I presented the idea of doing the NV Racing Family Adventure Race to my kids several weeks prior to race. I have to admit, I was a little taken aback when they 
did not respond enthusiastically. What kid would not jump at the chance to ride a bike through mud puddles, run through thickets and balance on fallen logs across a bubbling stream in search of checkpoints? So I kept asking them. I asked them the week before the race, the day before the race and the night before the race. It wasn’t until the morning of the race that Ethan, who I am convinced only said yes because he felt sorry for me, finally acquiesced. So we rushed to change clothes and load the bikes on the car. Within an hour we were in Gainsville, registered for the race and studying our map and passport.
The race consisted of 12 checkpoints around three bike drops. Each team, consisting of an adult and a kid had to visit all three bike drops (bikes could not be dropped anywhere else on the course) in their quest for checkpoints. The kid’s age group determined the number of required checkpoints and Ethan’s age group - the 8-9 year olds - had to find 8 checkpoints. They could get any 8 of the 12 checkpoints and in any order – thus some strategy was required.
In an effort to stretch out the field before everyone jumped on their bikes, Mike Spiller, the race director led everyone in a quarter to half mile forerun. It is always fun to see who is pulling whom when adults run with kids. I’ve done several Girls on the Run races and love watching the girls who take off only to leave their buddy runners (often their Dads) in the dust gasping for air. I am not at all embarrassed to say that Ethan led me the whole forerun, but I held my own!
We were among the first teams to finish the forerun. We jumped on our bikes and headed to the first bike drop. It was here that Ethan learned his first lesson of adventure racing. Never follow
another team. A father and daughter team arrived at the bike drop at nearly the same time we did. They jumped of their bikes and headed to the left and into the woods. I took out my map and quickly got my baring. Ethan wanted to know why we weren’t going into the woods like the other team. I showed him the map and where three of the four checkpoints were up the path and to the right. We reached Route 29 and turned into the woods. Ethan spotted the first checkpoint and yelled “I found it, I found it”. I had to remind myself that this was a family race, though my competitive nature wanted to hush him and not give away our location. We headed down the path to the next checkpoint and followed the stream to the third checkpoint. As we followed the stream, Ethan took every opportunity to cross it via downed trees. Perhaps it was not the most efficient path, but he was having fun.
In fact, he was having so much fun that when we jumped on our bikes in search of the next bike drop, he yelled back “This is the BEST DAY of my life!” I smiled and didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. Ethan used this phrase with me once before when we were on an all day canoe trip last summer. Near the end of the day, after paddling for nearly six hours, we hit some bubbly “rapids” on our return trip. He just loved maneuvering through the rocks and having the water splash into the boat. I think I may have a budding adventure racer!
We arrived at the second bike drop where we quickly picked up two more checkpoints. Ethan was looking forward the next drop, because this final stop included checkpoint 6. At the beginning of the race, Mike gave a little color on several checkpoints, including checkpoint 6 – which required crossing a log over the stream for quite a distance to the flag. As soon as he described it and suggested that some parents may want to cross the instead of their kids, Ethan was intrigued. He must have asked me 20 times, when we were heading to checkpoint 6. When we arrived, Ethan ran across the log and back like he was on solid ground. Me - I stayed on the path and watched. I’m sure if I had run as fast as he did, I would have been swimming in the stream!
We ran to the last two checkpoints at a pretty good pace and along the way we approached a father with his son. Both were clearly exhausted – and as we passed them, I heard the Dad say, “I think we need to talk your Mom into doing the next race.” Go Mom!
We finished the race in an hour and half or so during which Ethan and I rode or ran nearly entire time. He ultimately placed in his age group and won a pair of biking gloves –He loves these gloves so much that he as not taken them off since the race!
When we arrived home, we told Ethan’s brothers all about the race. You can bet that all three will be signing up for the next race in October. Thanks NV Racing!
did not respond enthusiastically. What kid would not jump at the chance to ride a bike through mud puddles, run through thickets and balance on fallen logs across a bubbling stream in search of checkpoints? So I kept asking them. I asked them the week before the race, the day before the race and the night before the race. It wasn’t until the morning of the race that Ethan, who I am convinced only said yes because he felt sorry for me, finally acquiesced. So we rushed to change clothes and load the bikes on the car. Within an hour we were in Gainsville, registered for the race and studying our map and passport.The race consisted of 12 checkpoints around three bike drops. Each team, consisting of an adult and a kid had to visit all three bike drops (bikes could not be dropped anywhere else on the course) in their quest for checkpoints. The kid’s age group determined the number of required checkpoints and Ethan’s age group - the 8-9 year olds - had to find 8 checkpoints. They could get any 8 of the 12 checkpoints and in any order – thus some strategy was required.
In an effort to stretch out the field before everyone jumped on their bikes, Mike Spiller, the race director led everyone in a quarter to half mile forerun. It is always fun to see who is pulling whom when adults run with kids. I’ve done several Girls on the Run races and love watching the girls who take off only to leave their buddy runners (often their Dads) in the dust gasping for air. I am not at all embarrassed to say that Ethan led me the whole forerun, but I held my own!
We were among the first teams to finish the forerun. We jumped on our bikes and headed to the first bike drop. It was here that Ethan learned his first lesson of adventure racing. Never follow
another team. A father and daughter team arrived at the bike drop at nearly the same time we did. They jumped of their bikes and headed to the left and into the woods. I took out my map and quickly got my baring. Ethan wanted to know why we weren’t going into the woods like the other team. I showed him the map and where three of the four checkpoints were up the path and to the right. We reached Route 29 and turned into the woods. Ethan spotted the first checkpoint and yelled “I found it, I found it”. I had to remind myself that this was a family race, though my competitive nature wanted to hush him and not give away our location. We headed down the path to the next checkpoint and followed the stream to the third checkpoint. As we followed the stream, Ethan took every opportunity to cross it via downed trees. Perhaps it was not the most efficient path, but he was having fun.
In fact, he was having so much fun that when we jumped on our bikes in search of the next bike drop, he yelled back “This is the BEST DAY of my life!” I smiled and didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. Ethan used this phrase with me once before when we were on an all day canoe trip last summer. Near the end of the day, after paddling for nearly six hours, we hit some bubbly “rapids” on our return trip. He just loved maneuvering through the rocks and having the water splash into the boat. I think I may have a budding adventure racer!
We arrived at the second bike drop where we quickly picked up two more checkpoints. Ethan was looking forward the next drop, because this final stop included checkpoint 6. At the beginning of the race, Mike gave a little color on several checkpoints, including checkpoint 6 – which required crossing a log over the stream for quite a distance to the flag. As soon as he described it and suggested that some parents may want to cross the instead of their kids, Ethan was intrigued. He must have asked me 20 times, when we were heading to checkpoint 6. When we arrived, Ethan ran across the log and back like he was on solid ground. Me - I stayed on the path and watched. I’m sure if I had run as fast as he did, I would have been swimming in the stream!
We ran to the last two checkpoints at a pretty good pace and along the way we approached a father with his son. Both were clearly exhausted – and as we passed them, I heard the Dad say, “I think we need to talk your Mom into doing the next race.” Go Mom!We finished the race in an hour and half or so during which Ethan and I rode or ran nearly entire time. He ultimately placed in his age group and won a pair of biking gloves –He loves these gloves so much that he as not taken them off since the race!
When we arrived home, we told Ethan’s brothers all about the race. You can bet that all three will be signing up for the next race in October. Thanks NV Racing!
Thank you to Dan Hicok for the photos http://danhicok.smugmug.com/gallery/7922082_x7Krz/1/513938522_XaXsg#513938522_XaXsg
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