Search and Rescue Adventure Race
8.4.15
The second Search and Rescue Adventure Race, Lost Tribes Expeditions, sets out on an orienteering quest the third weekend in August at Spring Farm on the Mohonk Preserve.
Race directors Eldar and Erin Spahic are both the in medical field, nurse practitioners, thus the search and rescue theme. The two have over 10 years in adventure races.
”We started off as adventure and endurance racer ourselves,” Erin Spahic explained,"This is one of the type of races we run across abroad”.
The goal of the adventure race is to accumulate as many as points as possible within the allotted time- six hours for teams. Individual competitors have a different course, with some overlaps, and a three and half hour limit.
Objectives are worth different amounts of points depending on the difficulty navigating to the location, so competitors must strategize how best to use their skills. Compasses will be required to get to some points. There will be no off trail bushwhacking, so map reading is a must.
Use of a GPS is not allowed, and given the spotty service on the Preserve, it wouldn’t be much assistance anyway.
There will be one aid station out in a remote area, according to Erin. Competitors should plan on carrying what they will need for six hours of the race. Recommended supplies are a 3L water bladder, a pack, a compass, a headlamp, good running or trail shoes and food.
There are a hundred possible points in the Search and Rescue Race. S&R is part of the the North American Adventure Racing point series- http://www.northamericanar.com/#!northeast/c24i8
All races collect points toward the championship so while there will be some folks just out for a fun day outside, there will be others who are really competing. This race would be considered a sprint length because of the short time.
Stargazing is just as important as map reading and speed in an adventure race, according to Erin.
“You have to map out the next move based on your team’s strengths,” Erin said. “It’s up to the captain to pull together the team’s strengths; there is a strategy”.
On the Preserve there are a lot of natural obstacles. It’s a good idea for teams to arrive early and strategize on the course they plan on taking, according to Erin.
A description on the back of the map might say something like - there is an objective in a tree in the north east corner of the field.
Once the objective is located there is a hole punch and the teams punch their card. All of the hole punches are different, so no cheating.
One major part of the strategy is planning the timing. The cut off is six hours. Teams lose points for each minute they’re arrive at the finish line past the cut off. At 15 minutes late, the team is disqualified.
Teams can be made up of up to six people- at least two of the original competitors must cross the finish line together.
Because of their mutual back ground in the medical field Eldar and Erin added an element of search and rescue within the obstacles.
“The exact nature which cannot be released,” Erin said. “That’s what makes it adventure racing, there will be several surprises. Expect the unexpected. In a triathlon you know how many miles you’re racing.”
But this isn't a triathlon, it's adventure racing.
“It can all be done but it's unpredictable, like life,” Erin concluded.
The second Search and Rescue Adventure Race, Lost Tribes Expeditions, sets out on an orienteering quest the third weekend in August at Spring Farm on the Mohonk Preserve.
Race directors Eldar and Erin Spahic are both the in medical field, nurse practitioners, thus the search and rescue theme. The two have over 10 years in adventure races.
”We started off as adventure and endurance racer ourselves,” Erin Spahic explained,"This is one of the type of races we run across abroad”.
The goal of the adventure race is to accumulate as many as points as possible within the allotted time- six hours for teams. Individual competitors have a different course, with some overlaps, and a three and half hour limit.
Objectives are worth different amounts of points depending on the difficulty navigating to the location, so competitors must strategize how best to use their skills. Compasses will be required to get to some points. There will be no off trail bushwhacking, so map reading is a must.
Use of a GPS is not allowed, and given the spotty service on the Preserve, it wouldn’t be much assistance anyway.
There will be one aid station out in a remote area, according to Erin. Competitors should plan on carrying what they will need for six hours of the race. Recommended supplies are a 3L water bladder, a pack, a compass, a headlamp, good running or trail shoes and food.
There are a hundred possible points in the Search and Rescue Race. S&R is part of the the North American Adventure Racing point series- http://www.northamericanar.com/#!northeast/c24i8
All races collect points toward the championship so while there will be some folks just out for a fun day outside, there will be others who are really competing. This race would be considered a sprint length because of the short time.
Stargazing is just as important as map reading and speed in an adventure race, according to Erin.
“You have to map out the next move based on your team’s strengths,” Erin said. “It’s up to the captain to pull together the team’s strengths; there is a strategy”.
On the Preserve there are a lot of natural obstacles. It’s a good idea for teams to arrive early and strategize on the course they plan on taking, according to Erin.
A description on the back of the map might say something like - there is an objective in a tree in the north east corner of the field.
Once the objective is located there is a hole punch and the teams punch their card. All of the hole punches are different, so no cheating.
One major part of the strategy is planning the timing. The cut off is six hours. Teams lose points for each minute they’re arrive at the finish line past the cut off. At 15 minutes late, the team is disqualified.
Teams can be made up of up to six people- at least two of the original competitors must cross the finish line together.
Because of their mutual back ground in the medical field Eldar and Erin added an element of search and rescue within the obstacles.
“The exact nature which cannot be released,” Erin said. “That’s what makes it adventure racing, there will be several surprises. Expect the unexpected. In a triathlon you know how many miles you’re racing.”
But this isn't a triathlon, it's adventure racing.
“It can all be done but it's unpredictable, like life,” Erin concluded.
