01-16-2006They appear normal.
To the casual observer they’re regular citizens, with respectable jobs and comfortable homes.
They have this quirk, though. For the last two years they’ve gone out their front doors and not returned without having an unparalleled experience, without having an adventure.
Aaron Tattersall, Troy Hershberger, Jeff Noffsinger, Steve Hollar and Staci Trolain of Warsaw, often joined by Laurie Bellucci of Baltimore, Md., are adventure racers.
It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the world.
It pushes participants to the limit of their physical and mental capabilities.
They can’t wait for this season to begin.
“It’s a multi-disciplined sport that involves paddling, rope skills, cycling and trekking,” said Hollar when the local group met recently to discuss this season’s schedule. “Team members have to be within 100 feet of each other at all times. You’re only as strong as your weakest teammate.”
This Warsaw group, sponsored by the Trailhouse in Winona Lake, is one of several in the area.
Tattersall and Hollar played basketball in their younger years. Tattersall found he enjoyed distance running. Hollar trained for triathlons and found he hated the swimming events.
Hershberger is a marathon runner. Noffsinger is a cyclist and also runs marathons. Trolain is a runner who crosstrains with paddling and cycling.
The Trailhouse team enters about four races a year in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. Michigan is the “granddaddy” of racecourses because of so much uninhabited land. The team entered an urban race in Indianapolis last year where they found themselves rappelling off a four-story building and splashing through the city’s tunnel system with just a compass as guide.
The U.S. Adventure Racing Association governs sanctioned races. Competitions are measured by hours and by days. Sprint races last anywhere from a few hours to eight hours. Adventure-style races can be as short as eight hours and as long as 48 hours. Expedition races last two days or longer.
True adventure racing teams have four people and one team member must be female. Some races also offer competition for solo, two- and three-person teams of the same sex.
Global positioning systems are illegal. Each team is issued a sealed cell phone for an emergency. If it is used, the team is normally disqualified.
Canoes, kayaks or inflatable rafts are provided. The team brings its own bicycles, paddles and rope gear.
Hollar is charged with translating sets of latitude, longitude and UTM coordinates on topographical maps of the race course.
“I’m the math guy,” Hollar said. “Maps are passed out a few hours before the race starts, usually at night. It’s not easy with just a headlamp for light and bugs flying up your nose.”
Adventure race courses may cover 100 miles. Some maps are scaled to 1 inch per 24,000 feet. Sometimes the map’s ratio is 1:30,075. Different ratios take different calculations.
After the navigator finds the checkpoints, the team decides which route to take.
“We have to decide if we’re going to go through the swamp or around the swamp,” Hollar said.
“We always hope we’re at the right swamp,” Noffsinger said.
Checkpoints are marked with orange flags. Near the flags are punches with special shapes – star, moon, heart or circle, for example. The team punches their card and moves on.
The team or teams that come in with the best times and the most checkpoints “win.” During one two-man race, Hollar and Noffsinger came in second time-wise but they only had eight checkpoints punched out of a possible 14. When the event was over, they came in 15th.
Trolain’s specialty is ropes. She keeps up to date in the latest equipment and skills required for rappelling down or ascending up a cliff or traversing a ravine.
All the climbing gear has to be carried, plus food, plus 1,000 ounces of water, plus paddles, headlamps, extra socks and extra shoes. The backpacks may weigh 10 to 40 pounds and get heavier as the race continues.
Weather for a race may be cold in the morning and blistering hot by noon. Clothes come off in layers and have to be hauled.
Generally, equipment is left at a drop-off point or picked up at a drop off point. If cycling is the last leg of a race the support person leave the teams’ bicycles at a predetermined place.
The team is constantly on the move whether the race lasts eight hours or 30 hours.
“You have to eat a little something every half hour,” Trolain said. “You burn 800 to 1,000 calories per hour during a race. You can drink too much water or eat too much. You can drink too little water. It’s all a balance.”
A watch alarm is set to remind the team to eat and drink. That doesn’t mean a team member won’t go “bonk.” Bonk is the colorful term for a team member who has run out of energy and calories, who may be completely unresponsive until food and water are administered and they “come out of it.”
Everyone on the Trailhouse team has admitted to going “bonk.”
Hershberger is the equipment guru. He studies gear catalogues and advises teammates about purchases.
“Here’s a special piece of equipment,” said Noffsinger holding up plastic tubing with a looped bungee cord inside. One end of the tube fits over the shaft of Noffsinger’s bicycle seat. “This is called the Hollar Tow.”
Hollar looked away from the telling instrument then said, “Well, we all use it.”
There is nothing in the rules against towing or pulling other team members along. The slower cyclist grabs onto the tow loop to keep pace with the stronger cyclist.
Tattersall, who stands well over 6 feet tall, and Hershberger, who is shorter, are pace counters. Tattersall has a chart showing how many paces it takes him to go a specific distance.
If the calculations show a checkpoint is a mile away, Tattersall heads in that direction, counting each time his right foot hits the ground.
“The biggest thing is not to beat ourselves,” Hershberger said. “We’re successful if we’ve done everything right and to the best of our ability.”%
People interested in adventure racing can attend an informational meeting Jan. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Trailhouse, 1001 E. Canal St., Winona Lake, or call 574-372-3478. For more information, call Hollar at 574-267-8466.