SKARE 2001 Race ReportThe inaugural Scenic Keweenaw Adventure Racing Experience was held July 28 and 29 in the beautiful Copper Country in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Competitors in the 36-hour event covered at least 128 miles on mountain bikes, in sea kayaks, on foot trekking through the woods and on rope. Thirty-six competitors toed the line at 5am Saturday morning in solo, pair and co-ed team categories. Navigation to the first and second checkpoints proved difficult, with a pair and a team losing their way in the woods for nearly twelve hours before making it to CP2. There racers picked up their bikes and traveled on the snowmobile trails the Keweenaw is known for until they reached CP3 at the Gay Bar (a bar located in the quaint little mining town called Gay). Nearly two hours later, racers reached the final section of biking before reaching CP4 and the first transition area at another section of snowmobile trail which locals had warned us was never dry. At the Dreamland Inn, transition crews readied their teams for sea kayaking on the Portage Waterway. Hours later, they would meet again at McClaine State Park for the beginning of a long, torturous, ap-and-down 52 mile bike ride gaining 2800 feet, but losing only 2200 feet. The finish of the ride brought them to the top of Brockway Mountain, the highest peak between the Appalachians and the Rockies. The final trek included a traverse at the base of a waterfall on the Lake Superior shore and a two-stage rappel totaling 248 feet. As a finishing touch, competitors lucky enough to make it that far were asked to climb the backside of the Mount Bohemia Ski Resort and come down the front side under the main chair lift. With a total time of 30 hours and 29 minutes, solo competitors John Shoust (Team Eco-Driven) and Kid Richards (Team OutdoorAthlete.com) finished side-by-side after spending most of the race pushing each other's limits. Four minutes before the 36-hour time cut-off, Team Marshall's Marauders (Arnie Liati and Kevin Mcvey) crossed the finish line after a dynamic final push from the rappel site. One other team reached the finish line, Team Blue Heron crossed at 5:58pm as unofficial finishers. Team member Aaron Weiss crossed the line alone after partner Adam Kunkel sprained his ankle on the wrong trail leading to the final hilltop and had to be taken off the course. Organizers presented the three official finishers with a total purse of $1350, along with a mountain of prizes for everyone involved from the race sponsors. Michigan Adventure Racing would like to thank Mount Bohemia for hosting the event, PeopleSoft and The North Face for providing gear prizes, Down Wind Sports and Weber's Sporting Goods of Houghton for providing boats and Planet Rock in Ann Arbor for providing some of the ropes. Officials from the Michigan DNR and McClaine State Park were very helpful in letting us keep the second transition area open late after one kayaking pair took a seriously wrong turn. Lake Superior Land Company and International Paper were extremely generous in allowing this race to traverse their land, as was Clyde Westcote at Skytop Inn on Brockway Mountain and Todd and Lori at the Dreamland Inn. This race could not have gone as smoothly if radio communications had not been as bomber as they were through the Copper Country Amateur Radio Association. Jack Swift and the boys really know what they are doing. Local television stations WLUC-NBC, Marquette and WPBK-ABC, Calumet covered the event with two-day coverage, as did Houghton's local newspaper, the Daily Mining Gazette with articles before, during and after the event. Look for an upcoming article in Michigan Sport and Fitness magazine. Ideas and plans for the SKARE 2002 are now in the works. Watch for it to once again challenge competitors in the most scenic and rugged country in the midwest. It is no wonder National Geographic's Adventure magazine has named Houghton one of the top ten places for adventure in the United States. Now the adventure racing community knows too! Tim
Morley |
