On Saturday, July 31, 2004 in the wee hours of the morning, 2:00 a.m. to be exact, Team Enviromark/Chirosport competed in the 10th Mid-America Xtreme Adventure Race. The Team was Ron and Sue Stonitsch, Jamey Sanders and me, with support being provided by Randy Willems.

The MAX is the oldest adventure race in the Midwest, and many of the country's top teams have competed in it. Headquarters was at the Mc Caslin Mountain Campground near Mountain, Wisconsin. The course was laid out in and around the Nicolet National Forest. Twelve, four person coed teams toed the line for the start under light rain and humid conditions.

The race started with a 10 mile trail run over snowmobile/ATV trails. The route was lit with glow sticks so no route selection or navigation was required. The light rain made footing dicey. The pace was quite fast with teams reaching TA1 quicker than the race director, Mike Polzin had anticipated. We arrived in 5th place, 11 minutes behind the lead team, Vyster Mantis at 3:52 a.m. Prior to our arrival, Randy had to inflate the two Sevylor river kayaks for our journey down the North Branch of the Oconto River.

Upon leaving TA1, teams portaged the two boats approximately 1/2 mile down an old logging road. Upon reaching the river, the boats were launched into the black waters of the river for a 5.5 mile downstream trip. It was the job of the bow paddler to use the beam of the headlamp to spot submerged rocks. Ya right! It was bump and drag for miles over large rocks and through rapids which didn't quite have enough water in them. Initially, our challenge was to make the boat go straight. We would go bank to bank. After a bit of fine tuning, we got the hand of it and moved quite well. We passed two teams on the paddle arriving at TA2, in third place at 6:49 a.m. I must say, if it hadn't had been for the excitement of Ron getting ejected from the back of the kayak on the one and only class III rapid, it would have been one of the longest paddle legs ever.

This stretch of river is one of the most primitive, wild, and scenic I have experienced in the Midwest. Randy had the transition set up and completely organized. A quick change of clothes, a bite to eat, refill the water bladders and patch the hugh blister on Sue's foot, we were off on a run for a 9 mile orienteering trek. The first OP was on top of a fire tower overlooking the Town of Mountain. We had been there at a previous race where we had received ice cold Red Bull's. A short bushwhack led to logging roads and to the rappel. The rappel was 40' and was quickly accomplished. After a bushwhack through a swamp with knee deep muck, we met up with Randy to grab our bikes for a 9 mile bike orienteering course. As we left, a team pulled into the bike pickup, only 10 minutes behind us. The first part of the ride was on blacktop, as we turned off onto an ATV trail, things changed dramatically.

On a slight downhill we encountered sugar sand. Crash! 15 mph to 0 in an instant! Luckily, the landing zone was also deep sand. Nothing damaged. Back on to the bikes to the CP, located on the shore of a river. Back tracking on the sandy ATV trail we went to the blacktop road to a gravel road, to the bushwhack to the ascent. A short time later we arrived at the top of the ascent. Following tape to the bottom, we hooked up and began the 25' climb in unison. Quickly, we reached the top of the shear rock wall, where we stripped off the harnesses and bushwhacked back to the bikes. A short ride took us to TA3. We arrived there at 10:55 a.m., now in 2nd place! 30 minutes out of 1st and only 15 minutes ahead of the 3rd place team. The final biking leg was 21 miles over sandy ATV trails, gravel roads and a short section on pavement. We arrived at CP1 at 12:15 and the finish line at 1:12 p.m. We finished in 2nd place, 11:12 overall time.

In hindsight, the race proved to be fast paced, the course well planned, and the competition tight for the first four places. Mike, Keith, Brian, Laura, Tom, and all the volunteers should be highly commended for another outstanding race. The MAX is where it all started for me and Team High Profile. It was good to be back and even better to have done well. Looking forward to returning in the future.

- Gerry