Broad Run Off Road Shows GRIT in the Frozen Foot
By Jesse Hagberg
Team Broad Run Off Road had a blast at GRIT Adventure Racing’s 10 hr Frozen Foot Adventure Race last weekend.
The course, designed by Chip and Andrea of Team Thisability Adventure Racing, was delightfully packed with strategic decisions and opportunities to unlock special checkpoints along the way. Stoke was high and much fun was had! Thank you to all of the volunteers, and congrats to everyone who came out and raced!
Per usual, I have a short version of how it went and the long version for people like me who love the details.
How'd we do? First place 4P-M and First place overall. 1 of 2 teams to clear.
Strategy (5/5)
We prioritized high-value points first, set go/no-go decision points mid-race, and re-evaluated based on team condition as we went. It must’ve worked! We won 1st overall and never felt like we were overreaching.
Teamwork (5/5)
Each teammate brought excellence to their designated role (O-Nav/Bike-Nav, Mule, Rabbit, Quality Control) while also contributing to shared roles (mechanical troubleshooting, clock watching, remembering stuff, stoke, teammate check-ins, etc.). We shifted load early and often to balance our exertion, were quick to ease off or tow when anyone needed reprieve, and sped up when we had four green lights on the dash.
Resilience (5/5)
We overcame two separate bike mechanicals early in the race (a tire wouldn’t seal on one bike; two shifter batteries died on another). On Leg 2 we adapted quickly, backtracking 20 minutes to an unlock point that accidentally got folded out of view on the map after transcription. We just got on with it and took care of each other along the way.
My Highlights: Finally racing with Aaron Linville, navigator extraordinaire, and Jeremy Johnson, the AR Swiss Army Knife. We were last scheduled to race The Chill together but weather had other plans.
Giving and receiving the support of a good team.
Having Logan (16), team rabbit , be rock solid all day and even catch a missed CP that would have cost us the clear. He is already more proficient at AR than I was after nearly 10 years of racing and is eager to keep learning. Keep an eye on this kid, he's going places!
Aaron, nav’ing the Leg 4 dog bones, turns around with a slight grin and says something to the effect of, “I am no longer concerned about the time.” Translation: WE’RE CLEARING, BOYS!!
Finding a deer skull in the woods, fastening it to my pack with my map-case clips for a few hours, losing it somewhere along the way, finishing the race, getting tapped on the shoulder by a racer from another team: “Did you by chance lose a skull ?” He then produced said skull (and map clips) from his backpack, having carried them for the last ~6 hours!
My wife Bethany driving out to the awards ceremony and spending the night with me at the campground after the race.
That time we spotted two racers apparently laying down way off in the woods near a CP that we weren't planning to hit until later. Jeremy's protective instincts kicked in and he redirected the team out to see if they were ok. "You OK??". pause... sheepishly "yep, we're fine!". Ok, a bit weird, maybe they were just taking a rest? Later we'd catch up with them at the Award ceremony and learn that they had hilariously spotted us and decided to lay down and hide so as not to give away the somewhat difficult CP location. Unfortunately neon race clothes and packs aren't the best choice of cover for clandestine operations, especially around teams who have spent hours focusing on finding small traces of color way out in the underbrush.
And as always, getting to hang out and swap stories with so many AR friends!
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and for the rest of the story...
I arrived at the State Park ahead of our team Friday, setup the pop-up camper and headed to packet pickup at a local pub. Pretty quickly my homie Justin Mann from Team Find-a-flag-or-make-one showed up and after grabbing our packets, we hung and chatted a bit with Chip and Andrea. Every time the door opened, a gust of wind blew the stacks of team numbers around on the table. Nick and Jesse were checking in racers and delivering an AR clinic so Justin and I rolled up our sleeves and jumped in to help organize and distribute team numbers. After most of the teams were checked in I bid Justin adieu and slid next door to grab some Subway for dinner + breakfast. Aaron and I would be splitting up Nav duties among Bike and Trek, but he and the rest of the team weren't arriving until early race morning. Back at the camper, he and I jumped on a call and talked through the maps; me on the paper maps, and he on the digital ones Grit had provided online.
Aaron had already been pouring over the maps at home and proposed we planned the race in reverse order, establishing rough estimates needed for the final Trek leg and MTB approach which were packed with high value CPs. We quickly divided up the map and each took different sections for analysis, planning to collaborate over text and meet in the morning for any final touches. Over the next hour we noted that we weren't sure how long the Northeastern portions would take but just that we'd plan to clear them since they were the meat and potatoes of the race. After the Prologue, we would hit CP14 on Leg 1 - Bike and expedite up to the Northeastern bike and trek sections, leaving the low value / out of the way CPs 15-19 until later in the race. This would ensure we could get any unlock points along the swift creek single track trails and have plenty of time for the points unlocked by leaving TA2 before 1:30 pm.
Estimating how long the end game would take, and how long 19, 18, 17 and 16, 15 would likely take, we just needed to do our best until we came back South. Up north we'd just be "vibe riding and trekking" as if we were clearing and make the call when we crossed back over the swift creek bridge (WP).
I'm always anxious and excited the night before a race and stayed up pretty late thinking through different scenarios and laying out my gear for an efficient start the next morning. Crawling into bed was pretty luxurious with the heated mattress pad we just put in the pop-up. My former spartan / ultra-light backpacker self does NOT approve but I was a toasty burrito and knocked right out.
In the morning we all met at the S/F Swift Creek Banquet hall, quickly sorted gear, said hellos to our AR friends and listened to Jesse Tubb, Coach Nick Hurff and Chip Dodd deliver the race briefing. For a 10 hour race, this thing had several special elements to consider:
A/B "dogbone" points - We only had the "A" points marked on our maps. For example 56A. We'd navigate to 56A but instead of finding an electronic punch box at the flag, there'd be a laminated map showing the location of a corresponding 56B checkpoint. We transposed the 56B point onto our race map and navigated there. The control box for the pair was hanging on the B point's flag. Once we punched the B point we'd get credit for both. (I still don't get why these are called dog bones )
CPs unlocked by riding certain trails - On Bike Leg 1 there were certain trails that had colored flagging wrapping a tree somewhere along those trails in an undisclosed location. Beginning, Middle, End? No way to tell so just ride the whole thing. As we rode the trails we'd see the flagging and remember which color flagging was seen on which trail. Instead of writing it down we came up with little stories to make them easy to remember. Once we got to the TA, we'd tell the volunteer the trail and flagging color combo and if correct, would receive another unlock point. For each unlock, we received 4"x 4" papers with a snippet of the larger map and the point marked on it. We transposed these points onto our big maps and tucked away the papers for safe keeping.
CPs unlocked by time out of TA - If we checked out of TA2 before 1:30pm, Mark Montague, the volunteer there, gave us 2 additional unlock points along Bike Leg 3.
The Start
Jesse Tubb kicked off the race with a short speech about mindfulness, gratitude, and resilience and sent us all running off on the Prologue Trek in different directions. We settled in behind Aaron and cruised through the 4 checkpoints getting our rhythm. The team moved well and Logan proved right away to be a capable reading off each CP Clue and flowing through the controls with efficient punches.
According to Garmin, we were in and out of the Prologue to Leg 1 - Bike transition in under 3 minutes which is AMAZING considering that in that time Jeremy found his rear tire to be completely flat. He had fresh sealant and it had been topped off the morning of the race. We borrowed a bike pump, reseated the tire in the rim, pumped it up and all held up the bike on its side while spinning the wheel so the sealant would do its magic along the rim on both sides.
Tire sealed, we pedaled quickly down the paved road toward CP14. Along the way I noticed my bike stopped shifting. I don't love electric shifters for this very reason. Fortunately I was in a decent middle gear and just dealt with single-speed until we hit our distance signaling the cut-in point for CP 14. I hopped off and swapped batteries with a spare. Nothing. @!#$. 2nd spare battery. Nothing. Wiped off the terminals. OK, we're back!. We bike-whacked in past a double track trail and dropped right on top of the CP. From here we stayed on the double-track and took it out to the main park road, then just put our heads down in a pace line direct to the Swift Creek Bridge / Waypoint to the Northeast side of the park.
The swift creek trails of Leg 1 - Bike were smooth and fast. I stopped at an intersection to check the maps and Jeremy spotted the control box at the bottom of a trail sign post. Would I have blown by it? Probably not but... Maybe? Good spot Jeremy! We cruised through these awesome trails noting colored flagging for our unlock CPs and punching controls with no flags (flags not allowed on these trails). At times we temporarily shifted some weight around the team for load balancing. Everyone was riding well and we kept good communication so as not to run too hot or need to stop for rest breaks.
Cruising into Transition Area 1 after about 2 hours of racing; I don't recall seeing more than a couple of bikes on the ground. We were doing awesome! We were in and out of TA 1 in under 4 minutes including quick chats with Chip and Mark and transcribing the three unlock points we'd collected to our maps.
Leg 2 - Trek went smoothly. Again we tucked in behind Aaron on Nav, made sure each other were eating and drinking regularly, and worked efficiently to pace count when needed and fan out when it came time to search for CPs. For the most part we just moved straight from each attackpoint to the CP on a Linville special (direct route). Aaron has a long stride and moves through the woods and brush like a deer. We kept up and seamlessly moved weight around between teammates when things heated up. After 1 hour and 20 minutes, we were practically skipping back to the TA when Jeremy calls for us to QC the CPs before leaving the area. Logan took lead with the control description paper and after running through called out he was sure we hadn't punched one of the unlock points? What? No, we got them all.... hang on... the map is unfolded and there on the edge sure enough is a lonely CP hiding just out of view. An easy mistake since the original map fold happened when there was nothing of interest on that edge. Only after CP transcription did it become important! I'm proud of the team in this moment because once confirmed, it took about 2 seconds for us to reroute and just get on with the business of clearing. No grumbling, no shame, just OK, let's go! 20 minutes later we were back at TA 2 getting our 2 additional unlock points for leaving before 1:30pm (was actually ~ 12:40pm). 4 minutes in transition including transcribing the 2 unlock points and we were off on bikes again.
Leg 3 - Bike went smoothly. We stuck to the trails that had our unlock points or that gave us additional ones. I let the team know that "Sundowner" is perhaps my favorite MTB trail anywhere. It's not the most extreme but is flowy and just beautiful cross country riding next to a pristine lake. We were all starting to heat up as the day warmed. Some layers were shed and chest and leg zippers opened to let out the steam. Our only goal was to ride clean while keeping HR to a reasonable level.
Missed Cutoffs
Crossing the Swift Creek Bridge (Waypoint) back to the South side of the park, we noted that we missed 3 out of 4 of our personal cut-off times coming back across the Swift Creek bridge (WP). The first cut-off time was what we thought we needed to CLEAR, the second was just abandoning 15 + 16, and the third was also abandoning 19,18,17. The 4th was to grab the first two Lakeview trail points and bail off to roads direct back to TA3.
Ah well, we didn't sweat it and just flowed through to Unlock CP39 planning to hit the Lakeview trails back to TA 3 and Leg 4 - Trek.
Or did we?
On the way to CP40, I hear a call to hold up from the back of the train. Aaron rolls up and makes the case that the team was moving better than expected and we might have been conservative on our Leg 4 estimate. What if we did have an extra 20 minutes for at least 19,18,17? After about 20 seconds of consideration and briefing the team, we took a quick vote and with 4 green lights rerouted back up the road to the North and West and went after 19, 18, 17.
Gravel riding is Fast! We covered ground quickly and our bushwhacks for 19, 18, 17 took no more than 5-10 minutes each. Getting to the next bail off point we had another quick check-in and ran the numbers about going for CPs 15 and 16. Mind you, these were the furthest out points and were only worth 1 point each, compared to the 3+ point value CPs in the end game so we needed to be confident and get consent. With a suggestion of doing some towing for load balancing on the steeper hills, we got 4 green lights. OK! We're going for 15 and 16! We overshot CP 15 by a bit but quickly caught it and rerouted to the correct location. Aaron tapped Logan to Nav to 16 and he nailed it! Before we knew it we were back on the paved State Park road in a pace line zooming back to the lake and CP 40.
The Lakeview trail system is a bit wilder than the silky smooth trails of Swift Creek system. It has some punchy climbs and lots more rocks and roots. It is NOT conducive to towing. Once again we managed our pace so no one blew up or needed breaks. We also took advantage that even though the direction of travel on these designated trails must be heeded, bike-whacking was allowed. We rode straight through the woods in a few places, hike-a-biked across marshes on log bridges and on up the other side cutting off 2-3 miles of single track riding. This was the hardest part of the race IMO because after 6.5 - 7 hours of moving at a good clip, we were all feeling it. Getting electrolytes and calories down during this time was critical so we'd have the energy to plow into the final Trek just long enough for the call of the Finish Line to carry us through. I think most if not all of us ran out of water on this Leg with around an hour to go until TA. Not an emergency by any stretch but it was hot and early signs of cramping were popping up in the team. "Good things are often found on the other side of hard things!". We put our heads down and pushed through with promises of pickle slices and hydration in our TA bag.
Our original "conservative" estimate was that we'd need 3 hours to clear the Leg 4 - Trek with A/B dog bone points. We rolled up to the TA 3 Banquet Hall bike drop at 4:00pm after 6 hours and 59 minutes of racing. Still 3 hours and 1 minute left on the race clock, looking good!
We restocked our packs with water and food for the 2-3 hours of trekking and each snagged a bag of pickle slices (Thanks Jeremy!). I rolled inside with the ePunch and when the volunteer asked "Do you have something for me?" I immediately blurted out the colors of the Unlock streamers we'd seen on the way. Doh! This was supposed to be a secret to be passed non-verbally. Everyone gave me the appropriate amount of grief and got a good laugh. Oh well, can't win em all. I got the two new unlock points and passed them to Aaron for transcription. This was our longest transition and after 9 minutes we were off on a grand new adventure.
I don't actually remember a lot of the final Trek as Aaron led the nav while I followed the team, pace counted, and generally just enjoyed the company traipsing along through the forest. We jogged when it made sense, shot mostly bullseyes, and recovered quickly if we needed to. We enjoyed Aaron doing his thing and staying in close contact with the map enough to take riskier direct lines through the dense underbrush with confidence. There were the hiding people, there was a toilet, there was discussion about what is or isn't a rhododendron (I'm opinionated on the subject ), and there was the moment when Aaron subtly revealed that we had this thing in the bag from a clearing standpoint. Our last task back at the Banquet Hall before punching the final control at the Finish Arch was an optional 4 part challenge. Each teammate had be chosen to tackle one of the following tasks: Strength: a 100m Kettlebell carry (Jeremy), Speed: a 100m shuttle run (Aaron), Skill: riding a tiny kids bicycle around a skills course of cones without dabbing, and Smarts: answering 3 out of 5 brain teasers (Jesse) w/ help from everyone else! We completed the challenge with style!
As we stood around back slapping, team hugs, and chatting with Chip, someone points over at Tim and Rae on the challenge course and says "do you think they're clearing also?". Yoinks! "LOGAN, PUNCH THE FINISH CONTROL!". Logan sprinted over and punched. Sure enough... just a minute or two later Tim and Rae punch behind us with a complete set of controls for the day. . I've been on the other side of this equation and should have been more aware.
What a day! We stuck around, ate pizza, and celebrated all of the successes and stories of the other 10 hour teams through the awards ceremony. We collected our awards and retired back to the campsite for some social time with Jeremy and an early bedtime.
Man, I love this sport and the wacky community who loves it too!
