2006 Results

Women's Adventure Race Los Angeles

The female athlete's of Los Angeles (and beyond) turned out for the 2nd annual race...despite the 54 degree water!  To start the day, athletes had to first tackle 3 mystery events before taking off on their mountain bikes and circumnavigating Puddingstone Lake.  At one checkpoint, they had to have a mandatory picture taken before returning to the TA.  It was then on to another mystery event, "Concrete Kayaking" before beginning their "Adventure Tubing" portion of the race.  In "Adventure Tubing" teams had to propel themselves + 1 innertube per person across the lake.  Some would plop down in the middle and backpaddle with swim fins, yet others decided swimming would be faster.  Most portaged their way back around the lake to knock off one more mystery event.  And the final section had teams trekking up the tree lined trail in Bonelli park affording great views of the surrounding mountains.  Congratulations to Team Novara (REI) who went super-fast to claim the first finishers spot both overall and in the 3 person division.  The Peppermint Twins claimed first place in the two person division and Ann Marie and Nancy Rosas finished the solo division together.  Check out the pictures in the Gallery page.

Congratulations to Team Backside.  Thank You to all of the adventure racers who've made this series possible.  Drumroll please.....
And the Series winners are....

Desert Rage Finale (Las Vegas, Lake Mead)

Some say the best adventure races are those in which mother nature delivers the greatest chaos.  She didn't disappoint at the finale to the Desert Rage series. 

Beginning with a 3am start, teams Ride-n-Tie'd for 5 miles to retrieve their checkpoint coordinates.  An 18 mile bike section had a mix of gravel roads, singletrack and pavement before transitioning to the 12 mile paddle on Lake Mead.  While the winds had been relatively calm all morning, about the time the first teams hit the water, everything went to hell in a handbasket.  Sustained winds of 25mph with gusts over 40mph had teams battling to stay afloat as they traversed the northwest section of the lake in 4-6 foot swells.  At one point within the paddle, teams got a bit of respite as they completed a 4 mile trekking section before paddling back to the TA.  To finish, teams had a coasteering leg that routed them up a beautiful slot canyon and a quick run to wrap up this challenging 44 mile race. 

Team Backside's John Whiteside, Brigid O'Neil and Todd Pendleton led the race from from the start.  Finishing second overall, team Kayak Lake Mead closed a healthy time gap on Backside finishing the paddle section tied up.  Not far behind, teams Ruination, Monster Energy and Adventure Racing Concepts kept everyone honest and racing at the best of their ability.  If their were an award for perseverance, team Anodyne Therapy would take the day after realizing at distant checkpoint 8 that they weren't going to be able to paddle back against the waves in their canoe.  Instead, and despite many offers of assistance, they flat out refused to give up and portaged their monstrous canoe 7 miles back to the TA and continued racing. 

Special thanks to Tim (supporting team Backside turned volunteer), Charlie and Russ (from REI) and Ben & Dane for your help.  You were the volunteers that made it possible and without you these races can't take place. 

Phoenix Women's Adventure Race 2006

The Women of Phoenix came together for the third annual Women's Adventure Race this past Saturday 11/18 for a fun day in the sun.  It wasn't all fun and games as it would appear from these pictures above.  Athletes traveled a dozen miles in what would become downright warm weather around some of the most fun singletrack trails in Phoenix. 

Beginning with a "Block Walk" (see pic) teams then unscrambled a coded message before trekking to a hilltop to pick up a picture clue they would use later.  Heading out trail 100 on their bikes, teams hit 3 Checkpoints before having to solve a large wooden puzzle, and had one bike taken from each team.  With one bike gone it was time to Ride-n-Tie to the next two checkpoints. 

After completing a "concrete kayaking" and "hanging maze" mystery event, they went out on foot after 3 more CP's.  The navigation proved challenging as they were using a map that includes roads but few trails.  Teams then finished one more mystery event and one more trekking checkpoint where they had their photo's taken.  It was then a race to the finish.  The smiles were a' plenty as the teams crossed the finish line. 

Congratulations to Windy Marks and Vickie Nelson of team Monster Energy who grabbed the overall win while team Tri-Chicks garnered first in the three person division and Soloist Peggy Dennis who finished in just 2:33:50.   We've got a batch of photo's to process which we'll have posted here in a week. 

Thanks for joining us and we look forward to seeing you again next year.  Women's Adventure Race Los Angeles takes Bonelli Park by storm on 12/9 in San Dimas.  We hope to see you there. 

Desert Rage Series Point Standings
The Desert Rage series is best of 3.  We recognize Coed, Male, Female & Masters from the 3/4 person division.  The 12/2 Las Vegas race is worth double points.  Ties are broken by the most recent best finish.  We've got a pretty cool prize for the 3/4 Coed series winner too! Our current leaders are:

Desert Rage Phoenix III

Congratulations to team Backside's John Whiteside, Brigid Nielson & Todd Pendleton who ran a masterful race in what was possibly the most exciting finish in any of the Desert Rage series races thusfar. Pictures in the Gallery this weekend.

Adventure Racers (and fans) were treated to a spectacular race on Saturday at Bartlett Lake.  Beginning with a twilight Orienteering section teams navigated to 5 checkpoints using a satellite photo that "didn't" show elevation changes.  Team Adventure Racing Concepts & ARC solo blazed in ahead of Anodyne Therapy, Backside, Red Energy and Ruination for the 4 mile pre-dawn trek.  Upon completing a mystery event, the teams scorched out of the TA with ARC leading the way. 

The lead went through many changes throughout the day and over the course of the 18 mile bike ride that left many navigational choices open to the teams.  After completing another mystery event (Land Yachting), teams were off to an eight-mile paddle, which had them paddling against a 15-20 mph wind.  Backside was first out with Red Energy, Anodyne Therapy and Ruination HOT on their tails.  Order changed again as Red Energy continued to close the gap, passing Anodyne in the middle of the paddle. 

With a half mile left, Backside rounded the last turn into Rattlesnake Cove taking the finish just three minutes ahead of Red Energy.  Proving again that no task is to great and making AR look like Adventure Travel, the Angels Jonea Mounsey and Ardith Huey finished in

Huge congratulations to everyone that finished this challenging course. 

A Huge THANKS to our volunteers that made it possible. Warren, Deanna, Katy, & Kim