Saturday, May 21, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Rafts...
Easy on portages, suboptimal on river, if you are a three person team. That said, several 3-person teams paddled it successfully.
If nothing else, the hatred of the raft (and the person responsible for that purchase) brings the teams closer together.
Two Old Guys and Chick on a Stick now down one old guy
One old guy was near hypothermic. He's okay and at Frank Gross (no service, but EMTs confirmed he's okay).
TA2 bike pickup
First in at 4:36, "Checkpoint Zero", followed by "Appalachian AR", then "Wedali". Unfortunately CP0 had a flat and "Appalachian AR" left first, followed by CP0, the Wedali.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Rough course outline
Starting at Amicalola. They make their way to the bike drop (near Camp Merril). Bike to Deep Hole (around 16 miles), where they obtain their watercraft from the "plane wreckage" (use your imagination, this is a survival scenario). It may be suboptimal for some, but this was all you were able to recover from the wreckage, so you'll have to make it work.
They will make their way down the Toccoa to the takeout at Sandy Bottoms (roughly a 13 mile paddle). Then trek northeast with all paddle gear to their bikes on the other side of the mountains. Enough for now. Many surprises await...
Gotta get some sleep tonight.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Leaderboard Up To Date
Initial results are posted. Disputes/corrections will be heard for the next 3 days. After that, final results posted and submitted to USARA and Checkpoint Tracker.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Updating Leaderboard Again
Okay guys, I've been in and out of the hospital with my newborn, but I've did manage to get the leaderboard a bit closer to final results. All of the ROC Gear Stage is complete. Take a look, as I move through the Reality Bikes Stage (Stage 2). Some CPs are still being collected, but I'm moving forward with what I have. Should make big progress tomorrow, as most of today's time was spent sorting things.
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Portage - Etowah Falls
Etowah Falls is the one portion of the rivers we instructed racers to NOT paddle:
Though we've heard of folks paddling it and going over it without their paddles, we're not quite sure how it would be done while minimizing the chances of death. It's a 10-15 foot drop, with lots of rocks at the bottom that would just LOVE to french kiss the bow of a canoe.
There is a fun little portage around it that requires a bit of teamwork (steep), but is pretty short. To avoid the falls, racers were instructed to take out to the right anywhere from 200 meters upstream from or at the point of the photographer in the picture above. Anything after that and, well, you see the pictures. We had some volunteers there (a bit late) so it was clear, and of course there is a "warning bump" upstream. Between those and the hand-drawn Etowah River Maps we gave the racers, we had no mishaps at the falls.
One very-important-but-almost-not-asked question was: "how long is the paddle?" To which the answer "23 miles" triggered many "dad-gums" from the Southerner racers.
Bearden Falls - To Skip Or Not Skip
One of the decisions teams would face during the race was whether or not to skip CP4 - Bearden Falls. After the Nimblewill Gap decent, at least one team (Kickapoo) blew past the jack-knife left turn to head up to it. At Nimblewill Church, when they realized their mistake, they opted to continue on rather than turn back. The ride/trek up to the falls takes roughly an hour there and back, and includes a steady uphill with the creek of which the falls are an upstream source. The trail makes a sharp up-turn on the hill-side to get to the base of the falls, which no doubt turned a bit muddy as teams scrambled up it. Teams that were thinking of strategically trimming their ROC Gear Stage course down a bit might have noticed that the trip to CP4 would probably take much longer than any of the Bull Mountain mountain biking section would add to the clock. On the flip side, it was an opportunity to get out of the saddle for a while in the middle of what could be a 9 hour biking leg. Additionally, it was the showcase wilderness waterfall on our course this year, as most people don't even know it exists. For teams that did make it up there, it's well worth it.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Chaos at Night
M2 was DNFed at the Canoe put-in, for missing the cutoff. They were the only team to miss it.
The Nightman Cometh was the last team to leave for the start of the Reality Bikes stage, at ~1:30am. They are now a 2-man team, still unofficial, attempting to be a finishing team.
Hail, rain, and general problems the Etowah ate 2 canoes.
No Man's Land wavered then threw in the towel at the end of the ROC Gear Stage.
Despite all the problems, many teams soldiered on.
Checkpoint Zero seems to have reclaimed much if not all of their 6 minute deficit on the way to the Burnt Mountain section.
The Nightman Cometh was the last team to leave for the start of the Reality Bikes stage, at ~1:30am. They are now a 2-man team, still unofficial, attempting to be a finishing team.
Hail, rain, and general problems the Etowah ate 2 canoes.
No Man's Land wavered then threw in the towel at the end of the ROC Gear Stage.
Despite all the problems, many teams soldiered on.
Checkpoint Zero seems to have reclaimed much if not all of their 6 minute deficit on the way to the Burnt Mountain section.
Internet & Updates, as Promised!
My thanks to everyone for your patience during our hectic day. Our fearless leader, Josh, returned from welcoming his new daughter into the world just in time to give the Stage 2 briefing and see the racers off on the last half of the Atomic. A couple of hours later, we were able to set up shop and relocate to a more PC card-friendly location in order to provide our loyal fans with all of the news and updates which we were unable to give them while in the Dawson Forest dead zone.
Just a few of the day's events:
- The Etowah was pretty rough today - one team was heard to say that it was great for the first half, but the last was no fun at all and needed "less rock and more roll."
- 4 out of 7 teams who attempted running the tunnel on the Etowah flipped. One team was stuck for an hour in the tunnel since self-rescue was required while in the tunnel for safety purposes of other racers and the safety crew. Shortly after, the tunnel was closed for following racers due to safety concerns.
- The Arizona Brothers' canoe became trapped upstream, forcing them to grab a ride into Dawson Forest. Because of this, they became a non-qualified team and possibly chose to withdraw.
- Zombies Were People Too withdrew and one of the team members joined forces with 2 Old Guys in order to complete the course.
- Stage 1 was followed by heavy rains for some, while others were caught on the water or on the road when the storms broke. One after another, the trailing teams straggled in and took shelter beneath the meager tents, warming themselves up by the Ramen noodle pot. Even though we tried to keep the gear bags dry, the tent was no match for the water flooding the ground, and much of the teams' delivered gear for the stage break became soaked.
- Due to the heavy rains, the blue trail for Stage 2 was closed and teams were informed of the course divertation at the Stage 2 briefing in order to make sure no one would take the intended stream crossing which was doubtless to be a dangerous, raging river at that point.
Currently, teams are travelling through the night - the top teams will soon be reaching the ropes course, while the trailing teams won't reach it until later in the morning.
Stay tuned for more updates. We will soon be relocating media HQ from our cush location in the Dawsonville Walmart parking lot in order to greet the leading teams as they near the finish. Hopefully, there will be internet service to my PC card by the falls, but it was spotty this morning so I will do my best to provide what updates I can. I the meantime, keep an eye on ScribbleLive chat for any updates we send out via cellphone.
Just a few of the day's events:
- The Etowah was pretty rough today - one team was heard to say that it was great for the first half, but the last was no fun at all and needed "less rock and more roll."
- 4 out of 7 teams who attempted running the tunnel on the Etowah flipped. One team was stuck for an hour in the tunnel since self-rescue was required while in the tunnel for safety purposes of other racers and the safety crew. Shortly after, the tunnel was closed for following racers due to safety concerns.
- The Arizona Brothers' canoe became trapped upstream, forcing them to grab a ride into Dawson Forest. Because of this, they became a non-qualified team and possibly chose to withdraw.
- Zombies Were People Too withdrew and one of the team members joined forces with 2 Old Guys in order to complete the course.
- Stage 1 was followed by heavy rains for some, while others were caught on the water or on the road when the storms broke. One after another, the trailing teams straggled in and took shelter beneath the meager tents, warming themselves up by the Ramen noodle pot. Even though we tried to keep the gear bags dry, the tent was no match for the water flooding the ground, and much of the teams' delivered gear for the stage break became soaked.
- Due to the heavy rains, the blue trail for Stage 2 was closed and teams were informed of the course divertation at the Stage 2 briefing in order to make sure no one would take the intended stream crossing which was doubtless to be a dangerous, raging river at that point.
Currently, teams are travelling through the night - the top teams will soon be reaching the ropes course, while the trailing teams won't reach it until later in the morning.
Stay tuned for more updates. We will soon be relocating media HQ from our cush location in the Dawsonville Walmart parking lot in order to greet the leading teams as they near the finish. Hopefully, there will be internet service to my PC card by the falls, but it was spotty this morning so I will do my best to provide what updates I can. I the meantime, keep an eye on ScribbleLive chat for any updates we send out via cellphone.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Checkpoint Zero Reeling
Word from the canoe put-in was that the blistering pace set by the leaders has caught up with Checkpoint Zero. Michele Hobson was looking pretty rough and was promptly laid out in the canoe while Peter Jolles and Paul Humphreys paddled away. The go hard or go home strategy that these lead teams are taking is what is required for this race. As the lead teams were only 10 minutes apart at CP14, they appear to be trying to build a lead on each other before the stage ends. ImONPoint.org-Odyssey Adventure Racing and Checkpoint Zero have been leapfrogging each other for the first leg of the race, with WEDALI in the mix the whole time.
Both ImONPoint.org-Odyssey Adventure Racing and Checkpoint Zero both are racing to potentially edge out current Checkpoint Tracker Series leader EMS (not competing at the Atomic AR). Whichever of the two wins the Atomic Adventure Race will be the new Checkpoint Tracker Series leaders. And being the leader at the end of May has its rewards--complementary entries...including airfare...to the Ultimate XC for 3 racers. The Ultimate XC is an innovative 3 day stage race set for June 25th at the world reknowned Mont Tremblant Ski Resort in Quebec, Canada. It is the largest off-road stage race in North America with over 1,100 racers attending.
Speaking with the Jennifer Moos from ImONPoint.org-Odyssey Adventure Racing, she really wants that prize--she's going anyway, so it would mean a free ride (literally) for her. And of course there is pride on the line as well. The defending Checkpoint Tracker Champions, Checkpoint Zero, are seriously being challenged--first in the series by being 3 points down from ImONPoint.org-Odyssey Adventure Racing, and now during the ROC Gear Stage of the Atomic Adventure Race presented by Fuji Bikes.
Dumping What?
Apparently, the cost of burial is going up, and people are resorting to all kinds of measures to save money.
So last night a bunch of us went down to stage the first 2 truck loads of canoes at the canoe put-in. We had huge trucks parked on Hwy 52 with cones around them at 1am. Traffic was diverting around it and we were portaging the canoes 100 meters to the bridge. As it turns out, the sheriff showed up with his blues on and who came to be informed that someone was dumping coffins in the Etowah river!
I cannot make this stuff up.
Atomic Scavenger Hunt Returns in 2010
For those curious as to what the heck Race Management is talking about tires, trash, and raffle tickets, here's the background. Basically it's a side challenge that we invented to help clean up the forest during the race. The more raffle tickets teams have, the more likely they'll get first pick at the post-race awards ceremony.
The likely 1st pick to go in the general raffle: a 17' Royalex Wenonah Canoe (decked out for AR--middle seat and foot bars installed).
For other gear up for grabs, see some of the earliest photos Jack posted on Scribblelive (the live chat section on RDBoard.com).
Here are the instructions given out to teams on the course:
2010 Atomic Adventure Race Scavenger Hunt
The Atomic Adventure Race presented by Fuji Bikes would like competitors to help rid Dawson Forest of some items for fun and profit!
As a side challenge, you may turn in these items at the next manned CP for additional raffle tickets at the post-race gear drawing.
Be sure to have Course Staff take note of the items and tally their ticket reward on their clipboards.
These will be tallied before the post-race ceremony and additional tickets handed out.
The more tickets, the better odds of getting first pick (nobody wins more than 1 general raffle prize, but you are more likely to get the good stuff if you have a lot of tickets).
You get the drift. If it's on this list, we've seen it out there.
- 3 Firearm Shell Casing - 1 ticket
- 2 Plastic utensil - 1 ticket
- Aluminum Can/Plastic bottle - 1 ticket
- Plastic Garbage Bags - 1 ticket
- Rusty pliers - 1 ticket
- 10 gel packs/energy bar packages/food wrappers - 1 ticket
- Full size potato chip bag - 1 ticket
- Discarded cicada skin - 1 ticket, but must be intact
- Garmet of clothing - 1 ticket
- Glass bottle - 2 tickets
- Hiking boot/running shoe - 2 tickets
- Bike tire - 2 tickets
- Cardboard box - 2 tickets
- Freaky baby doll with hairless head - 5 tickets
- Snake skin (molted, minus the snake) - 5 tickets, and finders keepers!
- Flat-panel tv/computer monitor - 10 tickets
- Plastic Yard Swan - 10 tickets
- Old Rusty Bike - 15 tickets
- Car Tire - 15 tickets
- Drum Barrel - 20 tickets
- Mattress/Box Spring - 20 tickets
- Lock of Joanna's hair - 1 ticket
Course History
A little history on Dawson Forest's southern tract, known as "City Tract". This is where the race's name was derived. It is currently owned by Hartesfield International and overseen by the GA Dept of Natural Resources. Before that, it was the home of the GA Nuclear Aircraft Laboratory, a nuclear facility in conjunction with Lockheed Martin, the USAF, and the Atomic Energy Commission from the 1950s until 1971, with a goal of creating a nuclear propulsion system for military aircraft. There is a hot cell building, nuclear reactor site, and a cooling site for irradiated materials. The sites were connected by a railway system, that you should see on your topo maps (but are no longer present), and there were underground facilities to protect the workers.
In 1958, they did extensive testing on the affects of radiation on animals in the surrounding area. 500-650 rads is lethal for rats (and humans). They released 7000+ rads for 3 weeks. They released neutron and gamma rays. The rat population was wiped out.... Residents of Dawson, Pickens, & Forsyth Counties remember the red sky during this period of radiation release. Not knowing what caused it, some feared the Apocalypse.
In 1960, it was noted that the percentage of birds in the area had dramatically dropped. It also affected the normal growth pattern of the forest, and was noted that this was a good example of the effects of radiation. The test were deemed necessary to study the affects of a nuclear war (due to the Cold War threat). The custom MyTopo maps racers received include a overlaid green circle representing the area exposed to radiation. One can see the remnants of the perimeter fence in satellite photography (shown here to the keen eye), and teams may run across some of the radiation monitor stations (pipe sticking up out of the ground with some wires).
Within the green circle, the hot cell building still stands, surrounded by 3 layers of barbed wire fencing. Racers have been instructed to stay away from the hot cell building fences if you enjoy your fertility. The Cobalt 50 and Europium 152 traces in the green circle have already spent there half-lives plus an additional decade and a half, so their radiation threat is stated to be no more than normal levels of background radiation. But just to be safe, we've instructed teams to kick it up a notch, when traveling through the green circle area...
In 1958, they did extensive testing on the affects of radiation on animals in the surrounding area. 500-650 rads is lethal for rats (and humans). They released 7000+ rads for 3 weeks. They released neutron and gamma rays. The rat population was wiped out.... Residents of Dawson, Pickens, & Forsyth Counties remember the red sky during this period of radiation release. Not knowing what caused it, some feared the Apocalypse.
In 1960, it was noted that the percentage of birds in the area had dramatically dropped. It also affected the normal growth pattern of the forest, and was noted that this was a good example of the effects of radiation. The test were deemed necessary to study the affects of a nuclear war (due to the Cold War threat). The custom MyTopo maps racers received include a overlaid green circle representing the area exposed to radiation. One can see the remnants of the perimeter fence in satellite photography (shown here to the keen eye), and teams may run across some of the radiation monitor stations (pipe sticking up out of the ground with some wires).
Within the green circle, the hot cell building still stands, surrounded by 3 layers of barbed wire fencing. Racers have been instructed to stay away from the hot cell building fences if you enjoy your fertility. The Cobalt 50 and Europium 152 traces in the green circle have already spent there half-lives plus an additional decade and a half, so their radiation threat is stated to be no more than normal levels of background radiation. But just to be safe, we've instructed teams to kick it up a notch, when traveling through the green circle area...
All Feeds Update
An update on the updates. The All Feeds section does appear to be mixing the feeds. However, it's taking a really long time to do so from what I'm seeing. So perhaps after the race it's a good place to look to see a good somewhat-ordered compilation of the updates, but look to each of the tabs for new updates during the race, cause it's obviously not working so well.
Thanks!
Stage 1 Strategy
We predict several teams will be skipping optional CPs in between CP2 & CP11 - you fans at home might be wondering why. There is a strict cut off for the teams to reach CP12 by 4:30pm due to the safety concerns of having teams on the rapid moving water after dark. Because of this, teams who are leery might choose to skip some optional CPs in order to ensure that they make that cutoff. Skipping a CP is a 4 hour penalty which will be assessed on Leaderboard so that you can keep track of the official placings. Right now, we have reported teams who have come through CP5 as of the time of the updates, but we can't assess whether they obtained all optional CPs until we perform the passport exchange at CP12. Don't worry, we'll be sure to update you as soon as we know the current official rankings with optional CPs taken into account.
Thanks for your patience!
Sorry for this morning's delays - we had a pretty rough start with Josh's need to leave and a bit of last minute CP placement all topped off by spotty internet service on our PC cards. We've now found a cozy little spot out by the Grizzle Store close to Nimblewill Church with much better access than our last two spots where we tried to setup. Leaderboard is now up-to-date with our latest times and once teams start coming in through the Nimblewill CP we should be able to provide further updates
Fortunately, Jack has been able to send out updates to our ScribbleLive chat with his iPhone to keep you guys updated in our internet dead zones. We'll keep utilizing that function to answer any questions you may have and do what we can to pass on shout outs to your teams. Right now, the teams are in route on a 15.5 mile ride which will take them to Bearden Falls and then to the Bull Mountain Trail system where they will encounter their next challenge. For a full course description, visit the "Course Map" page and navigate to the "Course Description" tab.
Fortunately, Jack has been able to send out updates to our ScribbleLive chat with his iPhone to keep you guys updated in our internet dead zones. We'll keep utilizing that function to answer any questions you may have and do what we can to pass on shout outs to your teams. Right now, the teams are in route on a 15.5 mile ride which will take them to Bearden Falls and then to the Bull Mountain Trail system where they will encounter their next challenge. For a full course description, visit the "Course Map" page and navigate to the "Course Description" tab.
Leave it to Chance...
As suspected, Josh and LL's bundle of joy chose the day of the Atomic AR to come into this world. Josh is with LL to help welcome Chance Forester into this world, so things have been a bit crazy this morning. The race officially started at 7:06am with the first racers back from the prologue at 7:11. All racers are out on the first leg of the trek headed up the West trail to the top of the falls to grab their bikes and begin their adventure. More updates to follow once things settle down here.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Detailed Results/Leg Splits
Yes, they are finally complete. I finished all the data entry on the way to and from the Impossible Panther last weekend.
There's all sorts of interesting tidbits in them--very cool stuff. Here's some of the fun stuff I've found:
Prologue & Hillclimb Champions:
1st: ROAM/Inov-8: 24min
2nd/3rd (tie): Shake-A-Leg Miami, Team Kickapoo Scouts, Angelman Syndrome Awareness, & Nature Cure: 25min
Lindsey Ford Orienteering Strategist Champions:
1st: Lab Rats: 1:47 (LF1, LF2, LF3, LF5)
2nd: Shake-A-Leg Miami: 1:55 (LF4, LF5, LF6, LF7)
3rd: Pangea Adventure Racing: 1:59 (LF4, LF5, LF7, LF8)
Radiation Burn Champions:
1st: Zombies Were People Too: 11:12
2nd: HTFU: 11:23
3rd: People's Temple Agricultural Project: 11:44
Wildcat Rogaine Strategist Champions:
1st: Nature Cure: 4:14
2nd: Paradofobia: 4:37
3rd: MGART: 4:44
Stair Climbing Champions:
1st: Layer 3: 21min
2nd/3rd (tie): Paradofobia and Nature Cure: 22min
There's all sorts of interesting tidbits in them--very cool stuff. Here's some of the fun stuff I've found:
- The fastest 10 teams at the Lindsey Ford orienteering section took at least 6 different strategies (we aren't sure on the order). There were some strategies (LF5,6,7,8 and LF4,5,6,7) that were very popular, but for the top 10 fastest teams through this section, were not popular by the same proportions. This proves that there were, in fact, strategies that worked better for different teams and that teams who carefully considered multiple paths the night before benefited from it.
- Despite the fact that the radiation burn points were mostly in a loop pattern, teams that attempted the first 3 in under 15 minutes and failed (having to do 2 loops) were mixed in with those that opted for all 5 up front. No doubt those teams that got burned by missing the 15 minute mark spent more energy doing so, though. This part of the course proved to benefit the following teams:
1. athletically strong teams with speedy navigators
2. experienced teams that know their limits
It would be interesting to correlate the teams that DNFed with those that attempted and failed the Radiation Burn...
- I said early on that we were targeting 50% of the teams to be able to clear the course. After the final course design was complete and vetted, I announced that realistically, we saw that number being somewhere between 25%-50%. I'm proud to say that 33% of the teams cleared the course, with 1 team narrowly missing it. We also announced that the lead teams would complete the course in 22 hours, +- 1 hour. Lab Rats and Shake-A-Leg Miami came in at just around the 21 hour mark. Below are the other finishing teams times. The majority of the teams fell into the 24-25 hour mark:
20:57
21:08
21:13
22:05
22:27
23:15
23:42
23:45
24:15
24:16
24:17
24:27
24:43
24:48
25:11
25:12
25:25
25:27
25:33
25:33
25:33
25:48
25:48
26:14
26:28
27:05
Prologue & Hillclimb Champions:
1st: ROAM/Inov-8: 24min
2nd/3rd (tie): Shake-A-Leg Miami, Team Kickapoo Scouts, Angelman Syndrome Awareness, & Nature Cure: 25min
Lindsey Ford Orienteering Strategist Champions:
1st: Lab Rats: 1:47 (LF1, LF2, LF3, LF5)
2nd: Shake-A-Leg Miami: 1:55 (LF4, LF5, LF6, LF7)
3rd: Pangea Adventure Racing: 1:59 (LF4, LF5, LF7, LF8)
Radiation Burn Champions:
1st: Zombies Were People Too: 11:12
2nd: HTFU: 11:23
3rd: People's Temple Agricultural Project: 11:44
Wildcat Rogaine Strategist Champions:
1st: Nature Cure: 4:14
2nd: Paradofobia: 4:37
3rd: MGART: 4:44
Stair Climbing Champions:
1st: Layer 3: 21min
2nd/3rd (tie): Paradofobia and Nature Cure: 22min
Thursday, June 4, 2009
2010 Atomic Adventure Race
After the huge success that was the 2009 Atomic Adventure Race presented by Fuji Bikes, we are regrouping and looking to 2010 already. Next year, we'll be targeting 80 teams for the race; while we know that is an aggressive number, after talking with several folks within the community, we believe we have the scale to get there. What are we going to do to make the 2010 Atomic Adventure Race one of the most attended 24 hour races in the country?
Rest assured, we'll be announcing it when the time is right.
Rest assured, we'll be announcing it when the time is right.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
All Photos Now Uploaded!
Photobucket is now updated with the complete set of race photos. As promised, The Elle Studio will provide all photos to racers free of charge. If you are interested in a DVD of the entire set or just a few individual photos, please email laraleigh@theellestudio.com For individual photos please include the sub-album and the file number/name(s). Enjoy the photos! Congrats again!
Photobucket
Photobucket
Final Results
As promised, here are the final results of the race. These were compiled after the initial release a few days ago, offering up a period where disputes could be made. In order to receive credit for a CP, we took a very liberal approach of allowing at least one of the following to receive it:
1. Passport punch
2. Logbook signature
3. Volunteer Check-in (time-in/time-out) at manned CPs
We had at least 2 of these methods at each CP. Failure to produce proof of reaching a CP means no credit.
At a later point, we will do a full spreadsheet of results with breakdowns on each leg of the race based on logbooks and such. We'll use all the data we have here.
Here are the links to 3 different copies of the final rankings, based on format:
Thanks for those that corrected typos, sent in passports, etc. to get us to the final results in as prompt and fair a manner as possible.
Congratulations to the following teams:
3-Person Coed - Elite:
1st: Lab Rats
2nd: Layer 3
3rd: Parodofobia
4th: NADS-Freeflite
5th: Shake-A-Leg Miami
2-Person:
1st: Arms Raised in a V
2nd: MGART
3rd: Florida Xtreme/Relentless
3-Person Open:
1st: Florida Xtreme Masters
and Special Recognition to:
Perseverance:
The Sport Factory - 3 experienced adventure racers, faced with bad luck and adversity in the beginning of the race, continued on to make it to the finish line despite their early race troubles, showing newbies what it means to never give up.
Angelman Syndrome Awareness - after a rear shock bolt was sheared off, they ran in the bike from the north entrance of Dawson Forest City of Atlanta Tract for ~15 miles to TA3/CP8, then proceeded to continue on!
Personality:
HTFU - all over the course, these guys were posing/smiling/running up Amicalola for the media crew, making for some very colorful photographs along the way.
Raffle Ticket Moguls:
Peoples Temple Agricultural Project - carrying 3 tires to the canoe put-in (in addition to other stuff) and having a huge amount of fun along the course, they racked up over 140 raffle tickets in our side challenge to clean up some of Dawson Forest. As a result, all three got very early picks for the gear raffle schwag.
Sportsmanship:
Shake-A-Leg Miami - not only did they find and turn in Lab Rats' dropped map at the Radiation Burn, these guys called race management to admit accidentally travelling on a prohibited route after their finish, knowingly giving up places with the associated penalty. These guys are shining examples of the integrity of the sport.
1. Passport punch
2. Logbook signature
3. Volunteer Check-in (time-in/time-out) at manned CPs
We had at least 2 of these methods at each CP. Failure to produce proof of reaching a CP means no credit.
At a later point, we will do a full spreadsheet of results with breakdowns on each leg of the race based on logbooks and such. We'll use all the data we have here.
Here are the links to 3 different copies of the final rankings, based on format:
Thanks for those that corrected typos, sent in passports, etc. to get us to the final results in as prompt and fair a manner as possible.
Congratulations to the following teams:
3-Person Coed - Elite:
1st: Lab Rats
2nd: Layer 3
3rd: Parodofobia
4th: NADS-Freeflite
5th: Shake-A-Leg Miami
2-Person:
1st: Arms Raised in a V
2nd: MGART
3rd: Florida Xtreme/Relentless
3-Person Open:
1st: Florida Xtreme Masters
and Special Recognition to:
Perseverance:
The Sport Factory - 3 experienced adventure racers, faced with bad luck and adversity in the beginning of the race, continued on to make it to the finish line despite their early race troubles, showing newbies what it means to never give up.
Angelman Syndrome Awareness - after a rear shock bolt was sheared off, they ran in the bike from the north entrance of Dawson Forest City of Atlanta Tract for ~15 miles to TA3/CP8, then proceeded to continue on!
Personality:
HTFU - all over the course, these guys were posing/smiling/running up Amicalola for the media crew, making for some very colorful photographs along the way.
Raffle Ticket Moguls:
Peoples Temple Agricultural Project - carrying 3 tires to the canoe put-in (in addition to other stuff) and having a huge amount of fun along the course, they racked up over 140 raffle tickets in our side challenge to clean up some of Dawson Forest. As a result, all three got very early picks for the gear raffle schwag.
Sportsmanship:
Shake-A-Leg Miami - not only did they find and turn in Lab Rats' dropped map at the Radiation Burn, these guys called race management to admit accidentally travelling on a prohibited route after their finish, knowingly giving up places with the associated penalty. These guys are shining examples of the integrity of the sport.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Race Pictures Sub Albums
If you haven't figured it out (like me at first), look at the links in the left navigation pane for the sub-album, which are listed based on the order of the race sections. It may be that I'm just not fully recovered after Wild Wonderful 24, but it took me a minute to figure out, so I figured there may be someone else out there wondering the same thing.
For instance the Pre-Race pictures are under "Aa Pre-Race".
Also, now that we're back, maybe we can pick up the rest of the Lindsey Ford CPs, and finish up the split times, that I'm sure some of you are interested in.
For instance the Pre-Race pictures are under "Aa Pre-Race".
Also, now that we're back, maybe we can pick up the rest of the Lindsey Ford CPs, and finish up the split times, that I'm sure some of you are interested in.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Photos! Batch 1 is up!
Sorry for the delay. I bought a new laptop yesterday because things were just taking too long. There are so many photos to sort through/crop/edit that I couldn't dedicate my usual 5 hours after the kids go to bed to get it done.
View the photos here
for the first set of photos. These cover Pre-Race, Start, Top of Falls, Bike To Lindsey Ford and Lindsey Ford. I will update you when I add the next batch! Thanks for your patience!
View the photos here
for the first set of photos. These cover Pre-Race, Start, Top of Falls, Bike To Lindsey Ford and Lindsey Ford. I will update you when I add the next batch! Thanks for your patience!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Atomic AR Photos, Videos, Blog
Photos are coming.
Videos are here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AtomicAdventureRace&view=videos
Full blog is here: http://atomicar.blogspot.com
Videos are here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AtomicAdventureRace&view=videos
Full blog is here: http://atomicar.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Fully Immersed
I am somewhat leary of anything that will soak up 30+ hours of my time in one fell swoop, unless it's sleep. Josh and I have 3 children 4 and under at home and our youngest, Julia, is only 8 months, so willingly giving up sleep is a challenge for me, when I get so little as it is. However, I was so glad that I stuck out the entire race and photographed one of the most exciting events I have ever attended. Even more impressive was the amazing attitude of every team I came across. How do you people remain so positive during all of this? For the first time since Josh began racing I feel like I have finally gotten a full picture of what adventure racing is all about. The team dynamics, the snap decision making, the encouragement and coersion to get to the finish, all add up to something a bit like day-time television, without the terrible acting.
I know you are all anticipating the photos, so I have compiled a small taste of what's to come. I will have the photos finished well before the 5/25 deadline for the results, rest assured.
Enjoy the sneak preview and check back often for the complete set!
Thank you all! And thanks to my awesome assistants Dylan and Amber Forester!
-Laraleigh Forester
Pre-Race
It was a bit shocking to see so many carriers of the Y chromosome consulting maps.
Starting Line
AKA Stampede
Top of the Falls
Some teams came to the top looking exhausted. Some turned it on just for the camera. And some may have been hallucinating from the loss of oxygen to the brain.
Bike TA
Tough way to start a race. Thank goodness they had plenty of time to catch up!
Lindsey Ford TA
Having watched Josh attach his map to his bike in many ways (some of you may remember the pvc/plexi-glass contraption) I was very interested in the gear of other teams.
Steel Bridge
I inadvertantly alerted many teams as to the location of the point by crawling out from under this bridge to early/late.
Radiation Burn
I parked myself on top of my van and used a 500mm lense to sort of spy on the teams.
Canoe CP
My nephew Dylan and I stayed here for a few hours. It seemed that no one wanted to get into the water, but once they did they couldn't stop talking about how good it felt.
Dawson Forest
I thought I would get more use out of the nightvision lense than I did, but the darn headlamps made giant glowing orbs of everyone's heads. It did keep me from freaking out while I sat in the forest waiting for teams to come by. I have an overactive imagination.
Finish
Thanks for cleaning up the forest- there are some strange things out there, I know. You wouldn't believe the places that I've seen surgical gloves.
Again- check back for a link to the rest of the photos. We may have to release them in batches, but once they are all finished you will be provided with information to access them for your personal use! Thank you again for letting me be a part of this amazing experience!
Results In - First Draft
Hey guys, the initial rankings are in. As mentioned at the race, we are getting the results to you guys ASAP, and guarantee no later than 05/25. At a later point, we will do a full spreadsheet of results with breakdowns on each leg of the race based on logbooks and such. We'll use all the data we have here.
Here are the links to 3 different copies of the rankings, based on format:
So these are the 1st draft rankings. They will change in two ways:
Here are the links to 3 different copies of the rankings, based on format:
So these are the 1st draft rankings. They will change in two ways:
- Disputes. If you have a dispute, contact us, and we'll handle it ASAP.
- Missing Passports. If you are one of the 10 teams from whom we have not received a passport, please contact us, so we can talk about it. We will need either a passport punch, logbook signature, or a TA signin/signout to receive credit for a checkpoint. I will go through the latter two tonight to verify which CPs were confirmed, so if you didn't sign your logbooks, this is where it will hurt, because you won't receive credit for the CP.
UTM Coordinates
Some folks were asking for the UTMs from the race course. So here you go:
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Monday, May 18, 2009
Your Fearless Leader...
Josh has been working non-stop since this morning to get you the results. It's 15 min. to 11 now and I found him like this. Should I wake him?
Technical Difficulties
Okay guys. I know you are really wanting to see the results, and we have the logbooks in front of me. So after 4 hours fighting with the leaderboard software, I'm falling back to a google docs spreadsheet. Please bear with me as I re-enter the data. These will eventually serve as the final results, most likely.
Scavenger Hunt
In the prologue at the beginning of the race, racers picked up special instructions. Here are the contents of said instructions:
The Atomic Adventure Race presented by Fuji Bikes would like competitors to help rid Dawson Forest of some items for fun and profit!
As a side challenge, you may turn in these items at the next manned CP for additional raffle tickets at the post-race gear drawing.
Be sure to have Course Staff take note of the items and tally their ticket reward on their clipboards.
These will be tallied before the post-race ceremony and additional tickets handed out.
The more tickets, the better odds of getting first pick. You get the drift. If it's on this list, we've seen it out there.
I was unsure of how many teams would participate, but the results are clear. The stuff that was removed from the forest:
The Atomic Adventure Race presented by Fuji Bikes would like competitors to help rid Dawson Forest of some items for fun and profit!
As a side challenge, you may turn in these items at the next manned CP for additional raffle tickets at the post-race gear drawing.
Be sure to have Course Staff take note of the items and tally their ticket reward on their clipboards.
These will be tallied before the post-race ceremony and additional tickets handed out.
The more tickets, the better odds of getting first pick. You get the drift. If it's on this list, we've seen it out there.
- 3 Firearm Shell Casing - 1 ticket
- 2 Plastic utensil - 1 ticket
- Aluminum Can/Plastic bottle - 1 ticket
- Plastic Garbage Bags - 1 ticket
- Rusty pliers - 1 ticket
- 10 gel packs/energy bar packages/food wrappers - 1 ticket
- Full size potato chip bag - 1 ticket
- Discarded cicada skin - 1 ticket, but must be intact
- Glass bottle - 2 tickets
- Hiking boot - 2 tickets
- Bike tire - 2 tickets
- Cardboard box - 2 tickets
- Snake skin (molted, minus the snake) - 5 tickets, and finders keepers!
- Old rusty Bike - 20 tickets
- Car tire - 20 tickets
- Drum Barrels - 20 tickets
- Plastic Yard Swan - 100 tickets
- Box mattress with rusty springs - 200 tickets
- Lock of Joanna's hair - 1 ticket
I was unsure of how many teams would participate, but the results are clear. The stuff that was removed from the forest:
- 8 shotgun shells
- 92 plastic wrappers
- 34 soda cans
- 1 piece of plastic
- 29 plastic bottles
- 3 pieces of paper
- 16 plastic bags
- 1 glass bottle
- 1 shoe
- 1 fishing pole (Kickapoo Scouts gave up on their plans microwave a 5-pounder when they weren't biting in the Etowah)
- 1 piece of a mirror
- 1 soft ball
- 1 wine bottle
- 1 coffee cup
- 1 piece of rope
- 1 wrench
- 1 cigarette pack (Tim Buchholz from Shake-A-Leg Miami apparently is a smoker)
- 1 paper cup
- 1 pair of rusty pliers (FOUND MY PLIERS by Team Florida Xtreme/Masters)
- 4 car tires (3 returned by People's Temple Agricultural Project at canoe put-in/TA6, 1 returned by This Is Gonna Hurt at Lindsey Ford/TA4)
- and some withdrawn blisters from Rhino Militia (EEEEWWWWW!!! I think I should have taken away some raffle tickets for this one).
Food Fight at CP19
Not sure if Secret Squirrel was referring to the CP# or the team# (Nature Cure was Team #19 right in front of them), but once the food was flying, ROAM/Inov-8 joined in...
And yes, CP19 did suck. That late in the race, I was pushing the bike up it and cursing Jordan and Jack the whole way.
Fuji Bikes Outland Frame Raffle
Went to Rich Lowe of "Arms Raised in a V".
They certainly can raise their arms in a V. They were announced at the post race awards ceremony as the winners of the combined 2-person coed/2-person open division, which was composed of 19 teams.
After a name was drawn at the post-race awards ceremony of someone who was not there (must be present to win), Rich's name was drawn.
The background on this separate gear drawing was that the first 20 captains to pay for the race were given raffle tickets for them and their teammates for the bike frame. At registration, they were told (in front of their teammates) as they were given the tickets, that they could write down names on the back of each ticket--all their own or all their teammates' or one of each or whatever--in private and that they would go into the box without anyone knowing.
Evil? Yes. We wanted their teammates wondering if they had written their name, and their captains wondering if their teammates were wondering. This was an additional team dynamics challenge. We had several teammates trying to catch a glimpse of the names their captains were writing as we ushered them down the check-in line so the captain could have some privacy...
So the crown of this story is that Rich Lowe was not the captain of his team--much to his captain Kent Townley's regret! :P This is a good ending to this challenge, as if it were Kent who won it, Rich may be wondering how many times Kent's name had been entered. :D
They certainly can raise their arms in a V. They were announced at the post race awards ceremony as the winners of the combined 2-person coed/2-person open division, which was composed of 19 teams.
After a name was drawn at the post-race awards ceremony of someone who was not there (must be present to win), Rich's name was drawn.
The background on this separate gear drawing was that the first 20 captains to pay for the race were given raffle tickets for them and their teammates for the bike frame. At registration, they were told (in front of their teammates) as they were given the tickets, that they could write down names on the back of each ticket--all their own or all their teammates' or one of each or whatever--in private and that they would go into the box without anyone knowing.
Evil? Yes. We wanted their teammates wondering if they had written their name, and their captains wondering if their teammates were wondering. This was an additional team dynamics challenge. We had several teammates trying to catch a glimpse of the names their captains were writing as we ushered them down the check-in line so the captain could have some privacy...
So the crown of this story is that Rich Lowe was not the captain of his team--much to his captain Kent Townley's regret! :P This is a good ending to this challenge, as if it were Kent who won it, Rich may be wondering how many times Kent's name had been entered. :D
More Videos
There are more videos than just those in the link I posted before. Click "View All" or go to the page below to view all of them!
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AtomicAdventureRace&view=videos
They have the timestamp of when they were added and such. We're working on another set now.
p.s. Note, you don't have to have a YouTube account to view these. They've all been made public. There may have been some confusion either on our end or viewers about this, but it should be fine now. If not, please contact us.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=AtomicAdventureRace&view=videos
They have the timestamp of when they were added and such. We're working on another set now.
p.s. Note, you don't have to have a YouTube account to view these. They've all been made public. There may have been some confusion either on our end or viewers about this, but it should be fine now. If not, please contact us.
Reality Bikes
Special thanks to Reality Bikes, one of our race (and team) sponsors. Without the use of their RV (our mobile headquarters), we would not have been able to provide race updates in a timely manner.
Race Videos, Results, and Thanks
If you missed some of the videos we produced mid-race, check them out here:
http://www.youtube.com/AtomicAdventureRace
I'll be tallying results today and going through course crew notes to determine results. Once posted, I'll post it here and email out to racers so any disputes can be handled. 3 days will pass and they will become final. I apologize in advance if the final results differ from those that we determined at the awards ceremony.
At a later date after CPs are all collected, we'll go through logbooks and make a cool spreadsheet that shows all the breakdown.
I also want to thank EVERYBODY who participated and helped make this race. That includes:
http://www.youtube.com/AtomicAdventureRace
I'll be tallying results today and going through course crew notes to determine results. Once posted, I'll post it here and email out to racers so any disputes can be handled. 3 days will pass and they will become final. I apologize in advance if the final results differ from those that we determined at the awards ceremony.
At a later date after CPs are all collected, we'll go through logbooks and make a cool spreadsheet that shows all the breakdown.
I also want to thank EVERYBODY who participated and helped make this race. That includes:
- the racers who put their faith in this inaugural event and suffered for up to 27 hours on the course (congrats to last time-of-day finish for Team Florida Xtreme Masters, who were announced at the awards ceremony to have won the 3-Person Open category).
- the sponsors, who gave over $9000 of schwag and gear to the race and racers. co-title sponsor Reality Bikes & Skateboards in Cumming, GA, for letting us use their 27' RV, so we could be unafraid of the rain KO'ing our media coverage.
- the volunteers (30+ strong) who manned checkpoints, loaded/unloaded canoes, performed a night-time river sweep to ensure paddlers were okay, recorded teams' progress, shot video & photos, edited and uploaded video & photos, blogged about teams, performed gear checks and managed check-in, filled up water jugs, set up and tore down the finish structure and signage, and cooked an AWESOME post-race meal. and to the 30-hour volunteers that I want to give a special thanks to, because they were essential to the Atomic AR's success.
- the race management team, who were the glue that held it all together. Joanna, Laura, Jordan, Michael, and Jack were well in tune with everything that was going on, often times switching roles with Jack and I while we were occupied with other things. It is a testimate to their involvement that they would be able to step it up like this.
- the paramedics, EMTs, and MD that helped ensure this was a safe race. they were enthusiastic and on top of things the entire time, going above and beyond.
- the permitters and Amicalola Falls State Park staff, who offered us solutions to our problems, and were VERY accommodating to the event, making the day before and the days of the race go very smoothly--from the check-in room setup, to the handling of parking and parking passes, to offering volunteers coffee and racers showers, they seemed to know just what we were lacking and stepped up to offer it.
- all of our families, who on a daily basis supported and enabled us to do what we do.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Miss Something?
Are you following along on the CP Tracker Race Central? Missed some of our older posts earlier on in the race and can't view them now? Just check out our blog feed at http://atomicar.blogspot.com/ to view all current, past, and future posts regarding the inaugural 2009 Atomic AR.
Clearing course! - Jack Forester
Everyone sleeping? Just finished picking up CP10-18 plus all radiation burn flags. I swam the Etowah River from the blue trail to avoid having to use a canoe to get CP 12. That was fun! Looks like several teams decided it would be easier to beach the canoe and walk up Shoal Creek to get CP12. It must have been a surprise to discover it was waist deep when crossing over to grab the CP!
40 hrs of no sleep and counting...
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