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ARC Winter Adventure Race - Hardwood Hills, Barrie, Ontario - March 13, 2004

Post Race Review


On Saturday March 13, 2004, participants in the ARC Winter Adventure Race gathered in the west wing of the Hardwood Hills Chalet in Barrie, Ontario to prepare for the start of the race.

Some of the top adventure racing teams in the country were in attendance, including Multisport Canada and EAS Hammer, the defending coed and open champions from the 2003 winter race.

In addition to the the ARC Winter race competitors, there was also a group of teams in attendance who were entered in the Medwar North Adventure race that was taking place at the same time.

At 8.45am, Team Captain's were given their race envelope that included maps, instructions and their race passport, and then they had exactly one hour to plot their route around the course.

 The Race Start
At 9.45am, on a picture perfect day winter day, a combination of teams of three and solo racers, departed for the start of the 2004 ARC Winter Adventure Race.

In a unique twist to the race format, some teams and/or solo racers started on snowshoes and some started on cross-country skis. In either case the racers were required to complete a loop of checkpoints on snowshoe and then a loop on cross-country skis before they departed the Hardwood Hills property.

As it turned out, the top teams and solo racers, each looped through the start/finish in approximately the same time, and were within minutes of each other as they headed out on their bikes.

 Cross Country Skiing
Competitors were required to make their way by cross-country skis to three checkpoints on the Hardwood trails, and while most racers kept to the trails, there were some who decided to take short cuts through the fresh powder snow that had fallen the night before.

 Mountain Biking
When the competitors left the Hardwood property, they were required to carry their snowshoes, and other mandatory race gear with them, as they travelled on the partially snow covered country roads in the area.

At checkpoint four, on the first bike section, they dropped their bikes at a transition location and snowshoed to four more checkpoints in a section of the Simcoe Forest.

After completing this snowshoe section, they got back on their bikes and rode onto CP9 and CP10, at which point they had a decision to make.

 Snowshoe
At CP10, competitors that arrived before the five hour mark, had the choice of attempting to complete the Advanced Course Section that included three more checkpoints on snowshoe before the finish line or continue by bike to the finish line and complete the regular course.

Over half of the teams and solo racers attempted and completed the Advanced Course, and for the top teams, this section was the deciding factoring in how those teams placed at the end of the race.

 The Finish
The first team to finish was Team EAS Hammer, an Open division team made up of Mike Waddington, Mark Tarnapolsky and Doug Mahoney.

In the Co-ed division, the top teams were Hyper Global Meganet Salomon (who only trailed EAS Hammer by 3 minutes), Multi Sport Canada, Veltec and Active Insanity.

The top Solo racers were Tree Hugger from Venus (Barb Campbell) and Skreemin' Fury (John Markez).

Congratulations and Thank You to all the Participants and Volunteers.

A special thank you to all the sponsors and supporters of the race, including:

Merrell Canada, Bolle Canada, Sole Custom Footbeds, Atomic, Fisherman's Friend and Hardwood Hills.

For complete ARC Winter Adventure Race Results & Photos