Adventure Racers Run, Paddle, Bike, Trek for Pride, Glory in Oakville

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By Christopher Brewer

cbrewer@chronline.com

    OAKVILLE — On a day in which many across the globe take the opportunity to sleep in, the Oakville rodeo grounds buzzed with 80 people up before the crack of dawn.   

    They would spend their Saturday performing some of the most grueling work they would do in their lives, joining together to conquer the varied terrain of Grays Harbor County in the TRIOBA Adventure Sprint Race — an event in which teams of four gathered to run, kayak, mountain bike and trek nearly 45 miles to the finish in Oakville.

    The weather cooperated quite nicely, although there was a slight bite to the air prior to the race’s beginning at 8 a.m. As the 23 registered teams warmed up and stretched at the starting line, they anticipated an event that would prove to be challenging for newcomers and the most experienced racers alike.

    “I’m always up for an adventure, and this sounded like it would be a great opportunity,” said Hailey Foster of Bend, Ore., taking part in her first adventure race. “We’ve got the right gear, we’ll log the miles and we’ll hope to finish well.”

    Dave Russell of Team Oceanic has been adventure racing for 10 years. As he hails from Hood River, Ore., it was his first time in Oakville — as such he found the job of navigating the course for his team to be a quite the formidable challenge. After all, teams are only given a topographical map with which to navigate, and they must use a compass and their minds to make quick decisions about which direction to go.

    “Plotting the course is just about as tough as actually running it, especially if you don’t know the place,” Russell said. “Everyone hits the proverbial wall at times where we just run out of stamina, so navigating has to be that much more effective.”



    After the “go” signal was given, the teams ran a mile and a half from the Oakville rodeo grounds to a boat launch on Elma Gate Road West, where they launched kayaks into a fast-moving Chehalis River. They paddled onward to Porter, where teams had to check in and ride mountain bikes eastward to Wedekind in the Capitol State Forest. The toughest part of the day would entail a 10-mile trek to a point near the North Creek Campground, and just to make sure everyone was tired at the end, teams finished back at the rodeo grounds where the race first started.

    All in all, the course entailed roughly 45 miles of scrambling over hills, through valleys and across rivers. As complicated as the race sounds, event co-coordinator Ryan VanGorder said the fastest finishers usually complete the course in around six hours.

    “You’ve got to be in such great physical shape to run these adventure races,” VanGorder said. “The majority of the people do this come from around the Northwest, and participate in these events around the globe.”

    The people participating came for a variety of reasons. Some said they came to push for victory, while others took part to simply try their hand at the event and see how they could do. One thing everyone agreed upon: adventure racing was quite the rush.

    “The weather’s great, we’re running well and we’re about to take on a river early in a Saturday morning,” said Colin Ness of Seattle. “We’ll finish the race and we’re gonna have a blast doing it.”

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    Chris Brewer: (360) 807-8235