Two local endurance racers have conquered the 36-hour Raid the North racing series in Nelson Aug. 21. Adrian Lasalle-Lowe of Team DART (Dirtworld.com Adventure Racing Team) and Chris Christy of team Helly Hansen achieved first and second place in the grueling, and occasionally death-defying race.
The Raid the North adventure race series is known for its long, rugged courses and intricate navigational decisions during each of the mountain biking, trekking, bushwhacking, canoeing and ropes discipline. Approximately 150 kilometres in length, the race peaked at more than 35,000 feet.
In adventure racing all four team-members - with at least one member being female - must complete the course together. "We balance out the energy levels within the team so the strongest member can tow the teammate most in need," said 30-year-old Lasalle-Lowe, the team captain.
Lasalle-Lowe joined teammates 24-year-old Jen Segger of Whistler, 33-year-old Aaron Pitt of North Vancouver and 30-year-old Matt Hart of Seattle to earn team DART first place, and the victory was hard-fought.
DART tore out of the starting line at midnight Friday, Aug. 19, warming up with a 20-km mountain bike ride through the town of Kaslo. A navigational mistake caused the five top teams to miss the first turn-off, enabling DART to pick teams off and arrive at the first transition area a few minutes behind first place.
The next leg was a punishing 20-km bushwack. After traveling with a small group in the lead pack, DART made a decision to start their bushwhack earlier than most and take a more direct route straight up a drainage valley. It was just a few hours into the race, and team DART's race and lives almost changed forever. While trekking through the woods in the dead of night, Hart heard a low growl and movement just ten feet below him. Lasalle-Lowe was the first to recognize that it was a grizzly bear.
"At first all I could see was the grizzly's eyes glowing red," said Hart. "Once we realized what it was, I thought we were all going to die."
As Hart scrambled up the slope to gather with his teammates, the bear charged but then changed direction. The team members blew their whistles and screamed as the bear moved around in front of them. The bear charged again but stopped short. He then disappeared up into the woods. Team Helly Hansen following behind heard the yelling. Christie said DART's screams "were like nothing I have ever heard before. Our team freaked and we all had our flares in our hands."
Moving fast through the bush, DART climbed into the treeless alpine to assess the damage. Pitt had a gash in his leg that reached the bone and a severely swollen knee, but that wouldn't stop them.
DART team members are arguably the most determined and adaptable athletes in sport. Lasalle-Lowe has raced for seven days more than 600 km on only 12 hours of sleep, Segger recently placed tenth in the seven-day "Marathon des Sables" in Morocco, regarded as one of the hardest foot races in the world, Hart is taking on the 24 hour of Adrenaline World Championships in Whistler this weekend and Pitt is an elite level mountain biker and trail runner. Pitt's injury would not deter the team. After getting stitched up, the team was once again underway.
"The team was cohesive and maintained focus throughout the race. There was never any dialog of not placing first," said Lasalle-Lowe. "Our basic strategy was to always maintain forward progression, and to keep transition times to a minimum. Perserverance, fast transition times, and hammering the bike legs."
DART then took on the 4,000 foot climb to the next check point and soon caught up with first place Helly Hansen. Both Lasalle-Lowe and Christie knew it would be a full-on sprint to the finish line. What remained was to trek back down the mountain to the bike pick-up, followed by 40-km cross-country ride, and ending with a 10-km paddle to the finish line in Nelson. From the top of the mountain and on foot, Helly Hansen chose to do a 2.5 km bushwhack through very thick vegetation straight down to the bike pick-up. DART chose a longer route via trails and roads, running approximately 16 km.
On the final canoe section, Segger tricked her team into believing Helly Hansen was right behind them in the dark. The tactic worked. DART put in the fastest canoe time in just over an hour. At 2:08 a.m. on Sunday, Team DART arrived to cheers and first place finish. Their total time of 26 hours, eight minutes demolished the race organizers expectations of a winning time around 30 hours. Christie's team Helly Hansen finished in a strong second place time of 28 hours, seven minutes. Mergeo.com, the third and last team to complete the advanced course finished in a time of 28 hours, 55 minutes. Squamish resident Gary Robbins finished 10th on the regular course with a final time of 27 hours, 30 minutes.
Team DART is unable to use their winning: a free entry into a multi-day National Championship in Ontario. But Lasalle-Lowe and Pitt couldn't resist jumping teams to join Helly Hansen in challenging other team DART members in the Pacific Northwest Championships in Washington Sept. 16, 17 and 18.
"It'll be a hammer-fest," said a grinning Lasalle-Lowe.
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