Penscacola Adventure Race

I orginally signed up for the Grandman Triathlon to get in shape for the Pensacola Adventure Race. The tri left me injured so Ladd took my place on race day. The following is his account:

For those of you who are unaware, Ray, myself and Will Burnette (Ray's friend) did a 3-man Adventure Race this Saturday in Pensacola. The race included a 5 mile run, 11 mile bike and 3 mile canoe. The race required us to use a map and find 18 different check-points indicated on the map, while staying within 50 feet on your team members. The biking and running part of the course was conducted over rough terrain and mountain bike trails including some steep climbs and tons of loose sand (which any mountain biker knows is anything but easy). While the race started at 8 am, the temperature gauge already read 80 degrees (I was sweating before the race started). We were all loaded with camel-backs full of water and food supplements. Our three man team (Scrambled Eggs II) jumped to an early lead finding the first check point on foot and then proceeded to run back to our mountain bike to locate the next 5-6 check points. Although we fell somewhat behind around checkpoint 3, the teams optimism remained high. We quickly located the next several checks points leading us to a bike drop-off where we proceeded to run on foot for several miles to the canoe loading. There, we replenished our water and had to carry our canoe several hundred yards (see attached pics) to the river. After a near disastrous capsize taking on about 30-40 pounds of water, we paddled 3 miles, which did not play into our favor. Only two people are allowed to canoe, so one team mate was forced to sit in the bottom of the canoe. Coupled with our oversized crew (each man weighing at least 190 lbs), flooded boat, and a 15-20 mile-an-hour head-wind that did not let up the entire time, we still were able to gain some ground on several of the 50 teams participating in the race. After arriving back on land, we had to run the canoe back several hundred yards and do a series of push-ups (see attached pics). At this point, there is literally nothing dry on our bodies (including socks and shoes). We dropped the canoe off and began a 2-3 mile run back to our mountain bikes. We were approaching 11 or 12 o'clock and the temperature easily broke the 90 degree mark. While Ray continued to encourage me to eat supplements, I refused because I thought they would make me puke. This proved to be a disastrous mistake because soon after we got back to the bikes I began to get dizzy and lose any remaining energy. Pushing through to several other checkpoints we saw other teams with team mates passed out on the ground having heat strokes. Finally, after a series of expletives between checkpoint 15 and 16, my body literally collapsed. I was out of water, couldn't focus my eyes on anything and didn't have enough moisture in my mouth to spit. Ray selflessly gave me his camelback and electrolyte supplements and we waited about 10 minutes for my body to come back to life. We got back on our bikes and found the remaining checkpoints and passed several other teams within 100 yards of the finish line to take 5 PLACE (out of 50 teams) in my first (and our team's first) adventure race. We finished the race in 4 hours and 45 minutes. When I got back to my car the temperature gauge read 99 degrees!! I think this only scratches the surface as to how hard this race was, especially for me. Good times, good times!!