First, Douglas Jones put together the following excellent map of the race course. It is color coded for bike, trek, and kayak, and has CP/TA, mileage info, and other info such as portages, ascending/traversing, etc:
Race Course Map (This is 2.3 MB !!)
Now, on to the race report. Ron Eaglin, one of my teammates, wrote the following report for Adventure Racing Magazine, with a few minor edits from me. :-) He also carried a camera on the course, and scanned in the pictures you see below.
I'll add pictures that Kelly took soon... as soon as I find time to scan them!
I scanned some of Kelly's shots --> click here!
Will Murphy 38 year old lawyer from Hollywood Florida, team leader. Strengths paddling, weaknesses running and sleep deprivation.
Sean Butler 31 year old engineer from North Carolina, No real weaknesses strong on all events.
Paul Butler 59 year old retired (from Army, bust still working full-time) father, first time adventure racer. Strengths: Military experience and weaknesses lack of AR experience.
Ron Eaglin 39 year old professor Team Navigator. Strengths trekking and biking, weaknesses heat and no appreciable kayaking experience except a few lessons with Will.
The night before the race is very chaotic for many teams as they come together from disparate locations -- Team Are We there Yet came from NC, SC, and two different locations in FL. Teams have to consolidate gear, get the support crews ready for the event ahead, receive race instructions, get blank maps, and mark maps. Also pre-race tension makes it very difficult to sleep excitement and anticipation are in the air. After receiving our map and passport around 9 PM at the briefing, we finished preparing our gear and then spent a few hours marking the maps and planning our race strategy. Most of our team made it to bed (if not to sleep) by 1 AM. The next morning (Friday) we were all up by 4:30 AM and at the race start by 5:30 AM.
Pre-race confusion
support crews and team sorting through gear
The
first leg of the race was a start at US
19 and the Cross Florida Barge Canal, West into the Gulf to CP1 and then up the
mouth of the Withlacoochee River to CP2 (roughly 18 miles). The start was also a
special event. The race started on the south side of the road, 2 team members
had to portage and launch the boats, while the other two members ran across the
bridge to the other side of the canal and then waited to be picked up by their
teammates. It seemed like a ploy by Jim Molaschi (race director) to try to
spread the teams out a bit and to make sure that half the team had wet running
shoes for the first leg of the race as the runners would have to do a wet entry
on the rocks on the north side of the canal. The confusion of watching over 100
boats looking for their teammates in the dark was quite humorous, considering
that most adventure racers with hats, sunglasses, and expedition shirts
essentially all look alike in the pre-dawn light. Somehow everyone managed to get in and off we went.
The first paddling leg was straight and a great chance to work out those butterflies and enjoy the water and the cool morning. As we entered the Gulf, the big question was when to cut north to CP1 (boat ramp at the mouth of the Withlacoochee River). Cutting too early risked getting stuck on oyster beds, too late added extra distance to the paddle. Teams came at the CP from all directions, and all that needed to be done was to land at a narrow boat ramp and get the passport stamped, while 15 to twenty other teams are also trying to get in and back out.
Then it was up the Withlacoochee, a
beautiful, scenic river with plenty of wildlife. Once to CP2 we were required to
capsize our boats, do a deep water re-entry, have one team member snorkel to
find a two flags, and then portage the boats across the dam at CP2. This was
both Ron and Pauls first deep water re-entry into a kayak, but with a little
coaching from Will and Sean we both successfully got back into the boats
(now quite flooded and unstable). Here we also learned that the hatch on Sean
and Rons boat had cracked at the seal and flooded the entire hatch and all
their gear. It also made the boat quite heavy as we tried to pull it up the
steep bank for the portage but we soon discovered the problem and pumped the
hatch out. After re-stowing the gear we portaged the boats over a dam and into a
canal (through weeds and rocks) and paddled another couple of easy miles to
transition #1 (CP3).
Pictures: (Paul and Will In the Lower Oklawaha | View down the Oklawaha | Rocky re-entry at Portage 1 | Transition Area 1)
At CP3 we first had to get the boats out of
the water, which was difficult with the very rocky shoreline. We had all four
team members work on getting each boat out and that worked well. Our team was in
action and working smoothly. At the transition Pauls inexperience with
adventure racing began to show as we spent much more time than necessary to get
onto the bikes and on the road. The bike from CP3 to CP4 was a short one (11
miles), and it would be a real hustle for our crew to get the boats there before
we arrived. The morning air was still cool and the ride was exhilarating. The
scene at CP4 was mass confusion. Limited parking at the Dunellon boat ramp and
over-aggressive city police officers threatening to ticket any vehicle that
ventured too close to the boat ramp, or on the grass, or in any of the
surrounding businesses were making life miserable for the crews. The team was
oblivious to this as we were simply concentrating on the next paddle leg of the
race. We spent almost 45 minutes in this confusion as we were having gear
problems, one teammate could not find the gear they wanted for the next leg.
Pictures: (Transition Area 2 at Dunellon)
We did finally make it back into the water
and were now in a winding and much narrower part of the Withlacoochee. It was
beautiful with clear water, alligators, water birds, jumping fish and plenty of
other paddlers jockeying for good turning positions around the river bends.
About 15 miles later we came out of the water at CP5 (intersection of the
Withlacoochee with CR 200), at this point happy to NOT be paddling for a while,
and prepared for trek #1. This would be a 5 mile trek up the road, and then
about 10 miles due east across a section of the Withlacoochee forest. Our pace
was very fast on the road and many teams trekked together, chatted about other
races, and the mood was very pleasant.
Pictures: (Transition Area 3 put-in | Transition Area 3 Crew | Transition Area 3 resting | Trek 1 Road Section)
At 5 miles we headed east and onto a sandy
road (the true route was supposed to be a foot trail about ½ mile further
north). The road we took was a good direction, but the soft sand was proving to
be difficult traveling for Paul who had very little experience with soft sand
walking. It was also hot and energy draining. We dropped to a 3 mph pace in the
sand and after coming to a cross road, we navigated to the foot trail that was
much better. For those who have never hiked the Withlacoochee Forest, west of
the I-75 Land Bridge do it! This is incredible open forest, with contours
reminiscent of North Carolina. Open rocky cairns dot the landscape, and the
remains of the unfinished barge canal give views that are quite scenic. We came
to CP6 which was a trail tunnel, where we had a gear check and the race even
supplied us with 2 soft drinks that were waiting in a cooler. We were getting
close to CP7 and the next bike section, and we had nice landmarks to break up
the hike along the way. At the I-75 land bridge we stopped to take pictures, and
then headed west once again to CP7.
Pictures: (Trek Woods | Trek Tunnel at CP 6 | Trek 1 I-75 Land Bridge)
For our team, the ride to CP7 was going to
be a long one. Paul was hurting from the sand trek, we were going to have to get
on bikes and knew that we were going to be doing a trail bike section in the
dark. We stopped, had a warm dinner of Pasta, thoroughly checked our gear and
lights, got short massages from our crew, used the restroom, and basically spent
an hour mentally preparing for the overnight leg of the race. The leg started
out very rough-- Paul had no experience with single track riding at night and
for the first few miles it appeared that 3-4 mph was going to be the best pace
we could maintain. We kept tight so that we could use each others lights and
I called out features from in front to prepare the back riders for what was
coming. Gradually our pace got better and we gained more confidence. Our pace
picked up and we were able to make it to the well-hidden Rock Quarry (it is
probably obvious in the day) by 11 PM. The line to do the required rock tasks
(ascent, and a very long tyrolean traverse) was not long and we had no problems
and quite a bit of fun on the ascent. On the traverse, the ropes got tangled and
Will and Ron were left dangling for a while. Will had a very tough time with the
up leg of the tyrolean as he also had to fight a rope tangle. Once we all got
through the traverse, Will was nauseated from the exertion and we needed to rest
15 minutes before proceeding. The
remaining bike leg was uneventful (if not dark), We found CP8 (which gave many
teams problems) without trouble and made it to CP 9 (and the boats again) by 2
AM. The crossing of the Marshall Swamp trail to CP9 was even pleasant (and would
have been a fun bike under any other circumstances).
The leg to CP 9 was the most dreaded (by
most teams) of the events. It included a 1.2 mile portage to the Upper Ocklawaha
River. We were tired, sleepy, and demoralized at this point. Since our boats
were not rented the option of dragging them did not exist. We were dreading
the prospect of carrying our 80 pound boats to the put-in. While we were
mentally preparing for the portage, our crew had been in Wal-Mart devising a way
to make the portage less of a nightmare, and had cleverly fashioned a set of
boat wheels from luggage racks. With all the gratitude that you can muster after
20 hours of racing we thanked our crew, and started porting the boats. The water
entry was at Stokes landing, and the path to the water was narrow and
treacherous to anyone carrying a large boat. We made it into the water and
started down the upper Oklawaha River. We had decided that Paul and Will would
both sleep in the backs of the boats on this section, while Sean and Ron
paddled. The boats were not comfortable beds but did allow them to get some
much needed rest, before they also started paddling. This would be slow but
would allow us to continue moving. The upper Oklawaha is quite winding and is
full of snags and deadfalls. The 2 paddlers used headlamps to scan the trees,
bank, and shore continuously to avoid snags and in the end it paid off, we only
snagged 3 times and passed many other teams caught on snags. As the pre-dawn
started, the fog on the river brought visibility to about 10 feet, but the
surreal feeling of paddling on a primitive river in the pre-dawn was energizing
(to me at least). About the same time we were thinking that we were really,
really tired of paddling we saw our crew and the take-out. This time it was
not a hallucination (which we had been using to keep each other entertained).
We spent an hour at CP 10 (Gores Landing).
It had a real bathroom and luxuries like brushing our teeth, changing clothes,
and eating a hot breakfast, which at this point were taking precedence over race
speed. We now felt that we were out of any chance of placing. We knew we were
half-way through the race which was both good (only half to go!) and bad (we
still have another half?). The next leg was a bike leg, and that usually does a
good job of waking the teams so I was
looking forward to it. We moved rapidly through the bike leg and were even able
to form a decent draft line, and made it to CP 11 by 9 AM.
CP 11 to CP 12 will be forever known by our
team as the Ocala death march. Over 21 miles of trekking through the Ocala
National Forest in the heat of the day. We relieved the monotony by singing to
each other, telling stories, etc.. Every 15 minutes we would have a mandatory
drink, and every 30 minutes we would eat (without stopping of course). The trek
was one of those that felt like it would never end. The forest did have some
interesting things going on such as the dozens of monster trucks climbing in
and out of mud holes in a long
convoy. At the end, though, we were elated to see the site of the Rodman dam and
CP 12. We were also quite pleased to find out that we had trekked it in
elite time, roughly 5 ½ hours and had picked up almost 10 places in
the standings.
Pictures: (Trek 2 at 8 miles | trek 2 at 15 miles | trek 2 at Rodman Dam | Paul at TA 8 | Sean at TA 8 | Will at TA 8)
With only 3 segments to go we eagerly
entered the water after a 40-minute transition (we did need some rest after that
trek), and started down the Lower Oklawaha. This leg was going to prove to be
the most challenging. I developed a muscle problem in my left hand and was
completely unable to grip the paddle. (Later, soloist Kip Koelsch, the eventual
winner of the race and incredible kayaker, was able to diagnose this problem
that plagued many racers this late in the race, and offer prevention by
explaining proper wrist alignment). I continued by using webbing to tie my hand
to the paddle and wrapped a cinch cord around my neck to keep the knot tight. We
also tied the boats together at this point as the other boat was dropping off
the pace and this helped keep us moving at a consistent pace. After an eternity
we got to the mouth of the St. Johns River (around 6 PM) and soon got to deal
with high head winds, waves and large wakes caused by speedboats ( which were
often oblivious to our 2 small kayaks). Even with the bad hand this was the most
invigorating leg of the race for me. The spray was coming over the boat,
but the skirt kept the water out of the boat and the water was nice and
cool. Another 5 miles of open water and we would be out the boats for the rest
of the race. Once again it felt very good to see the crew on the shore
waving us in! We exited the water before 9 PM and I was at least real ready to
get back on the bikes for our final 40 mile bike leg.
We were on the road leaving Georgetown and heading for Tomoka North of
Flagler beach not much to go.
The final leg was a 7-mile (Molaschi miles)
beach run to the finish. For those who have never completed an adventure race
and dont understand team dynamics; it is not 4 individuals who happen to
compete together, it is truly a team. We argue, we assist, we get frustrated, we
help each other. At this point the
team was arguing about whether to run or walk this last leg. In the end we ran
most and walked some. We finally crossed the finish line at 4:40 AM with a total
elapsed time of 46 hours and 40 minutes.
After that we slept (deeply and it felt
good).
Fact: Paul Butler was the oldest competitor to finish the Florida Coast to Coast at 59, and it was his first adventure race ever.
Best Hallucination (from team Nature Calls): The team leader turns around during the Ocala Hike (they did it in the first evening) and saw his team-mates towing their gear in pull-along luggage.
Best mass hallucination: Both Sean and Will saw a castle in the trees in the woods in the Lake George Wildlife Management Area.
Funniest Moment (for me): My team-mate Sean takes his foot out of the Kayak and puts it in the water to wash the sand off startling an alligator about 8 feet away, which splashes and sends Sean out of his skin. I nearly tipped the boat laughing.
Best Thanks: All teams are
made up of the racers and the crew, and all teams need both. It is
impossible to thank the crews enough, they do much of the work; loading and
towing bikes and boats and driving across the state. They give back-rubs,
prepare food, offer comfort and alleviate misery.
Best Timing: Team Sun-tek which finished the race right at the end of the awards ceremonies to a cheering crowd of crews and racers for the last quarter mile.
A special thanks to all racers some race against each other, but we all race to extend our own personal limitations, and for the adventure part of the race. And we all know the camaraderie that goes with doing something that most people will never be able to even contemplate or understand.
Team Are We There Yet, left to right: Paul, Sean, Will, and Ron
