Even with the urban setting, we saw plenty of birds including sandhill cranes, mallards, and cormorants in addition to deer and even a woodchuck frantically running for cover as we approached! We only saw a handful of people the entire race, despite using the local walking trail through the heart of downtown West Bend. I couldn’t help thinking what a wonderful experience we were having when most people probably weren’t going to step outside the entire day with the colder than normal plus dreary forecast for late April. As we rode, I asked Danica if she was liking adventure racing a little or a lot. To my glee, she answered “A lot!”. Later on, I asked what was her favorite part and she responded, “Everything!”
Running Free
We chose our team name “Running Free” to testify to our faith in Jesus freeing our from the weight of our sins while also acknowledging our love to run through the woods. Our team name was fitting as the trek couldn’t have gone better. I didn’t make the mistake of blinding following another team assuming they had to be more experienced than I, who continued past the first checkpoint. I only made a single error – we had spotted a checkpoint and as we beelined towards it we realized we were approaching the wrong checkpoint. I reassessed quickly and we only lost a minute.
The sun even peaked out during the trek. We were moving fast so I jettisoned my rain coat as I began sweating. I asked Danica if she wanted to take hers off since I had to stop to stuff it in my pack. I was surprised she declined, but sure enough literally two minutes later she was ready to take hers off. And that’s the only room for improvement I could find for her first adventure race!
Pushing through
When I noticed my shadow a few steps behind towards the end, I encouraged her that we were almost done and she dug to maintain our aggressive pace. We moved past several teams. Danica glowed in the final transition area. Even as we made our final transition, she continued her resolve to be efficient letting me know that I needed to “Hurry up!” as I reviewed our final map. As we left, we spotted two teams we had been with at the third checkpoint that were still enroute to the final checkpoint, confirming we had pushed well on the trek.
After the race, I asked Danica what the hardest part of the race was. She had to think for awhile and surprisingly answered the last two mile bike. Even though that was the shortest section of the race, that tells me she pushed all the way to the end!
