and the pace was very high. Much kudos to Kathleen for gutting out her very first adventure race and being so strong in the end!

A final huge thank you to our support crew of Jeremy Courtenay and Scott Wood. It is impossible to race or succeed without an expert crew setting up your transitions, managing food and clothing and generally taking care of a team of four zombies after 20 odd hours of racing.

If ever consider this type of adventure I strongly encourage it. It pushes you physically and mentally to the absolute limit. The scenery is pretty good too.................

Physiologically, what did I learn? My ITB gets sore after running downhill for a couple of hours, my back hurts after riding, running and climbing for about 20 hours and that not having any water for a couple of hours after working out for the previous 20 is not much fun. Possibly I am getting to old for this s*#t!

In all seriousness, a big thanks to Marjo for her core strength routine, Chris and Andrew for the hiking work outs and the rest of the BPR motley crew for being just generally an inspirational group of athletes!