WARNING: This Race Report is only SLIGHTLY shorter then the actual race!

It was a cold and stormy morning... Or something like that. As Race Day finally arrived for the Wicked Urban AR, Portland was up to it's old tricks, blessing us with wild downpours and then teasing us with warm sun. We resembled a group afflicted with some strange obsessive compulsive disorder, piling on rain shells, taking them back off and repeating the process in a vain attempt to "moderate" our conditions.

Team Elemental consisted of Tina Lundqvist and me and our goal was simple, Tina was doing her first ever Adventure Race and I basically took a 1-year hiatus, so FUN was the word of the day. We arrived at the Waterfront Park Race HQ and unloaded our gear, sorted out our transition area and tried to glean some clues as to what the day and the Wicked Crew had in store for us. The pure joy of a 2-person team is that there are no titles, duties or complicated logistics to hassle with. Like the song says, "just the 2 of us". I was doing the navigation and Tina was providing the energy. We had planned and packed our gear prior to race day and using the old Ziploc bag method, we had guaranteed our gear would be dry and easy to account for throughout the day. We were ready!

As the briefing wrapped up and we lined up for the start, we noticed one thing, the racers around us looked pretty damn fast! Apparently teams came to compete for the podium in the Pro Division. We stayed calm and focused on our goal, FUN! The race jumped off at 9 am sharp, a quality of the Wicked races that I appreciate, and we ran off for a short jaunt around the downtown area. The field was off like a bolt, we just settled in for a full day and took it easy. The first 2 CP's were straightforward and we galloped back to the main transition area to jump in the boats. Judging from the boats remaining we were DFL, but relaxed and feeling good.

The Kayak section was a straight shot from the main TA, down to the St. Johns Bridge, with one CP to pick up on the way. No real drama except a downpour that was so intense, we couldn’t see each other from about 20 feet apart. This was Tina's first paddle attempt of any length and she did fine. We pulled out at the remote TA at about 11 am and prepared for the much anticipated "scooter" leg. We were having fun and comfortable in our position as "tail end Charlie", although we did notice that ironically some teams had missed the ONE CP on the paddling leg, but hey, keeping track of little things like that during a race can be tricky... After a leisurely transition time it was off on the scooters.

We chose Razor Scooters for this leg because we were unsure of the terrain we would be covering and did not want to have Roller Blades strapped on our feet if Shane decided to send us up to the Zoo or something. Fortunately we were out on the Eastside, which happens to be were I do most of my playing, so we had a good feel for where we were going and how to get there. The only real problem is that I am a 200 pound 6-2 adult and the Razor Scooter is designed for kids. So Tina was provided with a very amusing site of me cursing and scooting along on a contraption barely big enough for one of my feet. Of course I got a good laugh when Tina did a spectacular 10-point, over the handle, dismount with a somersault. Apparently you should not try a real sharp turn on a Razor Scooter whilst zipping along down a hill. Good news, it was funny and no Tina's were harmed in the attempt! More torrential downpours graced us along this leg as we methodically picked up the CP’s and landed at the Expo Max Station for a nice restful ride back downtown. Hardest part of that was getting the damn ticket machine to take our dollars and give us a ticket.

We arrived back at the main TA with several teams and checked out for the rappel and "surprise" trek section. Knowing how Shane's mind works, we had already guessed the "surprise" would probably involve a lot of stairs, but first the rappel. Hats off to the Wicked Crew for setting up a great rappel of about 8 stories off a parking garage. We showed up, let some faster teams pass us and hooked in for a fun drop. Tina did great and I soon joined her at the bottom. I think everyone can agree that the 1st step of any rappel is the hard part, after that, it is all fun. We stampeded off towards our "surprise"!

SURPRISE! Just run up and down 15 stories and we'll time you! Thanks Renee! As we labored up the stairs, Tina commented on how the rescue crews on 9/11 must have felt, laboring up over 80 stories with full gear compliments and the stress of the tragedy that was unfolding, most of whom did not survive the day. Ironically I was thinking the exact same thing. An oddly sobering thought to invade ones mind here in the relative peaceful and fun setting of an Adventure Race...We finally staggered out and ran on wobbly legs back down to the main TA.

Once we checked in, we received maps for the "big" trek, a 7 CP ramble around the eastside. Both Tina and I agreed this was the least fun part of the race for us. The CP's were basic, so navigation was fairly easy. It just seemed so LONG and the weather continued to alternately drench us and then bake us as we slogged along. Eventually we arrived back at the main TA for the final biking leg.

We had a real time problem at this point, since the cut-off was barreling towards us and the bike promised to be a bit of a challenge, due to some "less then exact" details on the maps and a little bit of elevation gain, we saddled up and headed out. The 1st 2 CP's were easy and then came the first crawl up Terwilliger to the 3rd CP. From there, we used "Fuzzy Logic" to meander on up to Council Crest Park, a place neither of us had ever been. We just assumed CP B3 was at the highest point around and bingo, there it was…by this time we only had about 1/2 hour before the cut-off so we discussed options. Tina was doing her first race, so I let her make the call. Since it was obvious we would not get all the way back down to B5 &; B6 and then back up to CP B7 in the allotted time, we decided to bag CP B5 and maybe B6 and then hustle back down to the park for a "short course" finish. We fumbled around a bit, but picked up B5 and rolled into the finish area at about 8:05 pm.

We learned later that we actually had until 8:45 and probably could have picked up at least 2 more CP's, but we were fine with our day. We both had a great time, Tina is a great teammate who seems to have unlimited energy and optimism, the course was fun and challenging, the volunteers and staff were great and another race day memory is in the books.

Afterthoughts are 1) I need to work less and train more. 2) Tina is hooked.

Thanks to all involved and we'll see you out there!

Paul Field
Team Elemental