Pro-Tint is proud to help local organizations in any way we can. The Northern Lights Adventure Race Team is comprised of 5 North Carolinians who compete in many grueling races throughout the year. We will be posting any new race reports we receive from Ian and the rest of the guys. Click Here to visit their website!

IMPOSSIBLE PANTHER Race Report
October 4, 2008

It was back to the home field last weekend for the Northern Lites for the 3rd annual running of the Gold Nugget Adventure Race put on by Bushwhack Adventures. The race start/finish cycled back to the Uwharrie National Forest, NC this year which kept us on andEast of Badin Lake. Don Childrey and his crew put together a great race with good organization, beautiful views, incentive bonuspoints, and a challenging course. It was geared towards the experienced racers as well as the first-timers with a 4, 8 and 12-houroption. Fortunately, it was a perfect weekend for racing with sunny skies, a low of about 50 and a high of about 80.

Part of the fun in this sport is the serious but friendly competition. We met a team who left work to drive down from Washington D.C. to race the 4-hour option and absolutely loved the style of the modified rogaine format, which brought out the adventure from their regular off-road triathlons. Several other first-timers came out to experience the adventure from a local military base. Now
they’re hooked and looking for more opportunities to race. One of our own teammates, Brent Eischen brought his lovely wife out to race with him in the co-ed 4-hour division. They had a great time together and surely a quality bonding experience. It’s great to see the adventure racing family/community growing as the sport progresses.

Charles Martz as navigator and myself, Alex Lenzmeier, raced as the Northern Lites in the 12-hour event. The race started early at 6:30 am to have time to finish in the daylight at 6:30 pm. It was a rather cool and quiet start with headlamps lighting up the darkness. Maps and UTM’s were handed out at the pre-race meeting the night before, so we were aware of the course that lay ahead. We chose to start with a paddle on the calm water which turned out to be the highlight of the race for me. A short portage to the lake from the start at the group camping area put us about 5th or so on the water after the bottleneck into the single-track trail. Boats at their docks could barely be seen as we paddled out of the cove into the thick fog. A few minutes into the paddle revealed
landmass on the horizon which sheltered our first control point (CP) of the race. With the first CP punched, we were out to climb to the top of an island which was finally identified in the fog once we passed it during the process of elimination. Charlie and I kept good rhythm as we warmed up throughout the paddle leg while keeping a defensive eye out for fishing boats speeding to their bigfish destinations. Many times we commented on how fast our team canoe was; purchased with support from our primary sponsor God’s Country Outfitters of Albemarle, NC.

About half-way through the paddle we came across a few boats approaching us from across the channel which gave us a bit of short-lived discouragement thinking they were that much ahead of us on the course. Then we realized they must have had a different pickup strategy which reminded us to race our own race and not be distracted by the other teams. However, a short while later we
found ourselves speed-paddling to pass a competing team and later found that we had blasted past a control in the excitement. The experience had finally made us wiser. The smell of campfire smoke welcomed us off the water as we landed at the campground and assembled the portage wheels for the ¾ mile portage back to the start/finish to transition. After a quick hydration top-off and control transfer to our O-course map, we were jogging to pick up the orienteering course. Charlie was on his game as we picked off the Ocourse controls never seeing another team until the last control which told us that we were gaining on our competition.

With only three hours on the clock so far, we transitioned to the bike leg which was to be the rest of day. We intended to keep the transition to a minimum, but 15 minutes quickly became 25 as we refueled, re-hydrated, and geared up to spin. Our strategy on this leg was to go long for the high-point controls and pick up what we could on the way back as time allowed. By this time it was bright and sunny but where we were headed the map was dark with contour lines indicating extreme elevation change. We began the challenge of climbing one mountain after another on rough horse trails and OHV roads being rewarded appropriately by the orange and white bags hanging from the trees. A real downer came when we had just descended about 700 feet from a mountain top to the river to find bonus UTM coordinates on the control which meant we had to go back and climb the same mountain! A positive attitude and an achievable time goal motivated us back to the summit. Through some rough and rocky terrain, we thankfully didn’t have any mechanical bike problems but were equipped by sponsor Middle Ring Cycles of Albemarle, NC to make quick repairs on the go if need be.

At creek crossings, Charlie was very sensitive to getting his feet wet since he had pickled them in the rain for the 30-hour Overmountain Extreme Adventure Race just a week before. So when it came for a wade out to the island to pick up CP 21, I drew the short straw. Fortunately, the refreshingly cool bath offset the inconvenience of being a little wet. Only twice we found ourselves
combing the forest for controls that didn’t seem to be there, but perseverance paid, and we didn’t have to leave any that we set out for.

At the finish line we were welcomed by live music, a long shower line and smiling teammate Brent, who had finished his 4-hr race a few hours before. With an elapsed time of 11:40, Northern Lites scored 1,000 out of possible 1,200 points which awarded us the Overall, as well as, Male category victory. The next closest team scored 950 points so the extra effort for those bonus points had
really paid off.

Once again, Charlie’s exceptional map-reading skills proved to be a critical piece of the puzzle to winning this race. Adequate conditioning on both our parts kept us racing strong all day. Great job Northern Lites! Let’s keep up the momentum...on to the 30-hr Upstate AR!

Click Here for their Previous Report from June 14, 2008!