In hindsight our error is so obvious, but out in the woods we weren’t sure WHAT we had done! Where exactly were we?
Rebecca and I (team Define Lost) were recently back in action at the Don’t Get Lost Snowshoe Raid in the Copeland Forest in the Barrie, Ontario area.
In the days leading up to the race, we – like everyone else – were watching the weather closely to see whether there would be enough snow for snowshoes, or whether we would be using spikes on our running shoes instead. On race morning we set out prepared for both eventualities – it wasn’t until we had a look at the race map that we opted for spikes instead of snowshoes, figuring that the trails would be hard packed and would be easier to run than bushwhacking on snowshoes through the forest.
For this race, teams had 3 hours to find as many controls (checkpoints) as possible. Go over the 3 hour limit and you lose 20 points per minute. Some controls were close to trails, while others not. Some were in flatter terrain, while others were on the top of steep hills. This forest has some significant hills! Point values for the controls depend on how far away they are and how easy they are to find (for this race, they were as follows: green 25, blue 50, black 75, double black 100, extreme 150).
It had been quite a while since Rebecca and I had done an orienteering race, so we planned a conservative route with a few decisions points along the way – if we were making slower progress than expected we would cut certain sections of the course out. After planning our route, we decided that we might actually be better off spending more time on the south part of map #1 (more points available), rather than the north part, so we had our original route (orange highlighter) and new route (yellow highlighter – the paths diverged at control 70) mapped out. We opted for yellow. We didn’t even plan to visit map #2, knowing we couldn’t cover that much distance in the 3 hours.
Pre-race route planning.
After a short school bus ride to the start line, the race began! With the majority of people heading for the same control first, there wasn’t much running at the start for us – we were in a line of people walking. After control #24, we headed for the road, and easily found #28, which was not far off the road. We got back onto the road and yelled to a team ahead of us that they couldn’t go the way they were heading, which was a driveway identified as “private land” on the map. They noted that they were just following others, but we explained the map to them and they followed us instead. After finding #20, we headed for #55, which is where the fun began.
This is what we were looking for in the woods.
We found #55, then set our compass bearing to take us to a trail, which would lead us by trail most of the way to the next control, #54. In winter orienteering the temptation is high to follow the tracks of other teams. You would think we had learned our lesson by now. Sometimes you end up following people who had no idea where they were going. We veered off our bearing, changing our route on the fly to follow tracks, and ended up at a trail. We thought we knew which trail we had found, and headed south, but somehow we ended up going way too far, passing the right hand turn we were supposed to maket. We started wondering why there were no snowshoe tracks ahead of us… where had everyone else gone? We decided to backtrack, and eventually got ourselves heading in the right direction. However we were both confused when we spotted the control, as we thought it was going to be on an uphill, but we were approaching it on a downhill. It turns out we were reading the contour lines wrong, and were approaching a valley not a ridge. Unfortunately, when we reached the control the number on the SI unit didn’t match the one on the map, but we quickly realized that it didn’t match any of the controls on the map, so we assumed we had found the right one and we were where we thought we were.
Normally, the number on the control in the forest matches the number of the control on the map – this is so you know exactly where you are. If the numbers don’t match, there is usually a legend on the map (e.g. map control #1 = SI unit 40).
Top = planned route, bottom = actual route (see wrong right turn at bottom)
Once we were back on track, our goal was to not get turned around again! We easily found the next few controls, including #70, #73, #23, and #71 (at the top of a steep hill). From here we knew that we should head for the finish, skipping #52 on our planned route. We feared it would put us overtime and we would lose our hard-earned points.
When we left the trail to find #58, we were seemingly cheered on by a woodpecker, likely a Pileated woodpecker (it was so loud). It must have known we needed some help. We had a little trouble finding it – the vegetation was thick and we walked right past it, but did realize we had gone too far when we hit a trail, and backtracked. From there it was a fairly easy route to the finish.
We ended up crossing the finish line in 2:35:36, having earned 475 points for 2nd place in the Masters Women category (combined aged 90+). We were beaten by our arch nemesis Tree Huggers, who were way ahead with 735 points.
Trusty Kahtoola microspikes.
We had fun running/walking 11 1/2 km through the woods spending time outside on such a glorious winter day! We didn’t reget Overall our navigation was pretty good, though a little rusty. And it was so great to see so many friends and familiar faces pre-race, in the forest, and post-race!!
Lack of race specific training be damned, I was grateful to make it to the start line of my first multi-sport race with an orienteering component since 2019! With Covid-19 precautions in place, this year’s Storm the Trent races (Trek Elite, Trek and Hike) would be spread over 3 days, with each team arriving no sooner than 1 hour before their assigned start time, and with no post race award celebrations or hot meals.
Instead, there was a pre-recorded race briefing to watch at home, and race maps were provided days in advance, reducing time spent at race headquarters and the usual gathering of athletes pre-race to plan out routes.
With a start time of 7:40 AM, my teammate Rebecca and I arrived at 6:40 AM, unloaded my canoe and our paddles, PFDs, bailer and rope, picked up our maps (one main map plus two supplementary maps), had our temperatures checked by a nurse and answered Covid-19 screening questions again, dropped off our bikes, helmets, and bike shoes, and used the portapotties. I was a bit scattered, forgetting to drop my helmet off (leaving it on my head), then almost forgetting my gloves (for paddling and biking). The weather was overcast with a predicted high of 15C, so I was a little conflicted about what to wear. In the end I chose cycling shorts, long pants, and a t-shirt, which worked well. I carried extra clothes in my backpack along with food, water, and the rest of the mandatory gear. When I thought I would be paddling in my raincoat I tucked my compass in the pocket. Good thing I stuffed my coat into my backpack. We portaged our paddling stuff down to the water, me the canoe and Rebecca the paddles, PFDs, bailer and rope.
When it was almost go time, I realized I was wearing my backpack but not my PFD!
Foreshadowing course conditions?
Paddle to CP 20, 21, 22
Four teams were assigned each 10 minute starting time slot, but we weren’t the only ones running a little late. One hour wasn’t quite enough to do everything we needed to do. In any case, around 7:50 AM Rebecca punched the start clock with our SI card and we pushed off from shore.
Teams could visit the 3 checkpoints in any order, so we decided to go counter-clockwise. The checkpoints were floating signs, with words on them that we needed to memorize or write down. “See you at” “the finish line” “go get it” (or something like that!).
Save for a very short paddle in summer 2020 to test whether my hand injury was healed, I hadn’t been in a canoe since the summer of 2019. Rebecca was in a similar boat. Other than slightly overshooting the entrance to a narrow passage that we needed to take to another lake, the paddle went well. My hands cramped at times but otherwise I felt fine (my still-recovering rib injury from my MTB crash in June didn’t cause me any trouble). The 9k took us about 1 hour 25 minutes.
It was super fun to see so many familiar faces out on the water, people I hadn’t seen in ages because of Covid!
While the floating checkpoints were not manned by volunteers, the single digit checkpoints were. We had to check in with the (awesome!) volunteers at these ones so they could have a general idea of where each team was out on the course.
Bike to CP 2
After portaging the canoe 800m back to race headquarters (up a steep hill from the waterfront), we chowed down on homemade lemon squares (yum!) while getting into our bike shoes and putting our helmets on. I briefly joined a FaceTime call of another team yet to start (hi random stranger!), and then we headed out on our bikes. The rolling hills started quickly and didn’t let up all day! The ride to CP 2 was on a gravel road.
Run to CP 30, 31
At CP 2 we left our bikes and headed on foot in search of CP 30 and 31. Again we went in a counter-clockwise direction. These checkpoints were on trail and other than slightly overshooting “The Pass” trail, this section was pretty straightforward. Again, these checkpoints could be done in any order.
Bike to CP 3, CP 4, CP 5
Back at CP 2 we grabbed our bikes and headed to CP 3. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a great way to carry the map. In the past I had tucked the maps in a waterproof bag up the leg of my shorts, but I was wearing long pants. I used bungees to attach it to my handlebars, but it was a time consuming process and not very secure. I had to continually attach and detach the map bag from my bike as we switched between biking to trekking and back again. Next time I’ll use carabiners and rope and hang it around my neck. (I used a new map case too, and it leaked! Our maps got soaked and ripped when we had to flip them. Not sure if the case is poorly designed or I didn’t close it properly!)
Until this point, the bike course route was marked – we had to follow signs and not choose our own route. But at CP 3, this changed. We left the road and followed a trail that had some “big ups!” as one guy yelled coming back the other way. I wasn’t sure at that moment if he meant “big ups” as in “push hard” and you’ll get there… but it later became clear he simply meant that there were multiple big hills to climb! I think this is the first section where we had to get off our bikes and push them up a steep hill. Getting close to CP 4, someone told us this was the last uphill before the checkpoint. Of course that would have been true had we not overshot the right turn heading to the CP… instead, we ended up riding down a huge downhill, hitting a main paved road and realizing our mistake. This meant we had to climb back up the massive hill. Sigh. We found our missed turn and reached CP 4. Rebecca asked if we could go back through the field (rather than along the road) and the volunteer said that that’s what most people were doing. So, we followed the path made by other teams through bushes and over rocks and pushed our bikes uphill… not sure it was any easier than the road would have been! All that uphill from CP 3 to 4 meant we had lots of downhill back to CP 3 (poor course conditions removed about 15k of the bike course, sending us back to CP 3 and then to CP 5, skipping CPs 32 and 33). We were not for a second disappointed that part of the bike course was cut out!
The “ride” from CP 3 to CP 5 was crazy – so much mud! We did a lot of pushing our bikes through mud pits in this section.
Run to CP 40, 42, 43
Back at CP 5 we left our bikes and headed on foot to CP 40, 42, and 43. As we started out we heard someone say that it was bad… and got worse. Once again, we were following a trail, and when we planned out our route, we were optimistic. How hard could the navigation be? Once again, we chose a counter-clockwise direction. In hindsight, this was a mistake. We found CP 40 without difficulty, as well as the very scenic CP 42 (at a fast-flowing creek), and then CP 43 up a very steep hill (we decided to follow the trail rather than bushwhack). This is where things went haywire.
Scenic checkpoint 42
From a trail junction (we knew exactly where we were), I took a bearing with my compass, but it made no sense. There was an air bubble in it, so I figured the compass was toast. I asked Rebecca for hers, and took the bearing again. The direction made sense. We would head for The Outlook trail, and when we hit it, we would continue along it until we reached an intersection, at which point we would turn right and head along that trail back to CP 5. However, the trail we were looking for was running the same direction as we would be walking – see the problem? With even a small error in the bearing, we would miss the trail completely. However, we knew that even if we missed it, we would eventually reach the trail that would take us out. Rebecca was counting steps (to measure our distance), and I was following the bearing. We didn’t find the trail we were looking for, and Rebecca said “as long as we don’t find the lake”… and then we noticed a clearing… which turned out to be a marshy area that wasn’t so easy to cross. We skirted the outside (finding an area where large animals had bedded down in the process), and eventually got back into the woods. The map didn’t have a marsh on it (near where we thought we were), so we weren’t sure exactly where we were. We continued following the bearing, in the process seeing tons of cool mushrooms. We also heard a Barred Owl! I think I heard a Ruffed Grouse in this area too. And then finally, we hit the trail! We turned right, and after walking for longer than we expected to, Rebecca said that if we hit the intersection with The Outlook trail she was going to cry… and then we hit just that. Sigh. We had gone too far left, adding distance to our trek. We should have listened to a guy way earlier in the trek leg who tried to tell us to go the other way on that trail… it would have been much easier to bushwhack the other way.
Blue = original planned route (until we saw cliff at 40 on our counter-clockwise way around the loop and wondered if it might be impassible), green = new route, and red = what actually happened on our way from CP 43 to CP 5. Hello marsh!
By the time we reached the trail it was raining and the ground was super slick with mud. Rebecca and I both fell going down hills. How could I forget to mention the hills? At one point I heard 2 athletes coming towards us, one saying that the Race Director was “evil”. I couldn’t disagree! Shortly before reaching CP 5 a team came out of the woods onto the trail, and asked us if we were looking for CP 5. They too had had an interesting bushwhacking leg!
Still smiling after our off-trail adventures. Thanks Heather for the great pic!
Bike to CP 6 and 7
We jumped onto our bikes and headed for CPs 6 and 7, back on the gravel road and up and down the never ending hills.
Whee! A downhill!
A few times in this section we had to ride through water that had crested the road. At least once our feet were submerged in the “puddle” (AKA lake!) as we rode through it. Fun!
Photo courtesy of Storm Racing.
CP 7 Optional advanced section
At CP 7 there was an optional advanced trekking section. We opted out, figuring we were expert enough already with no need to test our skills (that, or we were beat and had had enough. Plus we might have missed the 5 pm cut-off to start this section anyway)!
Bike to CP 53
Instead, we checked in and out of CP 7 and headed for CP 53 and the finish line! After more road riding, we turned onto a mostly dry trail. We were looking for CP 53, which I assumed would be right off the trail (i.e. we couldn’t miss it). But riders coming towards us asked if we had found it. When we said no, they said that it was behind us – we had missed it, as had they. They had reached the finish line and turned around to find it. It was further off the trail than we expected, but once we spotted it, Rebecca put our SI stick into the card reader, and then we turned and headed for the finish!
Bike to finish
And just like that (9 hours 29 minutes and 10 seconds later), we were done!
Done!
We hosed off our muddy bikes, got changed, packed up our stuff, and headed home.
Our route!
Thank you Storm Racing for another fantastic race. Such a beautiful setting at the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve. See you next year!
Follow me on Facebook: Kyra on the Go: Adventures of a Paddling Triathlete
Entering the world of orienteering and adventure racing from the sport of triathlon, I was very familiar with multi-sport racing and the need to practice all three disciplines (swim, bike, run) – sometimes in combination – leading up to race day. But adventure racing is a different beast, in particular once you throw navigation into the mix!
I’ve never been lost in a triathlon – though I have swum into the wrong bay during an Olympic-distance race in Gravenhurst!
I got my start in orienteering in the fall of 2016, adventure racing in 2017 and adventure racing with a navigation component in 2018, so I still consider myself a newbie!
In advance of my first adventure race, the Bruce Peninsula Multisport Race, which involved a 4k paddle by canoe in Georgian Bay, a 16k mountain bike ride and a 6k trail run, my race partner and I went canoeing briefly once to try kayak paddles in a canoe for the first time (with a 2 year old who did not want to sit down or stay in the boat!), didn’t mountain bike because we didn’t own them, and didn’t run together once. However, we were both fit and confident that we could do the race. We ended up 2nd out of 8 teams of 2 females (and I won the mountain bike draw prize!).
Now, as I prepare for longer and more complex adventure races with my teammates, I have all kinds of ideas on how we can train together, and apart.
RockstAR with Rebecca. [Pic by Brad Jennings]
For example, recently I re-ran a Don’t Get Lost X-league orienteering course in the forest near my house, and instead of worrying about finding as many controls as I could within the 50 minute time limit for this particular map, I chose instead to focus on my navigation and find all the controls (“clear the course”), however long it took. To keep my navigation sharp (and to continue to improve!), I participate in the weekly X-league races, and look for every opportunity to challenge myself by racing as often as I can with Don’t Get Lost and other clubs.
To work on training with my teammates, we have used old race maps and chosen our own features on the map to navigate to (for example, a hilltop, or a stream junction). Sometimes we just practice our compass bearings and don’t use trails at all. We’ve done this during daylight, in the dark in preparation for racing overnight, in the rain, and in the snow. We have practised using a provincial park map in the winter. Other maps could be used too, such as google maps, or local park or conservation area maps. It’s important to be mindful of park rules and the need to stay on trail in some places. More tips on how to orienteer when you don’t have a map can be found on the Orienteering Ontario “About Orienteering” page.
While COVID-19 threw a wrench into our 2020 training and racing plans, my teammates and I will train together again with precautions when it’s safe to do so. We have plans to practice our mountain biking together (and do a race), canoe (and portage!) at night, and of course participate in orienteering races. We’ll also train together this winter, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
Cross-country skiing at Arrowhead with Heidi – that day we skied every single trail in the park!
I’ve been tackling increasingly longer races since that first one, from less than 3 hours to nearly 14! In addition to sport specific training, as the race distance and complexity increases, we need to continue to work on nutrition strategies to keep ourselves properly fuelled, and team dynamics to make sure we can lift each other up when the going gets tough, the bugs are nasty, we hurt all over, we get lost, or we start to lose hope! Bring on the races!
With COVID-19 resulting in the cancellation of events and races left, right and centre, the orienteering community has found a way to keep people active in the outdoors!
If you’re looking for a super fun way to challenge your brain and body while discovering new places, keep reading!
Bayfront Park, Hamilton.
Orienteering is an activity for everyone – walkers, runners, kids, families, seniors, and uber-competitive high performance athletes. You don’t need any special skills!
Pre-COVID-19, people would meet at a specific location at a specific time, register, get a map, plan their route, chat with others, and then take part in a race, in urban areas, forests, and in secluded wilderness areas (on foot, bike, canoe, etc.). Clearly this isn’t possible during COVID-19 restrictions.
Instead, clubs like Don’t Get Lost and Orienteering Ottawa have switched gears, offering orienteering opportunities for people to do on their own schedule, solo or as a family, as long as you have a smartphone or a smart watch.
Racing along the Bruce Trail
If you live in proximity to Hamilton/Burlington, Oakville, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, London and Barrie, Don’t Get Lost has orienteering opportunities for you! (I can’t speak to the events run by Orienteering Ottawa, as I live too far away to have taken part.)
Pretty waterfall along the course.
Don’t Get Lost X-league
I have been participating in X-league races for a few years now, and am thankful that races are still possible COVID-19 style. The premise is simple.
You register online.
You print the map at home.
You download the MapRun F app.
You go to the map start/finish location on your own with your map (no compass required!).
You walk or run the course on a mix of city streets and parks and trails within the allotted time limit (usually 40-60 minutes), while the MapRun F app does it’s thing in the background. COVID-19 style, there’s no orange/white flag to find. Your phone will beep when you’ve “found” the control.
You instantly see your results.
You go home.
If you want, you can connect with others in a Facebook group.
You can’t even get lost, because you can look on the app to see where you are if you’re not sure. Another bonus – these races are very inexpensive! Some are FREE to try right now!
If you’re into all things data, you can look at the results of everyone who did the race. You can see:
route taken
time taken
distance run
points earned
You can even see everyone moving in “real time” – i.e. as if everyone started at the same time, their dots move and you can see who went where and how quickly. Below is a snapshot of the animation showing everyone moving at once. You can watch a snapshot of just your route, or of any combination of people.
You can even see if anyone ran off the map. Below, you’ll see someone went for a long swim (!) and someone else ran across the railroad tracks (!). Both very unlikely – probably GPS confusion!
To learn more, check out the X-league page for all the details!
These races are a great way to try orienteering for the very first time, or to keep working on your navigation skills.
In addition to X-league races, Don’t Get Lost is also holding a few other races this summer. You can check them out on their website.
Race for 12-14 hours by canoe, mountain bike and on foot with a 4 AM in-the-dark race start? Why not?! I’m not sure how my race partner Rebecca and I learned about the South Coast Adventure Race (SCAR) in Amherstburg, Ontario, but when I heard that this year’s race was going to be a longer, 12-14 hour championship edition, I was even more intrigued. We are hoping to compete in the 24 hour Wilderness Traverse adventure race in 2020, and thought this would be a perfect step up to that race from the shorter (4 to 6+ hour) races that we’ve done so far. So, we registered!
Race weekend arrived, and we headed for Holiday Beach in Amherstburg where we would be camping the night before, and the night after, the race. We were the first to set up our campsite. We organized all of our race clothes, gear and food. Then while cooking our dinner, another female team of 2 arrived and set up camp next to us. They would feature heavily in our race!
Next we headed to Mettawas Parks in Kingsville, where we dropped off our mountain bikes and my canoe.
We picked up our race kits, posed for pre-race photos, and headed for the mandatory pre-race briefing at the Kingsville arena.
Sometimes adventure racing looks like this.
We soon learned that there were 6 race maps – one huge main map (no way we could carry that around with us as is!), and 5 additional maps. Before we left the arena, we had planned our route for the race, and set it out on each of the maps using highlighters. Some of the race course would be a mandatory route, and other parts we could decide for ourselves – starting in the dark was a factor in our planning, because it would still be dark when we reached the first trekking section (the race was to start on bicycles). We headed back to our campsite, where we set about trimming the huge map with the tiny scissors from our mandatory first aid kit. We thought it would be easier to fold the map to fit it into our map bag if it was as small as possible! Thankfully we noticed that we had cut the map scale off, so we wrote it onto the map.
With our alarms set for 2 AM (!), we headed straight for bed. Sadly, I had trouble falling asleep, and in the end had less than an hour of sleep before my alarm went off. We got dressed for the race, ate our breakfast in my van, and then headed for the Essex Region Conservation Area Demonstration Farm next to Holiday Beach, where we would board busses to take us to the start line. We left our kayak paddles and transition area gear bin too, which had paddling gear and extra food. We would visit the transition area 3 times during the early parts of the race.
Before the race could even start we had a little adventure. We were on the 3rd and last school bus, which was following the ones in front of it. When the first one made a wrong turn, all three busses ended up having to back up and turn a sharp corner backwards – in the dark. Rebecca and I were in the very back row, so had front row seats to the many point turn. Where exactly were the wheel wells, and would we fall into the ditch? Our new friends sitting in the row ahead of us yelled directions to the driver (who asked for help). Quite the start to the day! The bus eventually made the turn, and we made it to the race start, albeit slightly later than expected! The race actually started around 4:30 AM, not 4 as planned.
Note: all distances are approximate. CP 1/2, 3, 4/6, 5 and CP I were manned (with volunteers) and also had SI readers. The others simply had SI readers to insert our SI cards into.
Bike leg #1: start to CP 1 (8k)
The race began in the dark, so with flashing lights on the front and backs of our bikes, and headlamps on our heads, we set out on the Chrysler Canada Greenway, a gravel trail that was pretty flat, heading for transition area 1 where we would drop our bikes and start the first trekking leg. We didn’t need to do any navigation, because we just followed the riders in front of us. When Rebecca and I weren’t riding side by side, we would call back to each other to make sure we were still close. It wasn’t too long before we reached CP 1 at Camp Cedarwin, a Scout camp.
Run leg #1: CP A-H (14k)
We dropped our bikes, changed into our running shoes, and headed north through the Scout camp and back onto the Chrysler Canada Greenway. From here, teams could decide the order in which they collected the 8 mandatory checkpoints. We decided to go in a counter-clockwise route, heading first for the ones that we thought would be easier to find in the dark. We left the ones in the swampy area (where the navigation looked trickier) until later, when the sun would have risen!
We found CP H at the end of a laneway, then headed into the woods. We ran into friends on 2 different teams looking for CP F, and together, we found it. We followed the creek to the East to find CP G, then turned back and followed the same creek past CP F, through thorns that grabbed us, and all the way to CP E. It was somewhere in this section that I rolled my ankle, but thankfully I was able to continue! Also in this part of the race, the sun came up and we turned our headlamps off.
Following the creek towards the road, we caught up with a couple of other teams, and bushwhacked our way through together. At one point, I detached another racer’s sock from a fence. After a short road section, we were back into the woods, and facing the first real test of our navigation skills. Our plan was to avoid crossing the marshy areas as much as possible, because we thought these crossings would be slow and difficult. Our plan was to follow the creek as much as we could. We took a bearing and set off. It was at this point that we first noticed the “helmet guys”. They were doing the trek while still wearing their bicycle helmets, possibly because their headlamps were affixed to them. In any case, we worked with these 2 guys to find CP C and CP D, crossing the creek, bushwhacking and being stung by stinging nettles with them. Someone from another team whipped out vinegar, saying it took the sting away. We soldiered on. Just before reaching CP D, someone on another team said to me in an Australian accent, “You’ve got a mozzie on your forehead!” I had heard the the term mozzie before, but never had someone said that to me in real life.
After CP D the helmet guys headed a different way, so we continued alone to find CP A. I started doubting our plan when I wasn’t sure we’d be able to figure out exactly where we needed to cut down the hill toward the checkpoint. We debated backtracking and tackling it a different way, but in the end decided to continue. It was here that we then met the helmet guys again. With them we reached a creek that we needed to cross (about 6 feet wide?), but it wasn’t clear how deep it was. I went down the steep bank first, quickly discovering that it was much deeper than we thought. The water went up to my chest, but it was cool and refreshing! The others followed me across, one of the helmet guys falling in up to his neck. Once on the other side, it didn’t take long to find the checkpoint.
Rebecca and I headed back the same way, and heard another team saying that they wanted to stay dry. CP B was a quick, easy find, after which we made our way back to the transition area at the Scout camp. I think it was here that we found out we were now in 20th place overall. We had passed a couple of teams.
Paddle #1: CP I + CP 2 (9k)
We put on our lifejackets, had a snack, grabbed our paddles, knee pads, bailer/rope and walked a couple hundred metres to the canoe start (the race crew had moved the canoes from Mettawas Park to the Scout camp).
My canoe is the yellow one in front. [Official race photo]
With a small craft advisory in place for Lake Erie due to high wind and water levels, the paddle course was changed in the week leading up to the race. Instead of paddling on Lake Erie, we paddled from the Scout camp along Cedar Creek towards Lake Erie. There was quite a bit of wind on the way out to CP I, so much so that at times Rebecca and I both paddled only on the right side, with her doing wide sweeps at the bow to keep the canoe straight.
Rebecca in the bow.
We got to see some of our friends on the paddle, as they made their way back from CP I. Thankfully, the return paddle wasn’t as tough. Near the end, we encountered a couple of teams of very inexperienced paddlers. One team couldn’t keep the canoe straight, both of the paddlers switching their canoe paddles from the left side to the right and back again (randomly). We wondered how they would manage once they hit the wind. A racer on another team didn’t know how to hold the canoe paddle, so I told him to put one hand on top – he thanked me!
When we reached the end of the paddle, we were amazed that we didn’t even have to do anything with my canoe – volunteers took it away for us! We were pleasantly surprised to hear that we were 22/57 teams coming out of the water.
Paddle done.
Bike leg #2: CP 3 (23k) + CP J-K bike drop (21k)
We jumped back on our bikes and headed for CP 3, which we found easily by following the Chrysler Canada Greenway and then various roads. We were way ahead of the 2 PM cutoff (if you didn’t make it there in time, you were put onto a shorter course, skipping some sections of the full course). We were told by volunteers checking teams off a list that we were the 2nd female team of 2. What?! The 3rd place team arrived just after us.
But this is where things fell apart! We rode along an old abandoned rail line, which was very rocky but rideable, but when we left it, the roads didn’t make sense, and eventually, we had no idea where we were (not all roads on the race maps were labelled). We weren’t the only ones! It took a while, but we eventually found ourselves back on our planned route – phew. At the time, it felt like we added a lot of distance and time, but looking at the map after the race, it looks like we only added about 3k.
Run leg #2: CP J-K (3k)
We left our bikes at the bike drop, and headed off on our 2nd trek section. We ran along a path until we hit a culvert, took a bearing and headed into the woods for CP K. It was closer than we expected. We followed the creek to CP J, then I took another bearing and we headed back to the first trail we were running on. Our navigation was good in this section, and we were back on track. Phew!
Bike leg #3: CP 4 (11k) + CP L (11 1/2k) + CP 5 (3 1/2k)
We hopped back on our bikes and headed along roads to CP4, which we had to reach by the 2 PM cut-off (we were there with lots of time to spare). We had a quick chat with the volunteer here, a Masters student who gave up her whole day to be there for us. Thank you to all the amazing volunteers! Then we rode the Rotary Centennial Trail (around a huge cemetery) and then a paved trail along the Herb Gray Parkway. We ran into friends on this trail too, making their way from CP 5 to CP 6. They were flying! These were great paths to ride on. We opted to go for CP L on our way to CP 5 (you could do it after if you wanted to), so we left the trail and took a dirt path into the woods behind some houses and quickly found the control. We made our way onto the paved trail again, and arrived at CP 5 at Malden Park. Here we would have two completely different activities to complete: 1) a trek relay, and 2) a bike time trial.
Run leg #3 (relay): CP N (2k) + CP M (2k) + CP O (2k)
The relay legs had to be done one at a time. We decided that I would do two legs, so I set off along a paved trail for CP M. I passed the trail I had intended to take, not believing it was the right one (it was essentially a mowed grass path). But when I reached a paved trail, I knew I had gone too far. So I took that trail, and decided to get CP N instead. I ran back to Rebecca (the shorter way), and got to relax for a few minutes and eat while she ran to CP O. I even got to use a proper bathroom with flushing toilets and a sink.
Enjoying the short break!
When she returned, I headed out again, this time taking a shorter way to CP M. I met a man who was nowhere near where he thought he was, so I told him he could follow me back to CP 5 if he wanted to so that he could start again. He did. This was where we saw the lead female team of 2 head for CP 6.
Bike leg #4: time trial (5k) + CP6 (14k) + bike drop (13k)
I had never done a bike time trial before (essentially, a race against the clock with one team starting at a time), let alone one after we had already been racing for 10 hours!! Before we started I asked how long it took the fastest team so far, and found out it was 11 minutes. This was somewhat comforting, knowing that we wouldn’t be doing a 1 hour time trial! We followed the painted arrows on the ground, over gravel, dirt, grass, up and down hills, around tight corners, through long grass, and right past a deer and lots of bunnies. We weren’t exactly racing! I found this section fun (it was as close to “real” mountain biking as we got that day), but was relieved to be done it 17 minutes later.
We made our way to CP 6, which was also CP 4 (the one with the Masters student). She confirmed that we were still the 2nd place female team of 2.
Run leg #4: N/A
Given the time, it was looking unlikely that we would make it through the run leg and be able to bike to finish by the 6 PM cutoff. In fact, when we reached the bike drop for the last trek section, we were told that we should bike straight to the finish. I asked how long it was taking teams to do the trek, and the volunteer said on average about 30 minutes, and that many teams weren’t finding all of the controls.
I was disappointed not to be able to do the trek section, but relieved to know that we would be done sooner!
Bike leg #5: to finish line (15k)
We continued on our bikes, 15k that seemed to take forever. By this point, my back had gotten tight and my knee was complaining. Rebecca was having her own issues. A female team of 2 went whizzing by, and we thought, what the heck?! Where did they come from and how can they have so much energy? We talked to them later, when they told us it was their first (and probably last) race like this – that they had missed lots of checkpoints.
We finally reached Holiday Beach and made our way to the finish line. We finished in 13 hours and 46 minutes, just 14 minutes under the 14 hour time cut-off. We had paddled around 9k, run 21k and biked 125k!
It was definitely the hardest race I’ve ever done. Amazing though what one can do on less than an hour of sleep!
In the end, Rebecca and I ended up winning the team of 2 females category, because the team that was ahead of us was overtime. So even though they found all of the checkpoints (including the ones on the last trek that we didn’t do), we finished ahead of them. It feels a bit strange, but that’s apparently how adventure racing works.
SCAR was very well organized and the volunteers were great. There was lots of post-race food, and even vegetarian options.
Canoes and paddling gear/transition bins and bags were waiting for us at the race finish, having been transported there by race volunteers. I even got a race shuttle to where my van was parked. Rebecca and I had had visions of having to get back on our bikes and ride to get the van.
Some people might think we’re crazy, but minutes before the Storm the Trent Trek Long Course Race was to begin was the first time my racing partner Rebecca and I had been in a canoe since last August, a full 9 months earlier! Suffice it to say our canoe prep was minimal. We fared much better on the mountain biking, trail running, and orienteering prep side of things.
This was to be our first time participating in Storm the Trent, and only our second adventure race of this kind, after last August’s Bruce Peninsula Multisport Race, a canoeing/mountain biking/trail running race that did not involve any orienteering. We chose the middle distance race, which would entail approximately 7k of canoeing, 39k of mountain biking and 9k of trekking. This was the first year for the race to be held in Haliburton.
Going into the race, we had no idea what order the events would be in, or even how many times we would be doing each event. Would we start in the canoes or running? Given that our bikes were a few kilometres away, it was clear we wouldn’t be riding to start!
On race morning we drove to Glebe Park where we got plates for our bikes, and left our bikes on a rack, with our helmets, bike shoes, and water bottles.
Pre-race bike drop-off at Glebe Park. [Photo credit: Kim]
Next we dropped our canoe off at Head Lake Park.
Pre-race canoe drop-off. Love my Swift Keewaydin.
Then we went to AJ LaRue Arena to register, picking up our race instructions, 3 race maps, pinnies, and buffs. We also had to show our PFDs and other items from the mandatory gear list. We headed back to the canoe to leave our PFDs, then sat at the arena reading the race instructions and planning our route. The goal was to find all 14 checkpoints as quickly as possible. Three would be in the water on floating buoys, and the rest found while mountain biking or running. We learned that the order of events would be canoe/run/bike/run/bike/run/bike.
Planning our route with the 3 race maps.
After the pre-race briefing, during which we learned that at one point on the bike course we would go through water above our knees (depending how tall we were), we all headed to the water and our boats. Solo athletes were in kayaks, and teams in canoes.
Canoe leg (around 7k)
On the water we found our friend Kristin, chatted with other racers, and then the race began! It was a mass start, with some bumper boat action and jostling to get away from other boats.
And we’re off! We’re in the bright yellow boat at the top right, wearing white ball caps. I’m in the stern. [Photo credit: Storm the Trent]
For the 3 checkpoints on the water (CP1a, CP1b, and CP1c), we only had to get close enough to read the clue on them – for example, one told us that checkpoint 31 would be at a trail junction. We didn’t insert our SI sticks into card readers at these checkpoints. I wondered how well it would work for everyone to make a sharp left hand turn after the first checkpoint, but it went pretty smoothly – pretty polite Canadian paddlers are around us! All three of these checkpoints were easy to find, except that the last one was spinning in the wind and as we got closer we feared we would have to paddle up behind it to read it, but it spun again and phew – no need! In the last couple of kilometres my forearms were getting awfully tired and tight! We reached the shore between 57 and 58 minutes into the race.
Run leg 1 (around 2k)
After quickly removing our pinnies and PFDs, putting our pinnies back on and putting on our camelbaks, we were on our way, stopping first at CP1 to insert the SI stick (Rebecca was wearing it on a lanyard around her neck), and then running a couple of kilometres to our bikes.
Bike leg 1 (around 14k)
I ran for the portapotty, then once we changed our shoes and put on our helmets, we stopped at CP2 on our way out of the park, and we headed straight up a steep hill. It would be the first of many over the course of the race. The bike routes were all marked, so it was easy to know where to go. After a little while on a road, the route turned into the woods, where we met faster athletes coming back from CP3. This section was challenging, not only for the off-road nature, but because of the 2-way traffic. At times the trail was too narrow for riders to go in both directions when rocks or roots or big puddles of mud were in the way. Riding down a hill I was faced with riders coming up (and vice versa), but everyone was very respectful of the other riders. I didn’t hear anyone get angry when someone stopped dead in front of them.
It was between CP3 and CP4 that we encountered the deep water! I walked my bike through the deepest part, worried about falling over and getting my phone wet (which was in my camelbak, but not in a waterproof bag). The water was higher than my knee. Some people rode right through it, but one guy fell forward onto his face (he was fine!).
This deep water section (above my knee when standing in it) was worthy of a photo! Kristin shows us how it’s done.
After the trail section ended we found CP4, then headed on the road back to Glebe Park and CP5 (which was also CP2).
Run leg 2 (around 3k)
At this point, we found Kristin at her bike and set off into the woods with her, agreeing on our route and heading in a counterclockwise direction to find CP30, CP31, CP33 and CP34. Three of these checkpoints were the ones that we found clues for while canoeing. None of these were hard to find, though we did walk some of the hills instead of running them. It was hot and humid and the break from running was welcome. We checked in at CP5 again, and this time when we headed off on our bikes, we took our running shoes with us, since we wouldn’t be returning to Glebe Park.
Bike leg 2 (around 14k)
It was on this 2nd bike leg that I was feeling very low energy overall. This section was mostly flat, and much of it along a rail trail, but I was having trouble staying with Rebecca. She was getting further and further away. I was drinking gatorade, had eaten some gels and an energy bar, but just couldn’t muster up any more power. I’m not sure what was going on. Maybe the heat?
Somewhere out on the bike course! [Photo credit: Storm the Trent]
This part of the course was pretty, and where I spotted 2 painted turtles sitting on a log in the water along the rail trail. Eventually, we made our way to CP6 at Camp Wanakita (where I camped 2 summers as a kid). Here race officials did another gear check, asking to see our 2 whistles and emergency blanket.
Run leg 3 (around 4k)
It was at this spot that we ran into our friend John, who was doing the longer Elite course (crazy as he is). And once again, we met up with Kristin (who probably arrived so far ahead of us that she napped while we caught up to her), and after a quick shoe change and water re-fill, we headed into the woods to find CP44, CP45, CP43, and CP40. Despite the race organizers saying that there would be no water on the course, there were big jugs that we were able to use to add about a bottle’s worth to our water bottles or camelbaks (I suspect they changed their minds due to the high temperature and humidity). I added water to my camelbak, which I started the race filled with 2L of water.
I blindly followed Kristin and Rebecca, but before too long, we weren’t sure where the path was we were looking for, nor where exactly we were on the map. We weren’t the only ones confused at this spot. We probably wasted 15 minutes here, but eventually, when we saw other racers coming out of the woods, we decided it must be the way to go, despite us earlier heading that way and coming out again confused. From that point on it was smooth sailing.
Despite a weather forecast for the day that called for a risk of thunderstorms, the potentially disastrous weather never did arrive. We heard distant thunder on this run leg, but there was no rain, and the thunder stayed far away.
After finding the 4 checkpoints, we stopped again at CP6, then jumped on our bikes for the ride to the finish line.
Bike leg 3 (around 13k)
In case there was any doubt, Haliburton is hilly. Very hilly. On this last bike leg, which started up a steep hill and continued up many more, it seemed we couldn’t catch a break. Sure, there were a couple of good downhills (whee!), but for the most part it felt like we were climbing dirt road after dirt road. A few times I yelled to Rebecca that I needed to stop at the top of a hill to catch my breath, but when we stopped, the black flies swarmed! I didn’t care – I needed a breather! My back was also tightening up (likely from my posture). The most cruel hill may have been the very last one, which was steep and long! We ended up walking parts of the last few hills. At CP50, the race officially ended – our time was stopped, and we could take post-race pictures. We finished the race in just under 6 hours and 40 minutes, and covered about 57 km!
At CP50, where the race officially ended. [Photo credit: Storm the Trent]
However, we still had to make our way down a steep hill to the finish line. It was a dirt switchback path, which was fun to ride, though I could see why the race organizers didn’t want people racing down it to the finish line – it was steep! At the bottom we made our way to the finishing arch, and then rode back down to the water where our vehicle was parked. I dove into the lake and felt so much better afterwards! Then we headed to the arena for the post-race food and the award ceremony.
Post-race after swimming in the lake! [Photo credit: John]
We had no idea how we had placed, though we knew we weren’t 1st, 2nd or 3rd! It turns out we were 8th out of 17 team of 2 women. Not bad for two athletes who hadn’t been in a canoe in 9 months and who only just started mountain biking (me in the fall and Rebecca this spring)!
I will definitely do this race again. It was superbly well organized, with excellent volunteers. Thank you Storm Racing!
If you’d like a chuckle, check out the race results for no other reason than to read the funny team names that people came up with (Rebecca and I are “Define Lost”). There are some great ones, like “Lost but making good time”, “4 Guys & an Alternate Named Steve”, and “That’s not on the map”.
With an 80 cm base of snow in the Blue Mountain area a few days before the Don’t Get Lost Snowshoe Raid was set to be held, it looked like we were in store for perfect snowshoeing conditions! And then, just two days before the race a serious thaw had many of us wondering whether there would be any snow left at all! The night before the race, an email from the race organizers clarified things: snowshoes recommended! Phew.
On race morning, we awoke to a temperature of -24C with the windchill. I didn’t want to be cold (in particular at higher, exposed elevations), but didn’t want to be overdressed either (in lower forested areas). I settled on 3 layers on the bottom (plus gaiters), 4 on the top, a balaclava, a toque, gloves and shells. I debated wearing ski goggles! I also carried an extra pair of socks, extra pair of gloves, a fleece sweater, and toe warmers, just in case!
I arrived at Blue Mountain with my friend and teammate Rebecca (team “Define Lost”), to find another friend (Kim) very happy to see me. Her teammate and son was sick and unable to race, and since you can’t race alone in the Snowshoe Raid, she asked to join our team. With the blessing of the race organizers, we became a team of 3.
Kim, Rebecca and I planning our race strategy.
We were to be bussed to the start line at Pretty River Valley Provincial Park, and then would have 3 hours to find as many of the controls as possible. There were no mandatory controls, but if you went into the “matrix” and found controls in this part of the map, you had to go to the aid station to prove that you found them (by showing the holes punched on your map – there were manual hole punches at these controls). The controls were scored as follows: 25 points for green, 50 for blue, 75 for black, 100 for double black, and 150 for you’re crazy and no way am I going there!
We used highlighters to mark our intended route, and decided that at checkpoint 50 we would do a time check and see what we still had time to do. After the pre-race briefing and a last pitstop, we headed to the busses, dropping a bag off so that it would be waiting for us at the race finish (warm layers, if needed).
The bus ride lasted around 20 minutes. It was very shortly after we arrived (I was debating whether I would pee on the side of the road as many of the guys were doing!) when there was an announcement: the race would be starting in 4 minutes! I didn’t even have my snowshoes on. I quickly got myself organized, and the race began!
At first it was a snowshoe walk, as we all had to follow the same trail for a while. Eventually, people spread out and we could run.
Me on the far left.
Our plan was to go for controls 52, 53, 54, 55, 44, 50, 42, 40 (if it looked like we could cross the creek, which we were warned pre-race was a flowing creek because of the thaw), and then if we had time, we would enter the matrix, doing 33, 32, the aid station, 39 and then the finish.
We weren’t sure how much we would be able to run, and how much walking we would do. At times, the snow didn’t hold our weight and we sunk down a foot or more. In these sections I ran less, worried that I would hurt myself. On packed down trails it was easy to run.
We found 52 (green) quite easily, but struggled to find 53 (double black) and ended up overshooting it. Our bearing must have been off. When we hadn’t found it where we expected to, we kept going (maybe over the next hill!), but we really were’t sure whether we had gone too far left of it, or too far right. When we reached a snowmobile trail, we realized what we had done (we had gone too far right), and instead went for 54 (blue). Knowing exactly where we were then, and planning to head back toward 53 anyway en route to 55, we tried again, and found it (just before we got there, we were heading up a hill when down the hill comes Barb, who very often wins her age category – “that’s a good sign!” we said, and we were right!). There is such satisfaction in finding something that you have struggled to find! I hate giving up on controls.
One thing that’s interesting about snowshoe orienteering is that you can see which way other people went… but they may have been just as lost as you, or walking randomly in hopes of finding something that matches the map. And the trails… oh, the trails… what would be easy to find in the summer may be impossible to spot in the winter! If no one has walked on a trail recently, you may have no idea where it is. At Pretty River Valley Provincial Park, the snowmobile trail was easy to spot, but the tiny trails? Not so much.
Since we couldn’t rely on the trails being visible, we used pace counting to figure out how far we had gone.
Next up was control 55 (blue), which we found easily. At 44 (black diamond), the sun was peeking through the forest making it very pretty!
It was when I started ascending the hill to 50 (blue) that I realized I had a problem! I was walking on two big mounds of ice built up under the metal grips of my snowshoes (the toe crampons). I couldn’t grip the ground, and was just sliding down the hill. It was a very steep climb. I whacked my snowshoe against a tree many times before I dislodged the ice, but had trouble with the second. Eventually, I got it. Given the temperature (cold!) I wasn’t expecting ice build-up.
We descended the hill, and checking the time, knew that we wouldn’t have time to do the controls in the matrix. 39 (green) wasn’t in the matrix, but from the road, it would involve a significant climb – it was “green” only if you were in the matrix and following a trail – so we skipped it. We headed for 42 (blue), which was easy to find because all we had to do was run along the road looking for a creek – since it was flowing, it was quite obvious! We followed the creek uphill until we found the control.
We were doubtful that we had time to go for control 40, but I figured we should try it. Rebecca had in her head that we still had 3k to run to the finish, when in fact it was 1.5. When she realized her error, she agreed that we had time to go for it. Kim decided to head to the finish, so Rebecca and I headed into the woods. We got about 10 metres in when we found the wide (6 feet?) flowing creek, and knew there was no way we were crossing it. We didn’t have time to run up and down the creek looking for a safe crossing spot (a guy there said they had tried to find a spot), so instead we headed for the finish!
Rebecca and I approaching the finish line.
We crossed the finish line in 2:52:11, with a total of 400 points. Had we been over the allotted 3 hours, we would have lost 30 points per minute.
After grabbing some hot chocolate and ginger cookies, and grabbing my backpack with extra clothes (which I didn’t need at that point), I made my way to the busses for the ride back to Blue Mountain, where a hot lunch was waiting for us.
I was relieved that my clothing choices worked out well – I had chilly fingers at the very start, but otherwise I was comfy!
I had fun racing with Rebecca and Kim. With the exception of control 53, we didn’t have trouble finding anything.
The race was super well organized. I highly recommend it!
Results
I don’t think I’ve ever paid so much attention to outdoor Christmas decorations in my life!
On a Thursday night in December at -9 degrees Celsius (feeling colder with the wind) I set out with my daughter and our friends to participate in the Raid the Ham orienteering race in Westdale (part of Hamilton, Ontario), a holiday-themed race doubling as a fundraiser for the Don’t Get Lost junior athletes.
This race was open to everyone, even beginner-level navigators. Before looking at the map, you had to predict your finishing time based only on the length of the course (there were 2 to choose from: “short” at 2.2 km and “long” at 4.8 km). We didn’t know how many checkpoints there would be, just that at each one there wouldn’t be a flag – instead, we would have to answer a question about holiday decorations. I decided to do the short course, and predicted a (ridiculously long) time of 47 minutes. We were not allowed to run with any timing devices, but if we arrived at the finish earlier than we thought we would, we could stand around and not punch the finish control right away.
The girls writing their predicted times.
We were able to look at our maps shortly before the race started. All of the 10 checkpoints on the short course were on city streets (nothing in parks, along trails or in the woods), so it was very easy to navigate using just the map (no compass required). We had to do the checkpoints in order from 1 to 10, and fill in our answers as we went along (pencils and pens were provided!).
When the race started, I took off running in search of the 1st checkpoint, which would be at house #48 on a nameless street (see below for a picture of the questions we had to answer). The question was “What is in the front yard?”, and the answer was a snowman. I wrote that down and kept running. Apologies for the chicken scratch. It was so cold that I didn’t want to stop for long to write, and my pencil wasn’t working very well!
When I got to #3, I realized that I was way ahead of schedule (it would never take me 47 minutes!), so I commented to the 2 people near me that I was running so fast I could stop to take a picture. Emil responded that I had time for a nap (or maybe it was a coffee!).
This was the holiday decoration at checkpoint 5, the one that nearly caused the end of me… well, not exactly.
In any case, I kept running, and eventually my fingers warmed up! It was somewhere around checkpoint 5 that I realized I was no longer wearing the (borrowed) SI stick on my finger, the timing device that would record my time. “Oh no!” I thought. “I’m in trouble now.” (These things are expensive!!!) Do I keep running? Do I go back? Where would it be? Would someone have seen it and picked it up? Thankfully, I remembered almost immediately that to take the picture at checkpoint 3, I took my glove off! And when I took my glove off, the SI stick probably fell off my gloved finger! So, I retraced my steps, and 10m or so away from the polar bear, I spotted the SI stick on the sidewalk in the snow! PHEW!
I found the rest of the checkpoints, but figured #8 must have been a trick (“How many trees have lights?” I found none.). Checkpoint number 10 resulted in a few seconds of confusion as I misread the clue and was looking for a red window rather than red letters hanging in the window!
When I reached the finish, I decided I was way too early to punch in, so I waited a bit, but then punched. I figured there was no way I would have the closest guess!
Another runner (Courtney) asked if anyone was interested in doing some of the long course while waiting for everyone else to finish, so I went along with her and we did the first 5 checkpoints of the 15 on that course (some of the ones we didn’t do were ones we had actually done on the short course). We only had a problem with the 5th, and only because the house was #250 not #150 as was marked on the map. This was also the house with an “unseasonable item” on the porch (a pumpkin!).
Clearly I was writing in shorthand for #1 – or something!
When I returned to the finish (again), most if not everyone was back. It wasn’t long before Meghan announced the winner, who was just 16 seconds off his predicted time. I was curious to see how far off I was, so I asked Meghan, but my time didn’t show up on the computer. I punched the finish again (instead of the download!) and overwrote my original time. With my new, longer time, I ended up being 4 minutes and 14 seconds longer than I predicted. Had my original finishing time been captured, I would have been way further off!
This was a really fun race, and totally doable for newbie orienteers! Thanks Don’t Get Lost for another great night.
After competing in the Ontario Orienteering Championships sprint and middle distance races on Saturday, October 28, I was up for one more race on the Sunday – the Don’t Get Lost Peak2Peak Adventure Run! This would be great preparation for the upcoming Don’t Get Lost Raid the Hammer race.
While I signed up for the Peak2Peak as an individual racer (not a team), I had planned to run through the woods with my friend Rebecca. Then my friend Kristin, new to orienteering, asked if she could tag along. And on race morning, we gained one more racer – John, who I met at the STAR Tracks Mountain Bike Adventure in October, and who would be racing with Kristin at Raid the Hammer.
Rebecca, Kristin and I pre-race. [Photo by Ailish]By the time Kristin and John joined us pre-race at St. Thomas school in Waterdown, we had already planned our proposed route. With 2 hours to get as many controls as possible (and only 1 mandatory one, the first one, which was 1 km from the race start line), we knew we couldn’t find them all and would have to strategize. We decided that because we have never found all of the dog bone controls in a race before, that would be our goal. Dog bones are 2 controls that you must do sequentially (e.g. #2A and 2B). You can normally do them in any order, but you can’t punch another control in between (even if it’s nearby!) or you don’t get the bonus points for the dog bone. We also decided to run the optional “prologue” section of the course, which was the Ontario Orienteering Championships long course for kids under 12. Beyond that, we weren’t sure how many controls we would have time for.
The race started and off we went! The first bottleneck was a metal gate that we had to squeeze through or climb over. The next bottleneck was the first control, which everyone had to punch. It was at this point that we were able to collect the map for the “prologue” section. We weren’t the only ones starting with this course! The 7 controls were all on trails or very slightly off them, and were easy to find.
From there we headed for the dog bones, picking up one control on our way. With the exception of one control that we overshot (our first of the dog bones), we didn’t have much trouble finding them. We did, however, have to run up and down many hills to get between them! And, we found all 6 controls making up the 3 dog bones. Success!
There was a neat section that we planned to do if we had time, but unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. It was called “Walk the Line” – if you walked the marked line on the map (not marked in real life) you would find 3 controls. It was a neat idea that I hope I get the chance to try at another race.
[Photo by Don’t Get Lost]Another opportunity at the end of the race was to pick up a small map on your way back when you passed the first control, which would show you wheree to find 3 bonus controls. You weren’t allowed to take the map with you, but you could mark your map, or take a picture of the new map, or just memorize where to find the controls. We didn’t have time for this section either.
In the last km, John and Kristin were running quicker than Rebecca and I, so they finished first and Kristin was able to snap a picture of Rebecca and I finishing.
[Photo by Kristin]
All smiles at the finish!
In the end, I finished in 1:57:39 with 770 points, good for 22nd place out of 35 women in the open age group.
[Photo by a random racer!]This race was super fun. I really enjoy being able to choose which controls I go for. I’m looking forward to Raid the Hammer this weekend, which I will do with Rebecca and my husband Alasdair as team “Three Triathletes Watching for Falling Trees”.
Recently I was approached by Orienteering Canada, who was interested in interviewing me as a newbie orienteer and blogger of my orienteering* adventures. [* Orienteering is “a competitive or noncompetitive recreational activity in which participants use a map and compass to navigate between checkpoints along an unfamiliar course (as in the woods)” according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
Orienteering Canada provides leadership and resources to those involved in Canadian orienteering (athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers).
You can read the interview here. See why you, too, should try orienteering!
At first it was a snowshoe walk, as we all had to follow the same trail for a while. Eventually, people spread out and we could run.
We were doubtful that we had time to go for control 40, but I figured we should try it. Rebecca had in her head that we still had 3k to run to the finish, when in fact it was 1.5. When she realized her error, she agreed that we had time to go for it. Kim decided to head to the finish, so Rebecca and I headed into the woods. We got about 10 metres in when we found the wide (6 feet?) flowing creek, and knew there was no way we were crossing it. We didn’t have time to run up and down the creek looking for a safe crossing spot (a guy there said they had tried to find a spot), so instead we headed for the finish!
Kyra On The Go 