February 2011 finds me in Quito Ecuador getting ready for the Huairasinchi 3 day Adventure Race. I am proud to be racing on Team APEX; we are the sole US team in this international World Series qualifier race. My teammates are Joel Jimenez, Grant Killian and Russell Nordquist.
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| Team APEX |
One of the surprises of this race is that they provide us a local support team. We had an amazing father/son support team; Diego and Diego Jr. Then I got another surprise when Jesse showed up unannounced at our hostel; he joined our prerace preparations and became our Spanish translator.
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| Diego, me and Jesse (3 amigos) |
We arrived a few days early with the hopes of acclimating to the high altitude. Diego took us mountain biking for our prerace training. The trails were muddy and we were breathless on the climbs but the cool thing was we came across a herd of alpacas.
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| Joel, me, Diego, Grant with the alpacas in the background |
The next day we take a lift up to 13,000 feet to do some hiking and see how we feel at this altitude. The views are amazing; we can see the snow covered Cotopaxi in the distance. We all experience shortness of breath at this altitude but are hopeful that we will be acclimated before the start of the race.
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| Team Apex at 13,000 feet |
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| Snow covered Cotopaxi in the background |
We are only 15 miles from the equator and since that is on my “bucket list” I drag the team with me to the equator. It is pretty incredible to be standing on the equator.
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| Me at the Equator |
I am starting to get pre-race jitters when we head to the race check-in. This entails gear checks, briefing on the medical protocol for snake bites, safety instructions for kayaking in flooded rivers, press interviews and photos and we discover that we will be ascending (jumaring) on ropes.
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| Team Apex having fun at race check-in |
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| I am testing out my jumaring skills |
Race day starts at 3:30am with a 2 hour bus ride to the race start. We meet our support team at the race start and gear up for a biking leg. There is a lot of excitement at the starting line; with the blast of a horn we are off.
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| Team Apex at race start |
4 Kilometers into the race Russ gets a flat. We have a problem with the CO2 inflation that freezes the valve (must have been due to the altitude) and it ends up taking us 30 minutes to change the flat. We quickly slip into last place with all teams out of site now.
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| Team Apex gets a flat in the first 4k of race |
We start out at 9,000 feet and will be biking up to about 11,000 feet. First we climb on cobblestone roads that are wet and steep. Grant tows me on some of the climbs so I don’t fall too far behind. Some of the steep sections we have to hike a bike.
We arrive at the first checkpoint in last place but we still have a smile on our face.
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| Checkpoint1 |
We leave cobblestone roads for muddy trails.
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| We came from that trail in the background |
Then it gets even worse with navigating across pastures, through streams, over barbed wire fences. The downhill’s in the pastures are terrifying with deep mud and no real trail. Our bikes are covered in so much mud that you can’t clip in or change gears and they seemed to have gained about 10 pounds.
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| Barbed wire crossing with our bikes |
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| The boys taking a break after a steep climb |
We arrive at the first TA at around 1:30 pm. We have made some good navigational decisions and are no longer in last place.
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| Navigating |
We geared up to head out for an overnight trek in the Andes Mountains. We were told by one of the medics that the first day of the race would beat a lot of teams and we are about to find out first hand just what he meant. The altitude sickness kicked in as we headed to 14,163 feet for our next checkpoint. We experienced extremely high heart rates, shortness of breath, headaches and to top it off I started vomiting. I was shocked to see Joel in this condition; he is normally so strong. Russ was the only that was unaffected by the altitude. He took over navigating from Joel and became our Sherpa.
The views were incredible but the terrain was unforgiving and treacherous. We were hiking in dense brush up to my thighs, mud covering our shoes and many times we had to slide down the mountain side because it so steep and muddy. It started raining and snowing. It was going to be a long trek and we were moving slow thanks to the altitude sickness. We were worried about Grant's feet in these extreme conditions but his kinesiolgy taping method was working.
We reached the checkpoint only to find out that we did not make the time cut-off and would be re-routed. We still had about a 10 hour "hike from hell" to the transition area where we would meet Diego Sr
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| Transition Area |
I checked in with the medic at the TA for some quick oxygen. We changed out of our wet muddy clothes and shoes and we head to the cloud forest.
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| Tropical Plant in Cloud Forest |
We have a 2 ½ hour bike ride on dirt roads with steep climbs, riding across swinging bridges and finishing up with a muddy single track to reach the Cloud Forest jungle. I don’t seem to be recovering as fast as the guys did from the altitude sickness but I am pushing myself to keep up.
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| Tropical Flower in Cloud Forest |
We reach the checkpoint, drop off our bikes and head out on foot in the cloud forest. I am enjoying the tropical weather in the cloud forest and the team appears to have recovered now that we are no longer in high altitude.
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| The boys in the cloud forest |
Russ and Joel were navigating well and we were moving faster to acquire as many checkpoints as possible before nightfall. Darkness came quick and then the torrential rain started.
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| Joel bushwhacking in the cloud forest |
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| Nightfall in the Cloud Forest |
We had left our rain gear behind so we pulled out our emergency blankets and fashioned a rain poncho using our headlamps to anchor it on our head. We were now navigating in the ever rising river. There were some sections we were crossing that were deep and swift but we managed to find the final check point. We were back on our bikes, its the middle of the night, the rain is relentless and we are barrelling downhill with prayers that our brakes don't fail.
We arrive at the TA to find there is a change in the race course due to a permit problem. This means our next leg will be the Amazon Jungle. Diego Sr transports us to the jungle where we decide to sleep until sunrise before heading out.
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| Team Apex heading out for jungle trek on day3 |
The final day of the race started with a precarious swim across fast moving water that had increased in volume with the overnight torrential downpours. We hiked upstream with hopes we could make it to the other side before the current carried us off to a larger river. We jumped in with lifejackets, full backpacks and biking helmets (we were a site to see). I was like a leaf on the water, travelling downstream fast but not making much progress towards the opposite shore. Fortunately a local native was watching the “crazy Americans” from his boat and plucked both Grant and I from the strong current and dropped us on the other shore. Grant gave him $10 for our rescue and I am sure this made his day (or week).
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| River Swimming |
We then set off on a long hard trek over a narrow, very muddy, and vegetation covered trail, which ran alongside a rushing river.
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| Hiking in the Amazon Jungle |
We crossed these rivers multiple times in search of our checkpoint. At one point the water was so swift a native Indian took us across in his hand carved canoe which he paddled with a bamboo pole. And to think I need a carbon fiber paddle with big scooping blades.
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| Local Native helps us across the rapids |
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| Local indigenous native |
These trails eventually lead us to the Shiwakucha community where we encountered the Quichua indigenous Indians.
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| We get a hot drink from the natives |
Their faces were painted, they were friendly and they offered us a drink called Chicah; which is It is a fermented process of the yucca root that is supposed to make you strong.
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| I feel tall next to the local native woman |
The next challenge we face is to swim several kilometers down the muddy river. I try not to think about what might be lurking in the river but thoughts of piranhas, anacondas and crocodiles invade my mind. I am moving faster than the guys down the river; finally something I can excel at. We exit the river for a final trek out of the jungle.
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| Joel in the Jungle |
We arrive at the same river crossing that challenged us at the start of our jungle trek. Only now the water was not so high and the current was calmer. We jumped in and swam across with no issues this time.
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| Exiting the river after the swim |
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| River Swim with helmets, packs, pfds, trail shoes |
We exit the river with cheers from our support team and the press. It seems we are the first elite team to arrive at the kayak leg. However we are on a short course and not really in the lead. Right behind us is team Thule (1st place finisher). Grant has collected trash in the jungle and turns it over to the race officials. This action will lead is to an award at the final race ceremony.
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| Grant after the swim unloading the trash he collected |
We transition to kayaks for the paddle leg of the race. I love paddling and I feel energized.
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| Grant and Russ getting ready to kayak |
The press is following us snapping lots of pictures. We are moving fast down the river and enjoying the occasional rapids we encounter
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We arrive at our checkpoint which is a 55 foot high bridge that we are going to rappel off and ascend back up.
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| Russ and me rappelling off the bridge |
The rappel had a unique twist to it; the rope ended about 10 feet above the water. We dropped into the fast moving river and had to quickly grab a line on the other side of the bridge and clip in to the ascenders. Grant seemed to do this with ease.
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| Grabbing rope to clip in for ascending |
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| Russ holding me with his legs so I can clip in |
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| Joel Ascending |
Russ was my hero for this challenge. I struggled getting out of the current and Russ dragged me out of the water then he helped me as I struggled to ascend up 50 feet. The press enjoyed my agony. I was exhausted when I finally reached the bridge.
We were energized now that we only had a final paddle then 5 k trek to the finish line.
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| Final trek to the finish line |
We crossed the finish line with cheers and a champange celebration.
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| Team Apex at the finish |
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| Champagne Celebration |
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| We finish the race on Monday just before sunset |
We finish the race at a local native village. Russ and I clean up in the muddy river. Joel and Grant are over muddy rivers and just change into clean clothes. We buy dinner from a native. It is whole fish with palmetto wrapped in a banana leaf and smoked. It is delicious. We quickly eat and board a bus for a 5 hour ride back to Quito.
The following night we attend the final race ceremenoty. We were shocked to hear our names called to received an award for the "Most Ecological Team" for bringing trash out of the Amazon Jungle. We got $100 which we gave to our support team
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| Team Apex receives "Most Ecological Team" award |
The Huairasinchi was an incredible race. I suffered more than I have ever suffered on the first day of the race. The team work was the best I have ever experienced. The support team was self sacrificing and a true component of our successful finish. The mental and physical strength of my teammates was inspirational. The diversity of the environment we experienced from the Andes mountains to the Amazon jungle was amazing. The local people were friendly and we had warm receptions everwhere we encountered them. I consider it a priviledge to have the opportunity to do this race and experience the true Ecuador!
