Coming from Chicago we were looking forward to some nice warm temperatures to do the race. Unfortunately good luck did not befall us in that respect.

The early morning start had us rising out of our tent in the Lewis and Clark parking lot at 2:00 A.M. to 30 some degree temperatures. We quickly dressed, broke down our tent and gathered our gear and were off to the pre-race meeting. We soon learned that we would be boarding buses for an unknown length of time. We found ourselves last in line and I remember thinking I hope this is the last time today that we find ourselves in last place. As luck would have it we got the privilege to drive with Bruce Dunn our very accommodating race director. Try as we may, we couldn’t get any extra information about the race out of him. So, we found ourselves just getting to know one another. After about 40 minutes (3:40 a.m.) we arrived at the race start at Hobbs State Park in Eureka Springs. There was a little mishap with the bus and the race start got postponed a little. We all found ourselves trying to keep warm except the two guys donning shorts from the Lewis and Clark team who I was sure were going to go hypothermic and would find later frozen in the woods.

The race started at 4:20 a.m. with a quick sprint to a line hanging in the woods with our passports and orienteering maps hanging from it. We were anything but graceful, with Todd pushing me from the rear to assist me in climbing the back of Dean. We managed to reach one and off we went to plot our course. We were given the first of two orienteering maps (course B) that consisted of three points. We made our way to the three points mostly bushwhacking and along the way were poked and tripped by an array of branches and vines. The darkness definitely adds an extra degree of difficulty. Todd, our navigator, led us to our flags and made it back to the start in a respectable time. Finally warmed, we continued on to the second map (course A) which would prove to be a little easier. We made up quite a bit of time here and made it back in about 6^th place.

Next we had the arduous task of plotting the next twelve points on the 2 maps. Afterwards now in 7^th, we began about a two-mile run up a gravel road where we would duck in and find the next point before arriving at a Tyrolean traverse that spanned a nice rapid section of War Eagle Creek. We unfortunately found ourselves waiting in a line for about 15 minutes before we could proceed on. A short run would bring us to the canoe section of the race which typically we excel in.

Eager to get off our feet we quickly transitioned and passed one team and into the canoe and off we went down the creek. The creek was absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed the abundance of wildlife and tall bluffs along the way. We found ourselves in a rhythm and made our way down the creek passing three boats along the way. We navigated the river and made sure we made that crucial right turn that we would find out later would prove difficult to another team. We (especially me) started to get colder and colder the more water Dean would throw at me. My pants had frost on them where they had gotten wet. I needed to get out and run to warm up. Surprisingly we arrived at the checkpoint with a sign that read Take Out. We were a little perplexed because we thought we would turn around at that point and reach the other two checkpoints from the creek. But, always happy to get on to the next mode of transportation we transitioned to our bikes. At this point we were third and passed one team in transition to put us in second place.

Happy to have changed into our bike shoes and dry socks we hit the hills of Arkansas. For the first time in my life I was actually hoping for hills. I knew that the cold I was feeling would only dissipate if we really pushed. Three or four hills and we were feeling great again. We needed to keep moving, we knew that there were two or three teams hot on our heels. We were most concerned about the Lab Rats. Having raced them before, we knew they were admirable opponents. Todd was on a roll and as usual was careful and methodical in leading us to the next 8 checkpoints. Without missing a beat we went from the Pleasure Heights area to Springdale. We saw many beautiful areas of Arkansas as we went. We played Frisbee golf and helped out at the Botanical Gardens moving some stone for some nice community service.

Continuing to spot Lab Rats as we finished one checkpoint and moving on to the next we knew that the last several miles back to the race finish at Lewis and Clark Outfitters was extremely crucial. We decided to take a single track back through the woods instead of taking the roads that we were unsure of. We finally reached the Red Bull Arches and found out that we were second overall. Yeah. Great job to all the racers and especially Dynamic Earth for their first place finish.

We want to say thank you to Bruce Dunn, Amy Bailey and all the others that helped to put on this phenomenal race. It was first class all the way. We definitely recommend this race to beginners and seasoned racers. Thank you to Lewis and Clark as well. Absolutely everyone in the store was incredibly helpful and completely knowledgeable. Would love to have one of your stores in our area! See ya next year. Cheers.

Team Virabhadrasana (Todd, Lisa, Dean)