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All Sports Productions, Inc. |
Date: November 11, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
-By Jill Tompkins, media coordinator
SPRINGDALE, Ark—The Third Annual Lewis and Clark Urban Adventure Race to a close Saturday at just after Noon when team Dynamic Earth crossed the finish line. The course ran from Hobbs State Park near Eureka Springs, Ark. to Lewis and Clark Outfitters in Springdale.
The Strafford, Mo. team finished the 2006 course in 8 hours and 28 minutes, just four minutes off the top time last year. This was the first year for Dynamic Earth to compete in the Adventure Race. Members include: John Bradley, Cynthia Petty, and Tony Cauchi.
“For our first time running this course, I’d say that for the length, it wasn’t easy but it wasn’t too difficult,” Cynthia Petty said. “I say that only because our team normally competes in 24-hour races and we’re racing for a much shorter amount of time.”
For other competitors, the course was challenging.
For team Big Harry Kitty, the course cost them an hour and a half because they got lost.
“The course was great,” Kitty Powell said. “You expect something like this to be really challenging.”
The second place team, Virabhadrasana, consisting of Lisa Buck, Todd Buck, and Dean Baumgartner, finished in a time of 8:54. The Chicago, Ill. competitors are one of the top adventure race teams in the nation. The team has already qualified for nationals in a previous race.
“The top five teams today, you could tell they are very experienced in Adventure racing,” race director Bruce Dunn said.
The first team in the Master’s Division, Lab Rats, finished the race in a time of 9:02. Teammates were surprised with their time when finish line officials told them of their placing.
The first local team to cross the finish line was Rogers, Ark. team JUMP, who finished in a time of 9:15. Team members Melissa Rhoads, Phil Rhoads, and John Daut.
Beefcake Sandwich finished the race fifth in the open division. The Fayetteville, Ark. members are team captain Kyle Kruger, Natalie McBee, and Ryan Johnson.
The race started began with a FARSTA course, which is a land navigation challenge. The racers then went onto a zip line where it crossed the White River.
“That was one of the coolest aspects of the whole race. I loved it,” Dynamic Earth Races
Racers then raced on the War Eagle Creek, which moved into a 12-mile canoe on Beaver Creek.
“It was so cold, I got out of the canoe shivering,” Cynthia Petty said. “We hit a horrible headwind. Its 20/20 hindsight and I should have put on my rain pants to stay warmer.”
Some other competitors were said the paddling what more enjoyable.
“The paddling [on the lake] was beautiful,” Katie Livijn-Clark said. “This course had a little bit of everything.”
Clark and her team members, Don West and Sam Pearson, finished third in the open division in a time of 9:14.
The course designer, Amy Bailey, added small service project in the course. Towards the end of the race, Bailey had racers travel to the Fayetteville Botanical Gardens where the co-ed teams of three moved dirt for 10 minutes. Two competitors shoveled while the other moved the wheelbarrows and dumped the dirt.
“It wasn’t much time to get a lot of dirt moved,” Bailey said, “but with over 100 competitors, that’s a lot of dirt being moved.”
After the service project, teams then biked three miles back to Lewis and Clark Outfitters.
Final results will be posted at www.urbanadventurerace.com/results.htm.
The top three teams qualified for the 2007 USARA National Championships.
The top team will also receive a $400 sponsorship from Lewis and Clark Outfitters.
The winning team in the open division each received a Scott 50 mountain bike, Merrell Shoes and $100 gift certificate to Lewis and Clark. Second place of the open division will win Yakima bike racks, shoes and $50 gift certificates. Other top finishers of the two categories, Open and Masters, will receive prizes of like Columbia jackets, Merrell Shoes, and gift certificates.
For more information on the race, please go to www.urbanadventurerace.com.
Photos will be available through NWA Photo. Contact Tom Ewart at tom@nwaphoto.com for more details.
—RACE—