Albuquerque, New Mexico. Barb Dutrow and Carl Gable ran the Marathon in Albuquerque, NM. Barb, who ran a 3:15:29, had already qualified for Boston at the 1999 Boston Race. Carl ran an in 3:20:57, with 2 seconds to spare to make the qualifying cut of time. Carl is uncertain as to whether he ran a smart race or just had pure luck. They both are headed to Boston on Patriot's Day to run the Boston Marathon.

February 6-7, 2000. Lake Roosevelt, Arizona. The adventure racing community should be glad Don does not design racecourses. Because the one he plotted was pretty difficult. Don, Jan, Laura & Kim had a 3 1/2 hour paddle covering 16 miles to start. The waves were just white capping as a tail wind. The waves would almost come in the back of the boat. Steering was very tiring. The trek, which was estimated as 24 miles and 6 hours, ended up around 28-30 miles and 9 1/4 hours. Needless to say everyoneÕs butts, hips, knees, and feet were VERY sore after that trek. They all ran out of fluid a few hours before the trek was over on an 80-degree day. Then it was back in the boats in the pitch dark for the16 mile paddle back on the calm, but very dark lake. BUT, I am getting pretty good at night navigation and paddled us almost straight back to the boat ramp in 3 1/4 hours (15 minutes faster). Kim's knee was bothering her and the 30-mile Mt. Bike would have more been like a 30 mile hike-a-bike so they decided to forgo the bike. No one, even Jan, was that disappointed. The team gained very valuable information for the March Lake Roosevelt race

(Winter Adventure Race). Feb 26-27, 2000. Silver Creek, Colorado Cindy. Gagnon (a.k.a. Extremazon) participated in a 2-day Staged Winter Adventure Race on Team ArZone.com. The events on Saturday consisted of the following 1) 5.5 mile run (snowy roads and a snowmobile trail (no snowshoes)) ; 2) an 8 miles cross country ski with Frisbee golf in the middle (on un-groomed trails); 3) a hilly 8 mile bike (on snow covered roads--- slick and scary) carrying snowshoes; 4) an 8 mile snowshoe to summit 9 mile Mtn and finally 5) a Hilly 8 mile bike back to finish line. The first day ended with a great party on Saturday eve! On Sunday, the events were the following: 1) A hill climb (run up a black diamond ski run, come down a mogul field however you'd like... glissading worked well for me, others preferred the cafeteria tray style; 2) 1.5-2hr navigational ski (depending on your abilities and navigation). We went off trail quite a bit, opting to ski down a set of powerlines on skinny, non-edge skis what a blast! 3) Run up the tubing hill with a; tube and ride a tube down the Mtn; 4) Hilly off-track snowshoe up and down 3 hills and finally 5) tyrolean traverse.

The team Cindy was a member of finished unofficially seventh overall (although not ranked due to the loss of one team member on the second day.)... Considering the top three teams were world class (and of course those from Vail could ski)... not bad... and considered one of my teammate had never been on skis or snowshoes! Cindy truly had a blast both days...yes it was hard and a lot of work, but for those who know her, she like challenges... however...just when things were hardest, you'd summit and get some awesome view that would just take the pain all away ... However, it seemed most seasoned adventure racers did not like the winter sport activities and did not enjoy it as much as cindy did.

At 7:30 AM 14 coed teams of three, including local favorites Team Vail and Team Beaver Creek (the second Team Vail) along with world renowned Team Salomon Eco-Internet assembled around the starting line. The weather was less than ideal with frigid Temperatures and a few snowflakes falling but spirits were high. Race director Barry Siff gave the countdown and they were off. The first leg was a chilly 5.5-mile run with a few patches of unavoidable soft, deep snow. Teams Vail, Beaver Creek and Salomon Eco-Internet formed the lead pack and were first to reach the transition area. Team AR zone #1 followed quickly on their heels. Transitioning to traditional-style cross country skies, the racers set out on an 8 mile loop which included 3 holes of Frisbee golf, for fun, yes, but also points as each throw that missed its mark incurred a 20 second penalty. Team Beaver Creek showed off their winter sports expertise and put a severe hurt on the rest of the field, distancing themselves from the now second place Team Vail by 20+ minutes.

As the skies cleared and a warming sun began to shine, teams mounted their bikes, with snowshoes in tow, for an 8-mile ride on slippery, snowy roads. Carrying the snowshoes on the bikes posed a dilemma as teams struggled to figure out the best method. Many simply strapped them to their packs but this was unwieldy as the snowshoes continually smacked racers in the back of the head. Others teams, like ARzone #1, cleverly duck taped their snowshoes to the frames of their bikes, bringing along extra tape for the return trip.