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A great season deserves a great finale—so the staff at Grass Roots Racing knew they had to pull out all the stops. In a never ending attempt to push our racers it has been the desire of GRR to build each race by utilizing the skills developed at the last. With the NSF we wanted to develop a race course that would test all the elements of an adventure racer:
1) A marked course to test all out speed,
2) Navigational sections with various maps—including topographical—to test map and compass reading skills,
3) Various strategy twists to test teams’ abilities to think on their feet.

This race was not only a top-notch competition on its own, but was a critical component of the Grass Roots Adventure Sprint Series since it carried double points. With the series on the line, and several teams vying for the top spot, this was the single most important race of the season. Add to that a series cash purse of $1,000 on the line and a great race was in the making.

The NSF started this perfect Saturday at 1:00 out of the Lake Paige Marina. Racers started en-masse on a two mile marked trail run over varying terrain— short but challenging. Although the course was marked there were also “collection points” that created a self policing race course. This allowed for more flexibility among the racers since they could choose to run (or not run) the course as they felt. However if they wanted to receive maximum credit they would follow the markings closely. The series leaders—teams Blaze, Big Lead Pipes, and the Snot Rockets—lined up in front of the rest of the pack and as they disappeared into the tree line it would be a full twenty minutes before the pack would emerge. It was Team Blaze leading the charge with Snot Rockets nipping their heels.

After the two mile run the racers transitioned to a six mile mountain bike. Again, this was a marked course and—again—racers collected points while riding to prove that they faithfully followed the markings. Team Blaze left for the bike course first with an extremely fast transition. Since they are not the fastest team on bikes, it was a question if the lead would be enough. Team Snot Rockets fell further back and left TA with a small pack of front runners. Team Big Lead Pipes was looking as if they left their “A” game at home and had dropped back by quite a bit. Were they saving energy? Or just having trouble with the fast run pace? Only time would tell.

The bike course—which followed most of the Hummer trails weaving through Nemacolin Woodlands—was dry and fast. The sudden twists and turns and elevation changes made for some very technical riding. A very proficient biking team could make up a lot of ground here and establish themselves with a strong lead by virtue of this leg of the race…and Big Lead Pipes did just that. Behind by several minutes going into the ride they developed a lead of several minutes by the end. Close on their heels were the Batty Boys (Dave Battista and Matt McCusker) and the race was changing its look.

After six plus miles of mountain biking the racers transitioned again to a four mile trail run. This trail run took racers back to Arden but utilized different trails—including a challenging rock section. Again racers collected points as they progressed through the course and ultimately ended with a total of 20 points for this run-bike-run section of the race. Blaze put on a full court press and gained back much that they lost to BLP on the bike. Batty Boys were also hanging tough. However it was painful to watch as the Snot Rockets slipped back into the pack due to illness. After a stellar and consistent season it showed—once again—that on any given day a team can get “breaks”, or they can “break down”. This was brought to light also by Discipline Problem as An Jey Su broke a chain on the bike leg—an ongoing problem this season—leaving teammate Tom Prigg to ask, “Is that the same chain?” They were following a strategy of shadowing the leaders hoping to break them down when this occurred. Both teams’ hopes of a top three finish for the series were seriously in question.

As racers finished this second run leg they headed back to T/A for their last visit of this race. Now they were to head out on a bike ROGAINE that would cover a maximum of 18 miles. The ROGAINE would take teams off Nemacolin property and onto a righteous climb up to the top of Sugarloaf knob in Ohiopyle. As with the rest of the race this ROGAINE gave racers the choice of collecting as many or as few points as they wished. Given time—and energy—constraints, many racers chose to collect one or two points and avoid the grinding climb. Those that came to win went to the top and were met with a decision; go for all the points and risk missing the cut-off, or drop down the gas line to beat cheeks back to Nemacolin before dark. Most racers chose the latter option while Teams Bagel and Snot Rockets found themselves short on time and having to cut the course and miss a lower valued control point while trying to wend their way back home.

Back at Nemacolin racers transitioned from bikes to a short run ROGAINE that included control points mounted on special tests. So now racers had not only to find CPs out on the course in various locations—including the middle of Lake Taylor—but now they had to successfully complete certain tasks to get the maximum point values. These tasks included scaling a rock wall, scaling the ropes course and “zipping” off of it, successfully balancing and advancing on the dreaded teeter-totter, and scoring points by hitting targets with bow and arrow. At this point it was difficult for race officials, and spectators alike, to know who was in the lead. There was no set order to these events so until punch cards were turned in and tabulated there was no way to know for sure who had the highest score. It appeared that teams Blaze, made up of John Ralston and Christine Valentine, and Big Lead Pipes, with Jon McCune and Leonard Lucas were vying for the top spot in the race. However Team Spang, made up of Tim and Edna Spang was putting on a full court press on the “hazards”. This was made more evident when they cruised through the teeter-totter working as a unit. The volunteer observing that “test” said, “If they aren’t married they should be!”

The big missing link at this point was series leaders Team Snot Rockets. Struggling with health issues early on in the race their luck worsened as they got separated on the race course and lost large chunks of time trying to re-unite. This—and Team Spang’s steady pace on the race course—would surely shake up the Series standings.

Sure enough when the points were tabulated it was Team Spang emerging as the race winners with 102 total points. Team Big Lead Pipes fell behind this dynamic duo by the smallest of margins with a score of 101 points. Team Blaze had the same score—101—but reported to the finish line two minutes behind BLP. This after Seven hours and forty five minutes of racing! With scores this tight you can be sure that officials tabulated and re-tabulated the results several times before finally committing to them. This affected the Grass Roots Adventure Sprint Series by giving Big Lead Pipes enough points to take over the top honors, while giving Team Blaze the second spot, and Team Spang third in the standings. Phenomenal after a very tough season of racing to have two co-ed teams in the top three for the series standings!

Honorable mentions also need to go out to Team Hollyloft, who took third in the co-ed division for this race, as well as Team Batty Boys, who took second in the all male division and the Snot Rockets, who took third all male team after overcoming much adversity. As well—the staff at Grass Roots Racing would like to thank all of our racers, volunteers, and supporters for helping make 2007 such a successful season. Looking forward to seeing all of you in 2008!!