WAR24—Warren Adventure Race—100 miles in 24 hours

June 12-13^th was the date of the first running of the WAR24.  As a new addition to the Grass Roots Racing schedule, turnout was lower than expected.  This, however, did not dampen anyone’s spirits, and the race went off without a hitch.

Race start was at the Olmsted Boys Scout Camp—owned by one of the oldest Boy Scout troops in the nation.   There is much history here, but the short story is that the original Boy Scout camp was flooded when the Kinzua dam was erected.  The new camp is high on the hillside surrounding the “old” camp.  It was up on this hill that pre-race activities took place.

As racers arrived, they were instructed to go to the bottom of the hill and prep their boats for the race.  The WAR24 is a point to point race and the boats had to be loaded with all the gear that the racers would need for the remainder of the race.  This included bikes, shoes, helmets, food, etc.  Once the boats were ready, the racers were to return back uphill for a pre-race briefing and for the race start. 

At 12:00 noon, racers sprinted downhill to their boats and began a 7+ mile paddle across the Allegheny reservoir to Sugar Bay.  Most racers used double bladed (kayak) paddles and were able to set a quick cadence and pace.  A couple of the newer teams were not as well equipped and had to struggle with the traditional canoe paddle—slower to paddle with, and harder to keep the boat straight.  Already teams were spreading apart.

First to arrive at Sugar Bay/TA #1 was the relay team warrenadventures.com.  Having no extra gear or bikes in the boat made it light and fast and they had a commanding lead established already.  With a quick “hand-off” to their trekkers, they were soon on the second leg—a 10+ mile navigation trek in Tracy Ridge Hiking Area.  Two person team—John Ralston and Randy Golab—were next to hit the beach, and with a quick transition they were off on the trek as well.

The trek leg was over very rugged terrain.  Racers were supplied with trail maps and topographical maps from which to navigate.  There were 6 control points—most off trail—each carrying different point values.  Racers had to retrieve a minimum of 15 points and had to be back at TA#1 by 6:00pm.  This was designed to keep teams—and therefore race staff—from drifting too far apart.   The navigation was quite technical and the trails very confusing.  Lead teams did quite well—until it was time to locate CP6.  Located on a high point, the leaders found the marker that race staff had left when initially scouting the area.  It was shredded and on the ground.  Apparently some animal had been attracted by the scent of the orienteering flag (it had been in a pack with some food prior to setting it on the course) and “wrestled” the flag out of the tree.  We have yet to locate CP6!  Fortunately most teams limited their losses at CP6, and did not waste too much time looking for it.  The leaders clearly paid the highest price and were good enough sports to share the news of the missing CP with other teams.  The first team off of the trek leg was “Team of Two”—Kevin Koenig, Ryan Maheux.  From New York City, these two were looking for a 24 hour race that met all of their criteria.  WAR24 was the race they chose.  As veteran racers, these two gave up on CP6 quickly and headed back to TA#1 with the required minimum of points.  

With the trek #1 behind them, racers were free to move on to bike #1.  This leg was 25-30 miles long and contained forest roads and a 10+ mile section on ATV trail.  The ATV section was somewhat technical and contained some difficult navigation.  “Team of Two” was first to leave TA#1, but other teams were cuing up at TA#1 and were “hot on their heels”. 

At “manned” CP9, race staff hears two bikes approach and expects to see “Team of Two”.  Instead it is Melissa McNett and Scott Angove of warrenadventures.com.  Strong bikers, these two chased down and passed “Team of Two”, then questioned the distance travelled and began to head back down the hill.  They spotted John Ralston and Randy Golab heading toward them and realized their mistake—they hadn’t gone far enough.  They shot back up the hill and quickly entered the ATV trails—after getting their punch for CP9—with Ralston and Golab breathing down their backs.

Scott and Missy quickly emerge from the ATV navigation, get their punch for CP14, and head down the hill to TA#1.  The ride that took close to an hour heading out, shouldn’t take much more than 15 minutes heading in.  We at CP 9 are still awaiting several teams to check in.

At TA#1, warrenadventures.com makes quick work of launching their canoe for the 6+ mile paddle to TA#2 at Kinzua Beach.  Even though it is still daylight, they are lit up with glow sticks and their “red flasher” as the sun could certainly set before they reach their destination.  Having the advantage of daylight should shave minutes off of their paddle leg.  Those behind will not be so lucky. 

Once teams reach TA#2 they will unload their gear so that staff may portage their boats up the long incline to the boat trailer (Thank you staff!).  Once gear is unloaded teams will prepare themselves for a 10 mile trek leg on Morrison Run Hiking Trail.  Navigation here will not be very technical, but after racing 12 hours the trek will seem insurmountable.  First stop will be at the bottom of Jakes Rocks overlook.  Then racers will take the staircase carved into the rock up to the top.  There they will find the access road and follow it to a cross country ski trail.  This is where things get tricky as the trails turn into a “maze”, making correct trail choice very difficult. 

CP#17—Trek #2’s second CP—was a “manned” CP.  Once retrieved, racers could retrieve CP’s 18 and 19 in any order.  Relay team warrenadventure.com were the first to reach CP#18 at a re-entrant near a campground.  Apparently their headlamps created enough curiosity among the campers that some found the temptation to investigate— and remove the CP—too much to endure.  All teams after warrenadventure.com found out that their extremely long trek would bear no fruit—the CP was missing!  An absolute frustration for the teams trekking but, fortunately, all teams completed that leg of the trek so it was simply a matter of giving all teams credit for the stolen CP.  Unfortunately some teams “wasted” more time searching for that CP than others.  Fortunately this had no adverse affect on the results.

After trek #2 was bike #2. Again, the navigation was not technical, but the effort was growing as the hours passed.  The final bike leg would take teams out of Kinzua beach and onto the forest roads that surround Warren.  Several CP’s would have to be retrieved and several climbs would have to be completed.  But once racers completed all of these, it would be a downhill run into Warren to the finish at Bett’s Park.  Relay team warrenadventures.com would crush the field by finishing at 3:43am, with a time of 15 hours and 43 minutes.  John Ralston and Randy Golab did amazingly well in the two person team category by finishing at 7:09am with a time of 19 hours and 9 minutes.  Jeff Flickner and David Brook also finished impressively by beating the second place relay team and finishing just three hours after Ralston/Golab.  Brook and Flickner finished at 10:02am.  Relay team “On a Bender” finished at 10:37am.

WAR24 was a great success and has the potential to grow into a race that is a “summer staple”.  The long days made the race so much more achievable.  We at Grass Roots Racing say congratulations to all our participants this year, and hope to see all of you at WAR24 next year!!