Team GoLite at the USARA National Championships

Quick update following my minute run the other night. I woke up sore yesterday, but I don't feel like I set myself back. That being said, I'm not going to run again for at least another week, maybe two. The "thick" feeling and subsequent soreness has made me realize that I'm not ready to run yet. It's so damn frustrating because if it was just broken, it'd be just about done. This will linger well past me resuming running. So road bike today and I'm definitely mountain biking tomorrow.

So! Team GoLite, my former mates, are at the USARA National Championships in Blue Ridge, GA. By the time this is posted they probably will be across the finish line, as the cut off time for this 30-hour race is 1pm ET today and it's 12:30 right now. The Nationals's have continued to grow each year despite yearly claims by everyone that adventure racing is shrinking. I believe that to be true when it comes to expedition racing and the public's interest in us crazy's who like to run around lost in the woods for long periods of time. However, I still believe the shorter races to be viable and this is continually proven year over year with more events, and more teams at events like Nationals.

Nationals is supposed to be the marquee race on the under 48-hour AR scene. I still see them as needing some grooming and some growth before they are generally accepted as such, but the fact that every year they grow in terms of team participation at their championship event says that they're doing something right. I have a good relationship with the director of the USARA, Troy Farrar and he truly believes in the sport and where it can go.

Every year Nationals is put on in a different geographic region of the country. Two years ago they were in California, last year Missouri and this year they are in Georgia. Each locale has it's own race director who lays out the course based on his or her own local knowledge. It must be challenging because not just any team can show up. For a team to race in Nationals they must qualify by winning or placing at one of the qualifying events that are held throughout the country. This is where it gets hard for the USARA. In order to hold enough qualifyers, the USARA partners with races that are already being held. It would be too difficult for them to try and put on enough races on their own all over the country. To be a USARA Nationals qualifyer race directors pay a fee to the USARA and thus then have to increase the fee in their own event in order to make their money back. It's usually not that much more and if Nationals continues to grow, more racers will want a crack to race against the other top teams in the country and hopefully more and more race directors will allow their race to become qualifying events. Right now their is no representation in the Rocky Mountain region, where many top teams reside. So in order for them to have a crack at Nationals, they need to travel to where a qualifyer is being held.

I'm hopeful for the future of the event and the sport. AR is amazing, and if you have any remote interest in trail running, paddling or mountain biking...you're doing yourself a disservice by not giving it a go.

So, Team GoLite is there in Georgia right now trying to stay awake and navigate through foreign terrain for them. When people think of the ideal place to train and be an athlete, they immediately think of Colorado, particularly Boulder. It's true that they is an advantage to training at altitude and the proximity to the mountains is second to none. However, if you're not used to other climes, than you will have a tough time when you go there to race. One of the first AR I ever attended was with Team GoLite/Timberland at one of the Racing Ahead events in Vermont. They were from Boulder and were feeling pretty confident since they were all used to racing at over 6,000' and the race would all be below 3,000'. The one thing they didn't count on were the dense forest that we have here in New England and that would affect navigation; as well as the rooty/rocky trails that are different from the trails they were used to riding their bikes and running on. So maybe we're not as 'high' here in the east, but we have our own set of challenges. I imagine that's what Tiff, Brooks and James are going through right now. Plus to complicate matters, poor Tiff sprained her ankle last week. Not severely but enough that I'm sure it's hindering, and it rained pretty hard down there overnight, which I'm sure made everything slick. Not fun on a bum wheel.

I'll post some videos from the race website along with the results of how my team finished up once they become official. Until then...Go GoLite!