It’s 2:00 am, your at 7200 feet above sea level. The temperature on your wristwatch reads 20 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s been nearly fourteen hours since you began this journey.
Your working your bike down the side of a mountain and the unexpected fallen snow has made the terrain just that much more difficult to navigate. You can’t feel your toes, your fingers are numb, the water in your pack has long frozen. Your tired, your hungry, your not alone.
The team continues on. You’ll be at the next checkpoint soon. There by the moonlight, you’ll have a chance to re-group, plot the coordinates for your next discipline, and get rid of the now frozen hunk of metal you call a bike. But it’s not over yet.
After the next checkpoint, you still have some 15 miles to go before you reach the finish line. You leave on foot, with climbing gear in your pack. It’s an uphill climb, at least until you reach the near vertical 600 foot rock face that you’ll have to descend if you want to claim victory…
In 27 hours, Dr. Chriss Sigafoose, along with his teammates Pat O’Hara, Marie Volkhardt, and Tony McEachern, did what some only dream about. (and some only in nightmares) They took it to the edge, returning home victorious to Sarasota, Florida after competing in the United States Adventure Racing National Championship, which was held in the mountains and lakes of Kernville, California, taking 3rd place in their division.
The teams passion for living was expressed with such greatness and such intensity. For myself, it was an exhilarating experience, one that teaches many lessons and shatters some preconceived notions of what the human spirit is capable of achieving.
To the team I say thank you. Thank you for expressing your passion for life in such a unique and dramatic way.
planetc1.com-news @ 9:54 am | Article ID: 974829283
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