Adventure racing - Omnitech LIFE Quest

Mon May 02 2005
Posted May 2, 2005
10,411

Teams test their endurance with outdoor skills ranging from paddling, biking to navigation Published: 04/30/05 2:04 am ne sport combines grueling long-distance running and biking, rope challenges and deft skill with a map and compass. That's adventure racing, one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, in which competitors traverse a course that tests their physical limitations as well as their brainpower. "During a race, you're constantly reviewing the map and checking your bearing with the compass," says race director Adel Valdes, 31, of Sioux Falls. "Questions come up as teams seek checkpoints. 'Is this the trail?' 'Should we take the road or bushwhack?' "More than 80 racers will ask themselves similar questions as they take part in Omnitech LIFE Quest 2005, a first-year adventure race May 21 at Inspiration Hills southwest of Inwood, Iowa. The event is a U.S. Adventure Racing Association sanctioned event.

ABOUT LIFE QUEST The Omnitech LIFE Quest 2005 Adventure Race will take place May 21 at Inspiration Hills Camp and Retreat Center 7 miles southwest of Inwood, Iowa. It is the first adventure race in the Sioux Falls area. The course, which will cover 50 to 60 miles of terrain, has a 12-hour time limit. Racers must check in between noon and 6 p.m. May 20. At 9 p.m., teams will receive their maps and the start time for the May 21 event. Sunday is the requested registration deadline, but race coordinator Adel Valdes says he will accept late registration on a case-by-case basis. Volunteers are needed for the race, and those interested should attend an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Faith Lutheran Church, 601 N. Cliff Ave. For information or to register, call 605-201-7733, or go to the event Web site, www.dakotaextremeevents.com.

While there are several types of adventure races, most, including LIFE Quest, are team sports in which competitors travel a course, trying to reach a varying number of checkpoints on a map in the fastest time. The length of courses vary as well.Two- and four-person teams run, hike, bike and paddle in their quest to reach the checkpoints. Map-reading and navigation skills, along with teamwork, are just as important as physical prowess. Team members must stay within 100 yards of each other, and many races require a team to carry a gear list that can be inspected at certain points along the route. If team members leave something out, the team is penalized. Valdes says at the end of a race, the exhaustion is physical and mental. "Successful teams need the ability to do everything: navigate, run, paddle, bike," he says. "That's the challenge of adventure racing."Troy Farrar, president of the 8-year-old U.S. Adventure Racing Association in Austin, Texas, says the sport's growth is noteworthy. "In 2000, we had 35 sanctioned events, and in 2004, we had 350," Farrar says. "There's a huge group of participants that are just adventure racers, people who want to get away for a weekend and seek a challenge in the woods."Participation numbers vary, but Farrar says the largest race, an all-woman race in Austin, can draw 600 competitors. The sport includes a national championship, and several sanctioned races serve as qualifying events for the 2005 championship, which will be in November in Tampa, Fla. "Adventure racing is a multidiscipline team sport only limited by the event creator's creativity," Farrar says. "Part of the intrigue is there's so much the competitors do not know when they start."Many adventure races include "mystery events" that might be special tests of teamwork or the mind. Valdes says the variable start time is part of the challenge. Participants for LIFE Quest will meet at the site May 20 to await announcement of the May 21 start time. "Every race director tries to put in some secrets," Valdes says. "There's always some twists for the racers."LIFE Quest will be the first adventure race for Seth Sundstrom, 35, of Harrisburg. He'll run in the two-person open category with Jon DeGroot of Sioux Falls in Team But-Dust. "What attracted me is it's not just a marathon, where you start and head towards a goal," Sundstrom says. "It's mental - you have to think. It's not just huffing and puffing between the start and finish." Sundstrom says he's putting in 25 miles a week of running to prepare. He and DeGroot will begin training together next week, and Sundstrom knows they have ground to cover."I'm pretty unfamiliar with a map and compass; that part scares me," he says. "Jon and I are good friends, and we've got three or four weeks. It's hard to get lost in the Midwest." When Valdes began planning the event, he needed a location that was challenging and had the facilities necessary for a race. Ron DeWit, executive director of Inspiration Hills Camp and Retreat Center, says he's glad to have the race come to rural Inwood."We're able to meet the needs for the entire event," DeWit says. "After working with Adel (Valdes), we realized we could have a safe and enjoyable adventure race here, so we're thrilled." The location for the course is on 350 acres of wooded hills and is lined with ravines and bluffs that overlook the Big Sioux River Valley. "Orienteering is a big part of the race, and our camp should be challenging for the participants," DeWit says. DeWit says the rope challenge course Inspiration Hills uses for teamwork-building and leadership courses might be a part of the race, but he cannot give away too much information, to keep the race fair."We have four high elements in the rope-challenge course and six or seven low elements," he says. "We have a partnership with Big Valley Ranch and Recreation, and they have canoes for any paddling portion of the race." Volunteers will serve as inspectors at some of the checkpoints, and Valdes says more are needed. He will host a volunteer meeting Tuesday and hopes people interested in the sport will start as volunteers to see how it works.After a 12-hour race of climbing, thinking, running and getting lost once in a while, Farrar says new adventure racers learn a lot about the sport and about themselves. "There's so much of the unknown in adventure races, teams have to work together," he says. "The most important piece of equipment is your teammates." For a listing of adventure racing events and information nationwide, visit the U.S. Adventure Racing Association site at www.usara.com. Reach reporter Jarett C. Bies at jbies@argusleader.com or 977-3925.