4 Person Co-Ed Team 1. BLACK LIONS (Manhattan/Ft Riley, KS) 9 HRS 15 MIN 2. GCAR (Wichita, KS) 10 HRS 32 MIN 3 Person Co-Ed Team 1. OFF ROAD FIXATION/INERTIA (Overland Park, KS) 7 HRS 44 MIN 2. GREENHORN (Fenton, MO) 8 HRS 11 MIN 3. IOWA (Ankeny, IA) (with 1.5 hr penalty) 11 HRS 29 MIN COMPLETE RACE ROSTER |
| Posted by Tyler Tate, Team Awesome Extreme 10/17/2008 The Milford lake extreme adventure race was last weekend and here’s the race report: the race was billed as a +/- 50 mile race around Milford lake (the largest lake in Kansas). This was the longest race, both in time and length, I’ve ever done. The closest I’ve come is a 6hr mountain bike race that killed me after 30 mi (sometimes you need to train for those things). You were required to have a team of 3 or 4 and it had to be coed. I called on a high school cross country teammate (Melissa) to fill in the female slot and asked if her dad (Mr. Sanderson) would be willing to fill in the 3rd person slot. I knew both mountain biked a lot and were pretty good runners. When I asked she mentioned that her boyfriend (Kaleb) would be interested and took the 4th slot on the team. We now had a full team! There was a couple months time before the race, so any specific training could be worked on. It was pretty tough to get to train together as a team since Melissa was in school a couple hours away and both Kaleb and Mr. Sanderson lived an hour away from me. We only got to get in one bike ride together before the race haha. My training went pretty well. From the time I dedicated to the race to the start of the race, I did 5 mtn bike races and a cyclocross race. I set about 2.5 months aside for specific training for this race. I trained a lot on the bike in the first half mainly to get ready for the mtn and cyclocross races. It was nice because I would use the race as my peak day and taper for a week, then maintain, then race, then repeat for a couple weeks. Build up, taper, peak, build up, taper, peak… After the bike races were out of the way, I started putting in some trail running to get in some running miles. I really enjoyed the break from the bike. We headed over to Milford Friday and met at the team check-in/dinner. We were greeted by a “welcome adventure racers” sign outside and free redbull. I opted out of the redbull since we had to get up pretty early. This was my second adventure race, and the thing I realized I get most nervous about is forgetting gear. Not only could you get a time penalty for not having something, but it could make your day even longer if it could have been useful (I brought 2 compasses). At the dinner we got our maps and first coordinates and were sent on our way. Melissa’s parents had rented a cabin and I crashed on the couch. When we got back to the cabin, we plotted the first checkpoints and discussed some strategy. My goal for the race was to finish. To be honest, if we were going to compete, I think we’d have to put in some more training hours. Plus, this was my second adventure race and their first. We all could have used some experience. I was just out there because the allure of sanctioned insanity is irresistible. Normally I wouldn’t tromp through poison ivy and cross creeks on downed trees…then jump on a bike and ride on the side of a highway for hours. Oh, and dead bean fields. It’s like those star-wars conventions. People don’t normally walk around in luke skywalker outfits or chubaka costumes, but because there’s a convention it’s alright! So, the morning of the race, I was double checking everything. Even looking in the rearview mirror multiple times to make sure I’ve got my bike (yep, need that). It was pitch black when we got to the start. And freezing. I was worried about the weather all week and it seemed like it was going to be perfect later on the day. We got out gear ready and maps checked for accuracy…OK to go. Because of the wind part of the kayak was cut off (that’s fine with me, you’ll notice I didn’t mention any kayak training J ). Half the teams started with “paddles” the other half started with “pedals”. We started on bikes. Off we go with adrenalin and legs pumping at a pace that most likely won’t sustain past the first checkpoint. We were in the pack of about 6 teams for the first mile or so. Before the race I tried to do some online research about local bike trails but couldn’t find anything. I figured most of our riding will be on pavement so my tires were aired up pretty well. Within the first 30mi or hour, Mr. Sanderson got a flat…on a slime tube. It was about a half inch nail, I love riding on roadsJ. We got that changed in about ten min but were now at the back of the pack. That’s fine though. It’s not like 10 min out of 12 hours is going to seal our fate Find out what happened next . . . |
 |  |  |  |  |
LAKE ADVENTURES
MILFORD, KS
785-307-1901
extremekansas@yahoo.com
MILFORD, KS
785-307-1901
extremekansas@yahoo.com
| 2008 Milford Lake Extreme Race Results |
| 2008 Race Report |