On 29, July 00, I and three others; the guy that talked me into this, Gerry Voelliger our team Captain (Chief); a lady I work with, Frances Fitzgerald, (Princess Kaukawauna); and the manager of our local running store, Randy Willems ventured into the unknown and did the Mid-America Xtreme Adventure Race. The race covered an area the size of the state of Rhode Island. What a day!

We started our day by rising at 3 a.m. as the race started at 5 a.m. but our support crews and we were to leave the Wildman White Water Ranch, 30 minutes west of Crivitz, Wisconsin at 4:15 am. This was the first indication that this was to be a tough day. The temperature was around 45 degrees. As we thought it to be a short drive, we piled into the back of our support vehicle (a pick-up). It ended up being an hour drive. We got to the start frozen, but still in good spirits as we were laughing at the garbage bag that Gerry had put on to keep warm. He pulled it up over his head and as the wind blew it, it looked like some form of expressionist art. Once we arrived at the start, we took turns in the cab of the truck thawing out and were ready for the start.

The start consisted of a mass start of the 40, 4 person teams. Some were all male and some were coed. Once the gun sounded, the first event of the day was a two-mile run, with pack. The pack consisted of our climbing gear, at least a liter of water, our food (Power bars and Gel) and anything else we thought we would need. The pack weighed about 15 lbs. At the end of this trail run, we started the orienteering section of the race. This section was located in a 12 square mile area of wilderness. We were given a topographical map of the area with 7 different points to find. At each of these points were "flags" and a punch with a different design in it to distinguish one checkpoint from the other. We tore off into the woods, our compass set to the heading we needed to find the first checkpoint. We discovered just how thick the north woods really are. Through the trees we went, over fallen trees, through stickers and rose bushes laughing and joking the whole way. We found the first orienteering point (OP), on top of a hill near Butler Rock Road dead on. It was about a .4-mile trek. Our spirits racing, we headed off for OP #2 which was on top of a hill with exposed flat rock. This was about a .7-mile trek. Spirits were soaring higher when we hit this one also dead on. Off to OP #3 we went, it was on only a distance of .3-mile, unfortunately we walked about 100 meters to the right of it and didn't see it. We had to backtrack and lost some time. Once we found it, along with 3 or 4 other times we headed for OP #4, a 1.1 mile trek to up a 1500' mountain. We were right on the heading and actually picked up time on other teams. We found the marker by ascended a smaller knoll overlooking a valley. From this vantage point we saw the marker on the mountain and made a fast trek down the knoll and up the mountain. The trek to OP #5 was a .7-mile trek down off the mountain and through a thick new growth forest. As we approached a road crossing we encountered the leaders of the race. They decided to take the road and follow a contour line. We decided to bush whack it. We arrived at the marker before them and picked up 35 minutes. The Chief made a boo boo and yelled his elation on finding it. He now knows that there ears everywhere, even in the wilderness, it was a stampede to the marker after he announced its location. OP #6 turned out to be the most difficult for us and other teams. It was only .3-mile. The marker was at the base of a tree. We walked by it just 50 meters to the right. We then walked about 10 minutes past it. We backtracked on the previous heading, found an adjacent road and found the marker. I had taken off down the road looking, unfortunately the others immediately found the marker and had to wait for what seemed like forever while I returned. From OP #6 - OP #7 we decided to fast pack it on a logging road for a distance of 3.2 miles. Another team at OP #6 decided to run and take an alternate route. We both arrived at OP #7 together, they exhausted, us fresh. All in all, we were right on in 5 of the 7 legs of orienteering. Not a bad job for our first competition. Plus the organizers didn't need to send a search team to find us, the chief's biggest worry the sleepless night before!

The final leg of the orienteering course was a 1.4-mile bush whack through a cedar swamp. We were now in for the experience of our lives, a bush whack across the delightful smelling swamps of the north woods. Our bearing was true thanks to the Chief and we would have found our rappelling point had it we not been stopped by the denseness of the vegetation in the far reaches of the swamp. It took us an hour and 19 minutes to travel through the swamp. At times, you couldn't see more than 10 meters in front of you, often losing sight of the Chief who as I put it, "can move through the dense woods without moving branches or bending grass". We turned on a logging road and waded knee deep water in three locations to eventually find our rappelling point, where the four of us bounded down the 40-50 foot moss and lichen covered cliff in a matter of seconds. At this point we actually passed three teams who were having difficulty getting all of their members down the cliff. This was followed by a 3-mile fast trek to our bikes. We had run out of water and were becoming dehydrated. During this trek we passed two more teams. We arrived at our bikes and Transition Area #1 at approximately 12:30 p.m., a mere 7 hours of constant physical and mental effort.

We refueled with food and water thanks to our excellent support crew, Becky Willems and Gloria Steed. We mounted our bikes and commented on how good it felt to be out of the swamp, but after a short mile or two ride we were back in the swamp, this time carrying our bikes. This was extremely frustrating, at least for one member (me). Half way through the swamp, Frances realized that her pedal had fallen off and that only the pedal axle remained. She went tearing back through the swamp trying to find it, but soon realized what a hopeless cause this was. It could have been anywhere, and maybe even at the bottom of a three foot deep slime puddle. We continued on, at the next obstacle we found a man from another team stuck to his waist in the muck of a creek. He wiggled and moved and with the help of teammates eventually extricated himself from the mess. This went on and on for a mile or so, and we finally emerged at the checkpoint where the Passport card was signed finally, "normal" mountain biking. For the next three hours we rode gravel roads and four-wheel drive/snowmobile trails. Some of our bodies were starting to fatigue. Exhaustion and cramps started to hit a few members of our team. Gerry fell while crossing a water/mud puddle because of cramps in his calves. Randy stopped to help and described the look of Gerry's calves as if animals trying to get out of his skin. The cramps were so intense that they made small waves in the muddy water where Gerry sat. The trooper that he is (besides he was the one that talked us all into this), Gerry got up and continued on. The last leg of the bike journey we encountered a thunderstorm, which made the trails rather greasy and exciting. The gravel roads and the amount of time on them, took their toll on me. I made the comment "I have nothing left in the tank". At one point tired and frustrated I stopped and threw my bike to the ground and was ready to walk away. One problem....no where to go.

Finally we reached the second and final transition point. This was the point where we were to drop our bikes and move on to more hiking/running, then a 30-40-foot rope ascension and finally some white water kayaking. Unfortunately, someone had moved some of the markers and removed others that marked the trail, and we could not continue. Although the top teams (about 6) were able to complete the entire course before the markers were moved, the others who made it to transition area #2 were counted as finishers. We were counted as finishers and the members of Team High Profile were thankful for that. Our official finishing time was 5:06 p.m. 11 hours 25 minutes and 39 seconds of FUN?

If you would have asked us if we would do another one right after the race, I don't know what we would have said. But today.....the answer would be "HELL YES!"

Roger S. Long