Salomon Adventure Challenge
Fenelon Falls, Ontario

Saturday May 6, 2006

Welcome to Frontier Adventure Racing's 9th season of staging Canada's most exciting wilderness adventure races! And what a start to the season. A challenging Bob Miller course showcased the highlights of this area, and put teams to the test. Biking on everything from technical (and wet) ATV tracks to a rolling, fun hydro line and the fast, straight shot rail trail; paddling the black glass waters of the Burnt River; and trekking through what locals call 'Black Ass Swamp' to test teams' resolve and navigation. All in all, a fantastic day outdoors with friends!

DETAILED RACE RESULTS - including category rankings and splits.

COURSE MAP - an overview of the course on a satellite image of the area.

PHOTO GALLERY - view some great shots of the race.

TEAM PHOTOS - from registration. Download yours, a gift from Frontier to you!

TEAM LIST & BIOS - Congratulations to all teams that competed this weekend!

All photos are courtesy of Chris Owen-Halper at Odyssey Production -- please contact Chris if you would like to order copies for any photos.

What a great way to start off the season! 46 teams gathered in Fenelon Falls this past weekend to compete in the first 2006 SAC race of the summer. The day started off a little cool with temperatures hovering at around 10°C - teams were chilled during breakfast! After a quick bus trip to the start line in Norland, just 37Km north of Fenelon Falls, teams found their bikes and prepared for the start. Race Director Geoff Langford waved the racers through the start line at 10:03 am. What a site - 138 racers on their bikes tearing down a dirt road and disappearing around the bend! Just then we realized the sun was out, the wind had died down and the temperature was rising for the occasion.

Most of the racers knew they were in for a “Bob Miller” treat on the course and my guess is they weren’t disappointed. From the beginning teams headed out on a long mountain bike with very little road riding and just enough mucky bogs, twisting trails, up and down of a hydro line trail with some great views and vistas followed by the technical and wet ATV track requiring persistence and biking skills. At the front of the pack some of the strongest teams in SAC history: Simon River Sports, LSN, runningfree.ca and Beowulf showed their competitive side. LSN and runningfree.ca set a mad pace for the first few checkpoints, screaming through the first bike section neck and neck while Simon River Sports maintained their tradition of having to overcome setbacks early in the race - the team suffered two flats before reaching CP1 , arriving in 12th place. Could they make up the time? Team How Much Further? missed CP1 and had our SAR & med team ready to search the bike section. They managed to show up at CP2 with a nice gash to the leg of one member, ending the race for the team.

Plunging straight into the bush from CP2, teams had to keep a solid bearing to reach a river crossing with many beaver dams to choose for crossing. Lots of wet feet and lost teams littered this section of the challenging off-trail trek. Once out of the bush, a nice 5-6 km trail run provided the teams with some time to get the blood flowing and warm up a little. 2 all-female teams, Salomon Women Will and SHERPAS spent much of the race together, coincidentally all decked out in similar baby blue shirts! SHERPAS finished strong and captured third place in the all-female category.

At CP4 teams boarded their canoes for a beautiful paddle down the winding, glass-topped Burnt River. With a few portages around some rocky rapids, teams paddled 11km into the Town of Burnt River where their bikes awaited them at CP5 for a rail trail ride to the finish line. This section featured the Advanced Course of three checkpoints taking teams off the rail trail and into a network of snowmobile trails. LSN, in the lead through the entire race, missed one of the advanced checkpoints and had to backtrack to get it, opening up the opportunity for Simon River Sports to complete their push and take the lead, winning the male category and the race overall. What a great battle to the finish!

By 7:00pm all teams were in for dinner, looking a little spent while sharing their stories of glory and triumph. Through the awards ceremony some great stories were told, some apologies were made and some winners were crowned.

If you want to share something from the race, please let us know! If you enjoyed this race and want another challenge, then get ready for our next event: Salomon AC Long Course: Frontenac!