2013 STUBBORN FOOL AR
The 2013 Stubborn Mule was our first real adventure race as the team that would eventually become Strong Machine. We raced with our good friend Bobby Redwood, who Cliff thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail with in 2005. Bobby is an emergency room physician in Madison, and so naturally, he was in charge of carrying the mandatory med-kit ;)
Bobby Redwood, the original Strong Machine.
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In 2013, Kate and Cliff were living in Madison, WI, and after much cajoling on Cliff's part, we decided to try out adventure racing together in the beginner-oriented Stubborn Fool, which takes place in early April, when it is still very much winter in the upper Midwest. Despite it being about 40 degrees out on the day of the race, the lakes were still frozen, and we wondered how we were going to be able to do paddling, which Paula assures us (and reassures us in an email) will be part of the race.
We planned to get up around 7 a.m. to get to the race start with enough time to get to the start and prepare, and at 7:15, Bobby showed up in a pair of Tevas. Reluctantly, he is eventually dissuaded from wearing them for the race. By 7:30 a.m., we have stacked Bobby and Starker’s canoes on two cars and driven to the race start at Vilas Park, in the middle of the city. We calmed our pre-race jitters by assuring ourselves we would not be finishing in the top teams, so we had nothing to worry about. The race started at 10 am. with a 3-mile run around the Vilas Park neighborhood, which we take slowly but at a jog. Upon our return to the start, which is race HQ, we get a word search puzzle with a solution that is a checkpoint clue. We get the puzzle done, and realize we have to go up to the statue about three uphill blocks away to see how many mermaids it has. We try a shortcut through the Vilas Zoo but it’s a dead end. We joke that it's a unique way to add wildlife sightings into an urban adventure race. Unfortuantely, it's a dead end, so we retrace our steps and head up a big hill to find the statue, and think we get our answer, only to realize halfway down the big hill that we had counted the wrong thing. We backtrack, get the right answer, then go back to the shelter for a gear check (which we partially fail, only having one whistle for the team instead of one whistle per person. We silently wonder why we need four whistles for a six-hour race). We start on a 13-mile bike ride up to Warner Park, making good time, even though Bobby is on his granny bike. It helps that Bobby is familiar with the bike path running through town and we can skip traffic lights on it. Bobby gets the bright idea of taking the bicycle elevator up Monona Terrace to skip the five-story climb up the hill, and so we have one of the all-time odd moments of adventure racing, where we find ourselves in an elevator with all of our bikes with classic muzac playing, impatiently waiting for the doors to open so we can continue racing. We bike past the Capitol building then up Fordem and Sherman and the governor’s mansion, picking up a couple of question clues along the way. |
The race start in the Vilas Park shelter in Madison, WI.
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Starker leading us in to the O-course at Warner Park.
In Warner Park, there’s an orienteering event going on. We arrive at the TA, get a map with clues, and realize the orienteering is part of the race. The nav is pretty incredibly easy, just requiring a lot of running.
Starting on the O-course. (Note to race directors: has tennis ever been involved in an adventure race before?)
It takes us about an hour to get all of the points (they were all mandatory), then we remount our bikes, taking the wrong turn out of the park before correcting and heading towards the airport. Cliff is navigating, but Bobby knows the city better, which leads to a difficult moment where Bobby and Starker take off south on the wrong road, while Cliff is left behind holding the map and pointing vainly at the correct route. After about 10 minutes of waiting, the foursome regroups and takes a couple of bike paths back down the isthmus and back to Vilas Park. This ride is very slow, as Bobby hasn’t eaten or drank enough and is starting to bonk. When we realize this, the team gives him some food and we take it easy on the way back. Finally, we arrive back at HQ, where we head out for as much of the canoe ride as possible before our time runs out. The canoe is along a canal/Wingra Creek between Lake Wingra and Lake Monona and surprisingly unfrozen. The canoe also takes a really long time because we are using Starker’s dad’s fishing canoe, which is cut off at one end to make room for an engine, and so it doesn’t glide in the water. Bobby’s canoe is better, but is extremely heavy to portage, which is required in a couple of sections of the canoe. We get one CP before having to head back. Due to time constraints, we have to skip a second canoe CP and a nav section in Olin Park.
We arrive back to HQ and since this is our first adventure race, we’re not quite sure how we’ve done. We eat some food, have a beer, warm up and wait for the results. Turns out, not great. But many lessons learned and a passion born for the team. We will definitely race again!
We arrive back to HQ and since this is our first adventure race, we’re not quite sure how we’ve done. We eat some food, have a beer, warm up and wait for the results. Turns out, not great. But many lessons learned and a passion born for the team. We will definitely race again!
