2006 Results

Women's Adventure Race Los Angeles

The female athlete's of Los Angeles (and beyond) turned out for the 2nd annual race...despite the 54 degree water!  To start the day, athletes had to first tackle 3 mystery events before taking off on their mountain bikes and circumnavigating Puddingstone Lake.  At one checkpoint, they had to have a mandatory picture taken before returning to the TA.  It was then on to another mystery event, "Concrete Kayaking" before beginning their "Adventure Tubing" portion of the race.  In "Adventure Tubing" teams had to propel themselves + 1 innertube per person across the lake.  Some would plop down in the middle and backpaddle with swim fins, yet others decided swimming would be faster.  Most portaged their way back around the lake to knock off one more mystery event.  And the final section had teams trekking up the tree lined trail in Bonelli park affording great views of the surrounding mountains.  Congratulations to Team Novara (REI) who went super-fast to claim the first finishers spot both overall and in the 3 person division.  The Peppermint Twins claimed first place in the two person division and Ann Marie and Nancy Rosas finished the solo division together.  Check out the pictures in the Gallery page.

Congratulations to Team Backside.  Thank You to all of the adventure racers who've made this series possible.  Drumroll please.....
And the Series winners are....

Desert Rage Finale (Las Vegas, Lake Mead)

Some say the best adventure races are those in which mother nature delivers the greatest chaos.  She didn't disappoint at the finale to the Desert Rage series. 

Beginning with a 3am start, teams Ride-n-Tie'd for 5 miles to retrieve their checkpoint coordinates.  An 18 mile bike section had a mix of gravel roads, singletrack and pavement before transitioning to the 12 mile paddle on Lake Mead.  While the winds had been relatively calm all morning, about the time the first teams hit the water, everything went to hell in a handbasket.  Sustained winds of 25mph with gusts over 40mph had teams battling to stay afloat as they traversed the northwest section of the lake in 4-6 foot swells.  At one point within the paddle, teams got a bit of respite as they completed a 4 mile trekking section before paddling back to the TA.  To finish, teams had a coasteering leg that routed them up a beautiful slot canyon and a quick run to wrap up this challenging 44 mile race. 

Team Backside's John Whiteside, Brigid O'Neil and Todd Pendleton led the race from from the start.  Finishing second overall, team Kayak Lake Mead closed a healthy time gap on Backside finishing the paddle section tied up.  Not far behind, teams Ruination, Monster Energy and Adventure Racing Concepts kept everyone honest and racing at the best of their ability.  If their were an award for perseverance, team Anodyne Therapy would take the day after realizing at distant checkpoint 8 that they weren't going to be able to paddle back against the waves in their canoe.  Instead, and despite many offers of assistance, they flat out refused to give up and portaged their monstrous canoe 7 miles back to the TA and continued racing. 

Special thanks to Tim (supporting team Backside turned volunteer), Charlie and Russ (from REI) and Ben & Dane for your help.  You were the volunteers that made it possible and without you these races can't take place.