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RACES
Santa Fe Snowshoe Classic
www.santafestriders.org
Santa Fe, New Mexico, Saturday, January 7th, 2006
Jan Bear 49 minutes 19 seconds, 3rd 50+
By Jan Bear
The southwest has been very dry this year and we were hoping for more
snow but due to the limited snow cover this resulted in the Snowshoe Classic
being a run on frozen dirt and some snow pack with out snowshoes. The race
had been postponed 2 times attempting to wait for the snow that never came.
Despite the dryness the race was held at the Nordic Ski area near the Santa
Fe Ski Basin, each loop is about 4.5K. Pre-race I met Kris from the Santa
Fe Striders to mark the course and get everything set up as Team Santa Fe
was a sponsor of the event. Registration was set up as well and the prizes
made ready. About 45 people showed up for the event, which considering it
was a run on uneven partly snow-covered trails was great. The day was cold
but sunny. The race went off smoothly and everyone who completed either
the 5 or 10K received a door prize. Personally the race was a struggle as
I pulled a calf muscle in the first 400 meters and limped thru the rest
of the event in a time of just under 50 minutes. After the race was over
I returned to the course to remove the marking tape then headed home to
stretch out my calf, as I had done a total of 16+K on the trail.
Thanks to the following sponsor gear companies; CW-X, SixSixOne, CamelBak,
ThorLo, SofSole, Montrail, GoLite, Bolle, Suunto, E-Caps, Polar and Hydropel.
Purdue Outing Club 48 Hour
Adventure Race
www.poc.purdue.org/pocar.php
Hoosier National Forest, Indiana, Saturday-Monday, January 14-16, 2006
Jan Bear, Paul Piorkowski, Richard Waldo and Nick Irish
First Place 28 hours 55 minutes, DQ due to Nick dropping from event.
By Jan Bear
This was my first race with Paul, Rick and Nick, Paul is interested in
joining our Primal Quest team so I wanted to do an event with him, that's
the reason for racing Indiana in the middle of winter with people I've
never raced with. I traveled to Indianapolis where I was picked up by Paul
and we drove to Bloomington to spend the night where I met Rick and Nick.
The next morning we drove to the Hoosier National Forest for check-in,
arriving at about 9:30AM. After check in we got our maps and were asked
to plot 36 UTM points but given no other information except that the race
would start with a short Score-O where you would need to get 9 points before
you could start the "race" and we would not be giving the Score-O map until
12 noon. So the next hour was spent re-checking UTMs and guessing about
how the rest of the race was going to work. The only other information
we had was that as soon as we got 9 points in the Score-O we could start
the "race" and would be given instructions then and also that if we had
not found 9 points in the Score-O we could still start the "race" but no
earlier than 4:30PM. Well 12 O'clock came and we started the "Score-O" with
a good plan on a short loop, in the first 5 minutes I had almost torn off
the leg of my water-proof pants due to the wild race bushes, then in the
next few minutes cut my face and nose in the same fashion. The CP locations
so far were straightforward. On the 5th CP we had trouble and never found
the CP causing us to find 2 extra CP's to get our 9 points. The CP values
were 1, 2 or 3 points. We finished this section finding 8 points in 1 hour
and 55 minutes, in 6th place overall. When we returned to the start finish
with our punch card we were given information about the rest of the race;
we would be given the name of one check point at a time and when we found
that CP it would have attached the name of the next CP and the race would
have 3 legs of about the same length in mileage about 15 miles. At the end
of each leg there would be water and gear available that you would have to
pack up to be delivered to the transition areas. 
Well after getting gear ready for the TA we were off. There were 11 CP's
between the start and TA-1 where we arrived at 8PM in 3rd place overall.
A short break to get more food change socks and pick up some warmer gear
we were off on the second leg. Here is where we ran into trouble as Nick
began having leg trouble and was no longer to keep up a pace, so after about
6 CP's we hiked him back to TA-1 to retire but the three of us continued
on reaching TA-2 by 7:25AM on Sunday in 1st Place but unranked due to loosing
Nick. As we found out later the next closest team was about 1 hour 45 minutes
back. At this point we took a short 30 minute break to change clothes and
get warm before heading off on the 3rd leg. We finished the 3rd leg and its
13 CP's at 4:55PM in 1st Place but unranked. The next closest team finished
at 11:02PM about 6 hours back. A total of only 5 teams completed the course,
the final team finishing at 5AM Monday. In all we found 45 CP's during the
event. After the finish Nick and Rick headed back to Michigan and Paul and
I headed back to Bloomington to spend the night at a motel. Here we discussed
race strategy and fell asleep quickly. In the morning Paul dropped me at
the Indianapolis airport for the trip back to Santa Fe. I caught an early
flight and got home at about 7PM Monday.
Thanks to the following sponsor gear companies; CW-X, SixSixOne, CamelBak,
ThorLo, SofSole, Montrail, GoLite, Dermatone, Wenger NA, Bolle, Suunto,
E- Caps, Polar and Hydropel.
Houston Aramco Half Marathon
www.houstonmarathon.com
Houston, TX, Sunday, January 15, 2006
George Broome, 02:08:01 clock, 02:06:31 chip, 2362/4993 overall, 1614
gender, 10/43 Male65-69, pace was 9:39
By: George Broome
The 34th Annual Houston Chevron Marathon and Aramco Half Marathon drew
a record 15,000 entries which was the race limit, achieved for the first
time. They also used a "corral" start for the first time and that seemed
to relieve some of the congestion at the start. I dedicated my race to Lisa,
my wife, who had just gone through two operations in the past two weeks and
was unable to be there to run the marathon as she had planned. The gun went
off at 0700 sharp and the conditions were ideal being dry and in the high
40's.The first couple of miles I felt slow and sluggish, but then began to
pick up my pace as the runners spread out and I took on energy from the race
and the crowd. By the time I got 5 miles or so into the race, I realized
that my pace was much better than it had been in the last two years and that
helped me push harder. When we reached the Montrose area, the crowds were
huge and there were bands playing and large "cheering sections" which added
to the fun and energy. Our race then turned back toward downtown and finished
at the George R. Brown Convention Center where it had started. I finished
with a 9:39 pace which was my best effort so far in a half marathon. The
race was very enjoyable in that it is so well organized and everything seems
to run so smoothly.
My thanks to the following sponsors: CW-X jerseys, SofSole insoles, Bolle
sunglasses, Thorlo smart wool socks, Suunto wristop computer w/ Polar HRM,
and Hammer gel.
New Mexico Orienteer's January
Ski-O
http://www.nmorienteers.org/index.html
Valles Caldera, New Mexico, January 28th, 2006
Jan Bear, Long Course 1 hour 23 minutes 7th Place, Sprint Course 27 minutes
1st Place.
By Jan Bear
What a fantastic opportunity getting to visit the Valles Caldera and getting
to do an orienteering event at the same time. This race was scheduled to
be a Ski-O but due to lack of snow it was a hike/run event in 3-6 inches
of snow. The day was sunny but the wind was cold and blowing about 20-30
MPH. The sights were beautiful. I participated in both the Long and Sprint
Courses. The Long Course had13 CP's and Sprint Course 11 CP's. Both courses
were fun with great topography but I think that CP-9 was miss placed by
about 2-300 meters necessitating spending an extra 15 minutes to go back
out and find it as it was in a very subtle re-entrant. The event had a great
turn out with people from all over northern New Mexico. After finishing
both courses I was anxious to get in the car to warm up and head home. The
New Mexico Orienteers put on another great event as usual.
Thanks to the following sponsor gear companies; CW-X, SixSixOne, CamelBak,
ThorLo, SofSole, Montrail, Dermatone, Wenger NA, GoLite, Bolle, Suunto,
E- Caps, Polar and Hydropel.
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