The Biking Section was great. It was mostly single track with some road riding required. One section include a wicked fun down hill section of single track that was only a few feet away from the edge of the lake we paddled on. Great bike course, for sure!

Oh, and we saw some deer down by one CP--that was pretty cool.

The Team Challenge section also include a sling shot event and they required each team to go up, over and down a cargo net.

The team challenge portion of the race including an event (shown here) where each team had to fill one of these PVC tubes with water from a nearby lake. There was two tricks: the PVC had multiple holes drilled in it and only one team member could run down to the lake to get water...using a red keg cup! This was what we did before the trekking portion of the race--it's pretty clear that the race organizers wanted to mess with our heads.

The Canoeing section of the race was on a nifty lake, with relatively calm water and low winds. We pretty much blasted this section, and might have done it even faster if I didn't have those frickin' killer leg craps. In any event, as you can see the foliage was pretty awesome that day too--which made finding some of the orange checkpoints somewhat challenging.

Here's the before photo of TRWS. It was taken just before the start of the race. No bleeding or nothin...

Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of biking, paddling, team challenges or trekking, but here we are finishing!

But just in case you have any doubt that we did in fact complete the entire race, here we are at the awards ceremony recieving our medals!! I have mentioned that we won medals, right?

No, that's not a beer in Grahams hand...I'm sure he wishes it was...

I got it, I got it! The funny thing is, I was trying to decide if I should try to signal to the guys that we were starting with the bikes...riding a phantom bike and running at the same time doesn't work well. In fact, it kind of makes you look like you're limping.

To start the race, the official required team captains to line up under the Red Bull arch and race approximately .5 miles to a boat launch where all of the passports were hanging from a clothes line. We had to run up and grab one, then race back to our teammates waiting at the starting line.

It's hard to see in the photo, but I started in the back of the pack and finished in the middle.

The lesson: work your way to the front BEFORE the start of the race.

Our passport started with the biking leg, followed by paddling, team challenges and trekking. The starting area doubled as the transition area between each of the disciplines. This was cool because they had tons of Red Bull to drink there.

Right before the race, the organizer/official goes over all the rule.

As you can see, there were lots of people at this race. That's one of the things that made it so fun--the fact that we were third in our division dind't hurt either.

In the beginning, God created the waiver...OK, he didn't, but the lawyers did. He we are promising not to file charges if we die, or are injured, somewhere in the middle of the race.

Except for some minor cuts, abrasions and the killer cramps I got in my legs, there were no injuries.

They also gave us a goody bag full of cool stuff.

After pre-race registraton, which included signing the waivers, going through a comprehensive gear and bike check and posing for a photo, they gave us our maps. Here we are discussing the various routes and going over some strategy. (I think I'm asking Justin if he has room in his pack for the leftover Natty Lights.)

You'll notice Justin's hat...and the fact that we're all wearing long sleeves. That's because it was pretty frickin' chilly. It warmed up during the race and was sunny, but later in the day it cooled off fast.

This Just In...We finally got our photos from The Edge Adventure Race!

We'll start posting them for everyone to see...I know Justin has a few that he wants to put up too.

By the way, have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to skiing, riding, snowshoeing and winter camping season? No? Well, I am!

Jason

While we wait for the race photos to come back, I thought it would be fun to show off our medal...We have mentioned it right? So, without further ado here it is!

Isn't it beautiful! We each have one like the one shown here.

Although you can't see it, inscribed on the back it says: "This medal entitles the recipient to endless bragging and a bottomless pint of beer courtesy of the nearest non-medal wearing friend." Just thought I'd point that out for the Nest.

On another medal-related topic, looking at the USARA National website it appeared that our third place finish in The Edge earned us 9 points toward qualifying for next year's national championships. Unfortunately, it turns out that they only award points to the co-ed teams. So, unless one of my teammates has something to tell me, that rules us out--bummer!

--Gibber--