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2005 SALOMON/MOOSEJAW DECEMBER CHILL
Salomon North America and Moosejaw Mountaineering were proud to sponsor the 2005 December Chill Adventure Race that was held Saturday December 3, 2005 near Davison, Michigan. We hope that all of you had a great event and are looking forward to your next race. Please feel free to provide feedback on this event by e-mailing us or by posting on our message board in the feedback & comments area.
» Overall Results Spreadsheet with Split Times
» Race Pictures
Event Recap:
Length: 8 Hour Cutoff
Date: December 3, 2005
Location: Davison, MI
Teams: 116 teams (34 2 Person Coed, 52 Male/Male, 13 Female/Female, 14 Solo Male, 2 Solo Female)
On a cold winter morning, racers arrived to the delight of Salomon Windblades, glowing Red Bull fire barrels and a fire burning in the fireplace of Pavilion 1 in Richfield County Park. The sold out race would be another fast, fun and cold installation of the Salomon/Moosejaw December Chill. Racers were also greeted by world-renowned adventure racer Rebecca Rusch, who would be on hand all day sharing experiences, offering encouragement and even helping out on the course.
After all 116 teams had checked in, racers got to hear Rusch talk and lead into the race briefing. Maps were passed out and instructions issued. Racers had a few minutes to get their last minute gear and get back to the starting line. With such a full field, a split start was put into place to help give teams a little more room off the start. The Male/Male teams were off at 8:50am and the remainder of the field took to the course at 9:05am. Both groups would have 8 hours to complete the same course.
The race started on foot with a quick and simple trekking section in Richfield Park. 4 points and about 1.5 miles through the snowy park led teams back to Pavilion 1 for a bike pickup.
At CP 1 teams got on their bikes and headed out of the park making their way via roads to Deadman’s Hill, CP2. This would be a bike drop for a short orienteering section of 4 points. The points led teams into the Hogbacks and across the beaver dammed Hasler Creek. Only one point was mandatory to continue on the course. The lead teams were blazing all four points in 20 minutes. This is also where Absolute Endo and Animals began to develop their lead on the field.
Then back up Deadman’s Hill to the bike drop, now CP7, teams were back on their bikes on the way to Zemmer Park. Once they reached Zemmer Park and CP8, they had another bike drop. Teams had a coasteering section ahead for CPs9-11. All of these points were placed on the Holloway Reservoir and teams were directed to stay on the coast as they proceeded from point to point. Only CP 9 was mandatory. So teams gathered their points and headed back to the bike drop, now CP12. The fast teams were again knocking this section out in about 20 minutes.
It was more roads on the way to the canoe put-in. Racers did get a nice treat as they got to cross the Holloway Reservoir Dam to the south side where the paddle put in was located, CP13. Racers got a nice 7.5 mile paddle on this scenic portion of the Flint River. They picked up CP14 on the way to the take out at CP15, near Timberwolf Campground. At this point Absolute Endo and Animals had a firm hold on the top two places, but the battle for 3rd was shaping up. Offspring and Fat Otter were just 11 minutes off the pace, while Anthony Underwood, Child’s Voice, Larry Davis, Race Monkeys and Virabhadrasana were pushing the pace as well. One team did have a scare while on the river. Dead Squirrel all of a sudden found themselves capsized and in the freezing cold Flint River. Fortunately, Squared Mikes and BBS were not far behind and they helped Dead Squirrel get to shore and remain ok while race staff was called in for evacuation.
It was just up the hill, where racers could warm up at the fire maintained by the ropes crew. This was on the north side of the river where racers would pick up the zip line to the south side of the river at CP16 and on the way to the main portion of the orienteering course.
The remainder of the course, CP17-26, would be the orienteering course that took teams along the Flint River and into the finish. At least two of these points were mandatory to remain a ranked team. This was a more linear O-course than normal, but the points were still challenging and required good navigation. The river created some interesting topography and some unexpected ditches and swamps. The fresh snow from Friday added to the scenery. Racers found points in reentrants, ditches, holes, even up off the ground in a large downed tree. CP23 was located on a small creek and a cargo net was set up horizontally to serve as a footbridge. Although by the time a lot of teams were crossing, it was stretched so that racers were getting their feet wet as they crossed. Some decided not to wait and just went through the thigh deep creek. Fortunately it was just a short trek into the finish from there. Still remaining, the racers crossed through an old gavel pit with some extra ponds to work around. The Animals and Absolute Endo were still leading the course as they thought they were about to punch the final CP and plow into the finish for a first place tie. They were surprised CP26 wasn’t where they thought it would be. After many minutes of searching the area, race director Zac Chisholm came running through the woods with CP26 in hand. Out of breath, he explained how the CP had been stolen and thrown along the drive in Richfield Park. These two teams would be credited 15 minutes for their time while the CP was missing. The remainder of the field was unaffected. Unfortunately for the Animals, they had missed punching CP1 and were penalized 15 minutes as were a handful of other teams.
Great Job to all who competed! Overall winners were Absolute Endo (2 person male) first at 5:41, Animals second (2 person Male) at 5:56, Virabhadrasana (2 person coed) third in 6:02, Race Monkeys (2 person coed) fourth at 6:04, Larry Davis (solo, 5th overall) in 6:09. Rounding out the top three for the two person coed division was Child’s Voice (6th overall, 6:09). The two person male was capped off with a tie for third by Fat Otter and Offspring at 6:17 (7th overall). The solo male 2nd place was Rod Mclennan at 6:20 (9th overall), while Anthony Underwood grabbed third at 6:24 and 11th overall. Each of these teams obtained all 17 optional control points. We had our largest 2 person female field with 13 teams! Trunk Monkeys took this category (18th overall) at 6:39 with all 17 CPs, while Dirt Skirts grabbed second at 6:56 (63rd overall, 13 CPs) and Beat Watters rounded out 3rd at 7:54 (70th overall, 13 CPs). The solo female winner was Michelle Koenigsknecht, (75th overall, 7:37, 12 CPs). There was a strong field at this race as 42 teams got all 17 Optional CPs. 94 teams in all finished the course ranked and 18 more teams finished the course after the 8 hour cutoff. Only five teams were forced to drop out of the race, which is quite a credit to the racers preparedness on this chilly Saturday in December.
We had some great volunteers for this race and want to extend a special thanks to them. They were great! Also, special thanks to Rebecca Rusch and Red Bull for attending the race and being a great addition to the course. What a touch to the race! And to Planet Rock for setting up and running the Ropes all day, what a great job! Great thanks to the Genesee County Parks for their cooperation and use of their facility; they were fantastic! And thanks to all our wonderful sponsors for their terrific support. We know the racers enjoy all of it! We hope to see you all back at the races in 2006!
Race Staff
Infiterra Sports LLC
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