We're kind of a big deal....in Michigan

Proving that their American performance in July wasn't just a fluke, last weekend Funderstorm showed Michigan how to adventure race Canadian style with another win in the all-female category and an impressive 15th/77 overall placing at the GRAAR Fall Adventure Challenge. Although both girls felt ready to puke by the end of the race, they felt that this was well worth the sacrifice for their prize of another pair of Salomon XA pros. SnackyPants in particular was thrilled to add another member to her ever-growing Salomon family. Now if only someone could convince her to wear them instead of lining them up in order of prettiness and making them pose for pictures...

The 4-6 hour sprint race was held at the Fort Custer State Recreation Area near Augusta, Michigan. A popular event, the race actually sold out twice: once when it was capped at 50 teams, then again when it was capped at 75. Those Michiganers really like their adventure racing. Due to the large number of teams, the race featured a wave start, with the open teams, who were competing for cash, and the all male teams starting an hour before the coed and all-female teams.

The race began with a 4-6 mile paddle lake paddle with two CPs, which were relatively easy to locate given the fact that there were many other boats on the water. The paddle section proved yet again to be the Funderstorm's weakness, and was their lowest overall split (54/77). After the paddle, teams hopped onto their bikes for the first of three biking sections along a marked trail that had CPs on it at undisclosed locations. The all singletrack riding was fun and fast, and Funderstorm quickly made up for time lost on the water by passing many teams. Toots-in-Tights was particularly aggressive, shouting "on your left" with growling confidence, and not being afraid to tailgate anyone who wouldn't comply.

At the bike drop, teams were given an orienteering map with 7 CPs, which could be collected in any order. Although only 3 CPs were mandatory in order to finish the race ranked, the girls were confident that they could locate them all. With the exception of one particularly tricky CP which saw the Funderstorm team dynamic tested a little bit, the girls found most of the CPs with ease, and began to lap all male teams who had started the course an hour earlier. Many other teams expressed surprise at the fact that the girls were running the Orienteering course; apparently, a brisk walk is often the preferred method of travel in Michigan.

As the first female team to complete the O-section, the girls wanted to keep their lead but were followed closely by "The Janes." The second bike section saw an exciting chase between the two teams, one that left Funderstorm thoroughly out of breath, but also which gave them a 6/77 ranking in this section. When they realized at the next TA that their passport had flown out of its case in their haste, they were devastated. But, with the Universe always on their side, an all male team appeared with passport in hand. Starting this second O section at the same time as the second place all female team, the girls were ready to hustle, racing in their bike helmets and shoes. Since both girls tend to fall quite a bit on foot, they feel that bike helmets are a necessary and useful precaution to take. They found all three CPs quickly then hopped back onto their bikes to the finish. Racing with an all male team, the girls used these guys to set a fast pace to the finish line, where the last challenge of the race was for each team member to climb a portable climbing wall, ring a bell at the top, and rappel back down. Although T/T tried to use scare tactics to motivate SP on the last bike section, remarking that "I think the Janes are right behind us," these fears were unsubstantiated, as the girls beat their nearest competitors by 34 minutes, finishing the race in 4:21. Full race results can be viewed at:

http://www.graar.org/fallrace2007.html

Both girls were pleasantly surprised by the congenial atmosphere of the Michigan racing scene. Many teams recognized the girls (in their pink shirts) from the SMAC XL race in July, and The Janes offered their congratulations in the form of a shot of tequila. Although there was one shout of "Go back to Canada," during the race awards, it was genuinely in jest and the girls felt very welcomed by this group of enthusiastic and supportive racers. The girls hope to complete their 2007 Michigan trifecta with a trip down to Dexter, Michigan for Infiterra Sports December Chill 8 hour sprint race.

Can you say mud? ARC Barrie race report

After a balmy start to the fall that has seen Ontario recording all time temperature highs, it appears that Mother Nature finally ran out of sunshine and warm weather, just in time for the last ARC race of the season. Weather conditions were less than ideal for Funderstorm as they initiated a new teammate, Wanda, into the FS fold. It was a bad sign that it started raining about 2 hours before the race start, and even more smarting that it didn't stop raining until just after the race ended. During the race - rain - all day. Now rain during an adventure race isn't such a bad thing if it is nice and warm; in fact, rain can be a welcome reprieve during summer races. But when it is oh, around 6c, rain is less appreciated. In fact, this combination of precipitation and less than ideal temperatures caused around half of the teams entered into the Enduro race to drop out of the race midway through the course. Was Funderstorm one of these fairweather groups of racers? I don't think so...

The race started on foot from the homebase location at Horseshoe Valley Resort. After a short run to a marshalling point (to ensure racers didn't trample the golf course) all teams had to collect five trekking CPs scattered throughout Copeland Forest before returning to the base/TA for a biking section. Funderstorm found themselves off to a rough start when they realized that Copeland Forest is full of ridges, making CP1, located on a ridge, trickier to locate than expected. After searching many, many ridges, the elusive CP was finally located (and punched in the head for being difficult) and the next few CPs proved less sneaky to find. That was until CP4, located on the west shore of a small lake. While searching for this CP, SnackyPants unwittingly made her team trudge through an unnecessary kilometre of swamp in the wrong direction. Sorry guys. She hopes that at the very least the temper tantrum that ensued provided good entertainment.

The girls were soaked about 10 minutes into the race, and realized that changing into anything dry was futile, so they opted for a quick transition for what could be best described as a push a bike / slip 'n slide section. For around 8km, the girls slipped and slid up and down the singletrack trails in Copeland Forest. By about the third kilometre, there was far more pushing than riding, as the day long deluge had turned the trails into inches of muck. Many laughs were had as tumble after tumble ocurred trying to stay upright. Toots-in-Tights took the prize with a record 17 falls, all entirely graceful and one managing to score a 9.8 from the Russian judge. This section could only be described as humorous.

Since ARC wisely decided against a paddle section in this race, after the bike, teams ran across the road to the main location of Horseshoe Valley Resort and into the forest for a 1000 ft zipline. Although muddy, wet, and a little less lithe at this point, the girls thoroughly enjoyed this special section of the race. A quick run back to the finish followed where the girls were greeted with pizza and a refreshing (albeit cold) shower.

Unaware that many of their competitors had opted not to complete the race, Funderstorm had pushed (relatively) hard throughout the course in an attempt to stay ahead of the other all female teams. It was a nice surprise to find out that not only had they won the all-female category but that they had been one of few teams to suck it up and finish the race.

Both SP and T/T were very impressed with Wanda, who joined the girls at the last minute and who was promised that the biking "wouldn't be technical." Wanda showed great tenacity throughout the race and was officially awarded the Funderstorm spirit award, an honour likened in street cred to an Emmy.

Next week: Funderstorm goes international at the GRAAR Fall Adventure Challenge. This race, which sold out weeks before event, features the largest all-female category that the girls have yet to contend with. Will Funderstorm race to victory two weeks in a row? With a lineup of excellent prizes, they are sure to be bringing their "A" game to Augusta, Michigan.