On Sunday, May 1, 2005 , Sue, Ron and I competed in the Mad Dash Adventure Race as produced by Leo and Tammy Grant of Adventure North, L.L.C. The race was billed as an unsupported, 8-10 hour urban adventure race in and around the city of Madison , Wisconsin .

32 teams from throughout the Midwest registered for the race with many of the top teams from the 2004 CAARA Best of the Midwest competition being represented.

The race started at 0600 hours under cloudy skies, 30° temperatures, a strong southwesterly wind, and a threat of snow in the forecast. One member of each team was designated to “sprint” a short distance to retrieve an egg and bring it back to the start line. Once across the line, the whole team was then free to pick a canoe and portage to the sand beach on the southwest shore of Lake Mendota at Marshall Park in Middleton , Wisconsin .

Ron emerged out of the pack of 31 runners, (one registered team didn't show?) and off we went after randomly picking a canoe. As luck would have it, we picked the canoe that the night before I had said we specifically did not want! On the bottom of the hull was 1/3 of a roll of old duct tape used to patch an 8 inch gash. In the excitement of the start, we had failed to look for this “bad” canoe. The poor choice didn't really become apparent until we were taking on water (in a mini geyser) in the rough, wind blown seas of Lake Mendota . With strong and determined paddling we quickly moved up into 4 th place as we made our way the 4 miles to CP1, the start of the first orienteering course at Governor Nelson State Park .

We arrived at the beach adjacent to CP1 in 5 th place at 6:46 a.m. due to the added water weight and drag from the duct tape (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) Quickly removing wet outer clothing we run through the “O” course, basically following the other four teams. Unlike a rogaine where controls can be located in any order, in this section, we all moved like cattle following the food wagon. In a move to separate ourselves from the pack, we took an alternate route to a control. Although it looked and felt like the right thing to do at the time, it slowed us by about 10 minutes from the leaders. The neatest thing about the “O” course was the Indian Burial mounds overlooking the lake. We checked out at of CP 1 at 7:36 a.m. We left in 8 th place, only 10 minutes behind the leaders!

Back into the canoe, which we had emptied of gallons of water and a couple smelt, a short strategic portage around a breakwater to pass a team who had left just before us, and into the teeth of the 20+ mph wind. After a cold, wet, and snowy paddle the 4 miles back to Marshall Park and the transition to bikes, we arrived at 8:33 a.m. , now in 7 th place. We made a quick, although complete change out of wet clothing. Dry and warm(er?), we began the first bike leg to CP 2 (5 miles), CP3 (5 miles), CP4 (6 miles) and finally to CP5 (2 miles), to the transition to the second “O” course located at a Indian Lake. During this 18 mile ride, we endured heavy snow, rain, sleet, cold winds, and multiple road bikers and tri-athletes out on training runs. The only team that passed us on this ride was three guys on road bikes. Ron thought they were a part of the adventure race initially. Boy he was irritated that they were on road and not mountain bikes! After a quick counseling session by Sue and me, he calmed down a bit. (We don't like getting passed, not matter what race others are in!) We arrived at 10:20 a.m. , now in 8 th place. We had apparently been passed in transition after the canoe as no teams passed us on the bike. The “O” course was quite beautiful and contained some impressive elevation changes. The highlight was a quaint little chapel overlooking Indian Lake , high on a point to the east of the lake. We easily found all of the markers and checked out of the “O” course at 11:36 a.m. We estimated that the mileage of the “0” courses combined to be approximately 8 miles in length. We were now in 6 th place, still only 14 minutes out of first place, still in striking distance of the leader!

Back on to the bikes and heading towards the ropes course we went. In laying out our route prior to the race start, (Sue and I huddled in the SUV with the heater on high and Ron out side trying to figure our why the front disc brakes on his and Sue's new mountain bikes wouldn't release, preventing the front wheel from being installed.) Talk about pre-race stress! Remember, the old axiom, expect the unexpected! Oh well, at this point I saw an alternate route to CP6. The distances were about equal, the bike map of the Madison area recommended the route so we chose to take it. Apparently, we were the only team to do so. The road was perfect! Only problem was one heck of a climb up a 150' mountain. We wouldn't know the consequence of this route choice until we arrived at the ropes. The ride to CP6, located at Festoe County Park was about 7 miles. From here, the route crossed Highway 14 which was off limits to biking through the town of Cross Plains. The most impressive thing about Cross Plains is the size of their new fire station! WOW! Even I was impressed! After seeing the size of the homes being built in the surrounding countryside, I understand how this fire district can afford such a beautiful and state of the art fire station and training facility. From this point we rode the route of the Wisconsin Ironman. I didn't realize the Ironman had so many hills in the biking leg of the triathlon. We arrived at the Ropes course at 1:13 p.m. , now in 7 th place. The ropes course was located in the base area of the Blackhawk Ski Area and ski jumping club. We were instructed to don a full body harness (provided) and two of us report to the climbing wall. Duel routes were set up side by side on the 50' high wall. All we had to do was climb to the top! After a couple of Succeed to ease the thigh cramps, Ron and I scurried up the wall. Once down, it was Sue's turn to climb to the top of a cable zip line and zip to the other tower. Once there, we were free to continue to the finish. We checked out of the ropes course still in 7 th place at 1:34 p.m. Now, all we had to do was find our way back to the finish line at Marshall Park. Not familiar with the area, we chose to take Black Hawk Road to Pleasant View Road to Old Sauk Trail, to some north/south cross street to University to Road Q to Marshall Park. This worked ok I guess, since we did finish. But somewhere, along the way we got passed by a phantom team! No one passed us physically, but we got passed! We finished in 8 th place at 2:05 p.m. Total race time was 8:05 hours. Though we raced hard and in my mind smart over the 50 mile course, we were disappointed. In hindsight, we were 38 minutes out of 1 st , 24 minutes out of 2 nd , and only 18 minutes out of 3 rd . Although meaningless, the 7 th place team only beat us by 4 minutes.

Cold and hungry, we chowed down to a delicious, hot picnic buffet provided by Adventure North, in an outside shelter overlooking beautiful Lake Mendota .

The race was well organized, started on time, had plenty of attentive and considerate volunteers, and provided for a fun yet challenging course. Congratulations to Leo and Tammy for another memorable event. And a heart felt thank you to Ron and Sue for being such great teammates and friends!

- Gerry