Tug Hill Extreme 24hr AR

At the end of May, Nicki, Karyn, and I got the Women of AR team back together for the Tug Hill Extreme 24hr AR in Camden NY. Taking place on the Tug Hill Plateau, the area was full of swamps, marshes, beaver dams, and grassy XC ski trails. The conditions were cool and very rainy, and we would be QUITE wet and cold for most of the race. There were 71 CPs on course, and once we got into the maps and made time estimates of each leg, the math wasn’t mathing for this course to be clearable for us! (For anyone??) We made plans for CPs we could cut on each leg, particularly in the treks, to keep to our timeline and also hopefully maximize our time on the last 2 legs, which contained a combined 30 points. Time management and strategy would be key to success. Could we stick to the plan?

The first test came on the paddle. The race began with a mass start on the water, where it started raining and continued until dark before picking up again overnight. The Black River was moving well, and we were cruising well ahead of our time estimate. We were also given a pristine 17’ ultralight Wenonah canoe to use, and that boat could fly! There was a paddle CP that was a 3 mile out and back past the take out, which would take 30-40min to retrieve. Pre-race we were planning to skip it, but Karyn and Nicki were a bit wary of leaving a CP behind so early in race, especially when we watched 3 of the 4 teams ahead of us go for it. I leaned in to them that we needed to skip it, and in the end we did, which was a bold but wise move. This isn’t the first race this year I’ve skipped points in the first leg of a race, and I have to say, when you let go of trying to clear a course, it can give you the freedom to make more strategic decisions and play to your team’s strengths.

Onto bikes, we did our best to embrace the weather and get comfortable being uncomfortable. The bike sections were a mix of pavement, gravel, double track, and grassy/muddy ski trails. The trails were in better shape than the gravel, and we were pretty well covered in gravel sludge for much of the riding. We made steady progress on the bike, stopping for a small foot section, before riding on to the first of 3 sizable trekking loops. This area is pretty wild, comprised of swamps, marshes and numerous beaver dams. I even saw my first beaver lodges here! The novelty of the ecosystem eventually wore off, as we were completely soaked for hours. If it wasn’t actively raining, we were wading through water or plants that were drenched. Nicki was nailing the nav, and we made decent time, skipping the 2 southernmost CPs in this section.

Back on bikes, we had a quick 11 mile ride to the oasis that was TA 3, collecting a few CPs along the way. Darkness fell while on this leg, and the rain tapered off too. The TA party was just getting started, and while we kept our distance from the fire, we did take advantage of hot food and snacks for a boost. Nicki definitely burnt the roof of her mouth on a molten Cup o’ Noodles, but we left the TA in good spirits and dry clothes. We knew our feet weren’t going to be dry for more than a few minutes, but we all treated our feet before heading out, and none of us had any foot issues post-race.

This next trek was similar terrain to the previous one, lots of marshes, beaver dams, and trails that weren’t great for efficient travel but would keep you on the map. Nicki kept picking off points, and we often evaluated time estimates and what points made the most sense to skip. In the end, we opted to skip the 2 southernmost points again, one of which looked to be deep in a marsh. Up until now, we had stayed ahead of our time estimates. We wanted to leave this TA by 3am and were out by 2:45, so we were starting to push up against our schedule.

While transitioning back to bikes, the rain began again, surprising no one. We knew we were doing well in relation to other teams, but we didn’t know what others had skipped. My bud Jeff told us we were in the lead, and I didn’t believe him :) In the first couple of miles, we were riding downhill on soft, muddy two track, and I heard Karyn go down behind me. She had hurt her shoulder, but to what extent, we couldn’t tell. She was in obvious pain but nothing seemed broken, and she had good range of motion. We rode a bit more gingerly the rest of the leg, and as the soreness started to settle in, she was understandably worried about what was going on with her shoulder and what she would do after the race, yet she seemed determined to push through it. We had a solid stretch of smooth pavement heading back to the start/finish, which was a nice reprieve. Back at Osceola, we entered the ski trails for an MTB-O section filled with 13 CPs in a 9mi loop, including a small 3 point embedded trek. Right at first light, we were treated to a roaring waterfall, which gave us a boost. We made quick work of the rest of the MTB-O and cleared all the bike points on course.

Leaving TA for the final trek, we had a little more than 3 hours left on the race clock and 14 CPs up for grabs. We would need to make some decisions to get the most that we could out of this section and still make it back before the race cutoff. The terrain around the area was different than the other treks, with more elevation change and some very steep inclines. This trek had to be more painful for Karyn than the bike, trying to brace yourself and stay upright on the cliffy hills and keep your balance crossing slippery rocks in the numerous stream crossings. Despite packing the amount of calories I usually do for a 24hr race, and eating what TA3 had to offer, I ran out of food this race. Nicki had left a food bag in the gear bin, so she was out too, and energy levels were dropping. Karyn always has some secret snacks though, and she saved me with some Goldfish to get me to the finish. We think we were burning more calories in the colder conditions. Pack more food for races like these! With less than 30min left, we punched CP68, which was near the road, and knew we needed to get out to it and back to the finish. We shuffled until we knew we were safe time-wise and crossed the line with 10min to spare, having collected 62 of the 71 CPs. We may have been the last team to finish?

We headed inside to warm up, grab some grub, and await final results. When awards began, we were delighted to learn we had taken the overall win, collecting 3 more points than the next team. What a wild race. We stuck to our race plan (other than, as we later learned, Karyn separating her shoulder!) and it paid dividends. Since diving back into AR last fall, I haven’t cleared a course. I am thoroughly enjoying that many race directors are leaning in to making courses very challenging to clear, with some of them unclearable, at least in the conditions presented on race day. Case in point: Cerberus Stage Race at the beginning of May. Give me a tactical course with challenging navigation any day, and I’m in. Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of fitness, speed, and efficiency involved, but the fastest team doesn’t always win.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the Chris and Emily at Tug Hill Outfitters for putting on a seamless event and providing support for the Women of AR scholarship this year, and to the volunteers crushing the aid station and TA support. Finally, I can’t say enough about the strength and grit of my teammates Karyn and Nicki. We have made some challenging decisions together in tough moments and are that much stronger together. Let’s do it again in Bentonville, shall we?