An injury to Squamish professional endurance athlete Jen Segger may have prevented her from running the Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache, Alberta on July 31 but it also opened a brand new door.
Segger was invited to compete in the Lake Tahoe 24 hour Big Blue adventure race in California, deciding to test her injury and push her body to the limit in a brand new race.
"At the last minute Team Technu from California asked me to join and I thought it would be a great preparation and excellent time on feet training for future races," she said.
One interesting aspect to this race was the fact that Segger was racing against the team she normally competes on - Dart Nuun.
"Very strange to race against my own team I must say," Segger said.
The Lake Tahoe race sees competitors navigate, trek, run, paddle and mountain bike through two states on Tahoe's renowned mountain biking and trail hiking network.
Racers get to explore the entire region, including the well-known locations as well as parts of the area that very few get to experience.
A total of 20 teams competed in the event and it began on the western shore of the lake with a mass kayak start. Team Technu, which consisted of Segger and veteran racers Kyle Peter, Brian Schmitz and Rich Baraff quickly jumped out to an early lead in the kayak portion of the race.
During the 15-mile kayak leg, teams cross Nevada into California and land at Sand Harbor on the eastern shore of the lake. After nearly 2.5 hours of paddling, Segger's team completed the first leg in second place.
After arriving on the shores, teams received the maps, checkpoints and instructions for the remainder of the race. A bike climb into the Sierra Mountains was next for the competitors and teams climbed to 1,000 feet above the lake on the Flume Trail, in preparation for the next transition at Spooner Lake, several miles south of Sand Harbor.
Once teams reached Spooner Lake, they put on their running shoes and were forced to complete an 18-point orienteering course. They were given four hours to obtain as many points as possible before incurring time penalties.
Segger's teammate Rick Baraff succumbed to stomach problems on this portion of the event and the time was forced to forgo three checkpoints to make it back to the transition within the four-hour time limit.
The remainder of the race was a combination of biking and trekking al the way to the finish with a number of different potential routes for teams to reach checkpoints for points.
Segger's team decided to go for some of the more difficult checkpoints first, including some at elevations of nearly 9,000 feet.
It was shortly after that nightfall began but the competition didn't stop. Teams continued to collect checkpoints throughout the night, all using different strategies.
Team Technu eventually finished at 6:30 a.m., after a total of 22 hours on the course, having acquired all but three orienting points and a 100-point checkpoint on the bike/run section.
Unfortunately for Segger's team, two other teams managed to reach the aforementioned 100 point checkpoint as well as all the others her team had acquired, which dropped her team to third place overall. Segger's regular team, Dart Nuun ended up placing first.
Next up for Segger is 330-kilometre ultra marathon, Tour des Geants in Italy in September. For more information on this local endurance athlete, visit www.challengebychoice.ca.
- With files from Rick Baraff
