Salomon Adventure Challenge
Elk Lake, ON (Tri-Town Area)

August 10, 2002

Shooting the Chutes at Elk Lake!

While slightly off the beaten track, the Elk Lake Eco Resource Centre (66km Northwest of New Liskeard, ON) provided an excellent backdrop for the 7th Salomon Adventure Challenge of the 2002 season. Competitors were blown away by the Eco Resource Centre facility - a real diamond in the rough!

Amidst the heat, twenty-one Coed and Open teams of three from as far as Woodstock, ON gathered for a 10:00am mountain biking start. However, the field decided to halt for 5 minutes while Team Rosa Da Whoer of Toronto fixed a flat in record time. At the word 'GO', the 63 racers were off toward CP1/TA1 and the start of the paddling section. A few teams used their local knowledge right away, taking a short cut to the abandoned rail bed adjacent to the Elk Lake - unfortunately for them, everyone saw what was going on and gave chase.

By CP1/TA1, 9km after the start of the race, the teams were spread out by 18 minutes as they jumped into canoes to paddle across Mountain Lake and down the Montreal River. Team Three Twigs in the Bush of Ottawa, ON took the e load Fully Loaded Award in this section by having the fastest paddling time over this 7.5 km section - only 2 minutes faster then Team Terra 2000 of New Liskeard, ON.


Now it was time for the real fun to begin! The only canoe take-out possible at Mountain Chutes was on the north side of the river, while the rest of the terrain for the course lay on the south side - you got it, river crossing time. Normally, this is not a difficult task to negotiate but the current on river right was such that Frontier Adventure Racing set up a makeshift 'river-tyrolean' so that teams could safely make the crossing. Competitors loved the experience as all they had to do was grasp a loop and they were swooped to river right by the river's power alone.













Like all of Frontier Adventure Racing events, teams were now faced with a decision - how would they negotiate the bush as they trekked to CP3/TA3? Directly South to a perpendicular road was the safe bet but some teams decided to head Southwest, right to the checkpoint. Once again, Team Three Twigs in the Bush proved their adventure racing savvy by having the fastest trekking time and won the Fast Fuel Trailburner Award for their efforts. They had to move fast though as they were challenged from behind by Team Intrepid of Oshawa, ON. Team Thrillogy also made excellent time though the bush as they moved from 11th to 5th place.

All that was left after CP3/TA3 was a 25km mountain bike section along 4X4 roads and a newly 'graded' route to the finish line at Elk Lake Eco Resource Centre - thank heavens for suspension! Despite climbing temperatures, Team Three Twigs in the Bush tore into this section and hammered to victory in an incredible finishing time of 3 hours, 33 minutes. Team Intrepid and local favourite, Team Fumes and Dust of Elk Lake, ON rounded out the top three.

Special mentions to Team Englehart of Englehart, ON who not only had a strong 10th place finish, they also had a Salomon Adventure Challenge record of a combined age of 160 years. FAR would also like to recognize Team Terranauts of North York, ON who after a mentally challenging time at our Parry Sound race, came back right away with a 15th placing at Elk Lake.

Congratulations to all 18 finishing teams and we'll see who can challenge Team Three Twigs in the Bush at the Salomon Adventure Challenge Kawartha Lakes (Peterborough, ON) event on September 15th, 2002!




Post Race Comments from competitors:

"It was a great experience. Thank you for all your hard work…you are great ambassadors for adventure racing."

"I can't stop talking about the SAC Series to all my friends and family - can't wait for the next one!"

"Any more fun and this would be illegal!"


Final Results: For detailed results, CLICK HERE!

Rank  Team Name  Location Finish Time
1st (open)    Three Twigs in the Bush Ottawa, ON 3 hrs, 33 min
2nd (open)    Intrepid Oshawa, ON 4 hrs, 10 min
3rd (open)    Fumes & Dust Elk Lake, ON 4 hrs, 34 min
1st (coed)    Thrillogy New Lowell, ON 4 hrs, 45 min
2nd (coed)    Auld Reekie New Liskeard, ON 4 hrs, 54 min
3rd (coed)    Strange Brew Whitby, ON 5 hrs, 4 min
4th (open)    Moosehead Ariss, ON 5 hrs, 31 min
5th (open)    Rosa Da Whoer Toronto, ON 5 hrs, 41 min
6th (open)    Spirit North Thornloe, ON 5 hrs, 42 min
4th (coed)    Englehart Englehart, ON 6 hrs, 6 min
5th (coed)    Willow Schomberg, ON 6 hrs, 16 min
6th (coed)    NorTel Mobility Orillia, ON 6 hrs, 27 min
7th (coed)    Dirt Hills & Trails New Liskeard, ON 6 hrs, 37 min
8th (coed)    NorTel Mobility Seniors New Liskeard, ON 6 hrs, 50 min
9th (coed)    Terranauts North York, ON 7 hrs, 2 min
7th (open)    Terra 2000 New Liskeard, ON 7 hrs, 8 min
10th (coed)    MOC for KD Markham, ON 7 hrs, 29 min
11th (coed)    Tae Kwon Do New Liskeard, ON 7 hrs, 29 min
DNF    Dukes of Hazard Toronto, ON CP3/TA3
DNF    Rage Against Age Brantfod, ON CP2/TA2
DNF    GoodLife 2 Woodstock, ON CP2/TA2


Other Salomon Adventure Challenge Series Results

[SACHR] [SACBL] [SACTR] [SACBC] [SACPS] [SACNB] [SACTT] [SACKL] [SACEL]



 


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