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Why We Said “Yes” to An Overnight Adventure Race

August 27, 2012 By Jillian

Every since we started adventure racing in Florida we’ve had two complaints: 1. the topography is flat (hello beaches) so the orienteering isn’t exactly the most challenging and 2. 6-8 hours of race running, biking and paddling in the sun are not the most enjoyable ways to spend a weekend. Needless to say when we heard about an overnight adventure race in a bioluminescent bay – meaning running, biking, and paddling around in the middle of the night on a giant scavenger hunt- we said what any adventurous soul would say- “Yes”.

Fast forward to 10:30 p.m. the night of the race. A half hour into the race and we were paddling along the small islands that line Florida’s Intracoastal Waterway in an area known as Mosquito Lagoon. Scouring the map with our red light, we tried to count inlets to determine where to make the correct turn instead of heading out to sea. Shrimp literally jumped into our boat as we paddled along the shoreline. By the time all was said and done we had inadvertently caught four shrimp and one fish, paddled next to a dolphin and succeeded in finding our way back to shore. It felt like a herculean achievement, even if we didn’t seen any luminescence.

Navigating at night is no small challenge, but we made it through the entire race without being too terribly lost and only meeting a few unmarked swamps. By 6 a.m., just as the sky was starting to brighten with the morning sun, we pulled into the finish line punch cards in hand. It was a night adventure we may never forget and may never choose to redo…..

IF YOU GO: The Florida Coastline is gorgeous. Besides the sandy beaches, just inland along the intracoastal there are wilderness areas filled with mangrove trees, dolphins and manatees. If you you are staying in Ocean Florida Villas you’ll have access to the water at night. Be prepared with good navigation skills, a good map and appropriate emergency gear (more than just a cell phone!).

Unseen Florida

March 12, 2012 By Jillian

Trudging through the swamp doesn’t sound like the typical Florida vacation, does it? Not exactly white sand beaches, but equally as stereotypical if you really think about it. Bookended by beaches, the interior of Florida is pretty much swamp or swamp-like land. Hence the reason we had to climb up the tree to get the checkpoint, which yes, was suspended over the swamp. To make it all the more interesting, this point we bushwacked to off the plotted course with some advanced orienteering. Imagine our surprise when we saw it suspended 10 feet out in the mud! All in the day of an adventure racer!

IF YOU GO: Saying the word Florida immediatelybrings to mind beaches, nightlife and vacation. The truth is that Florida has a beach perimeter, but a rather wild interior. Let’s start with the beach. The white sand beaches of Florida are second to none in this world. Trust us, we’ve been to many, I mean, many gorgeous beaches around the world and it was rare to find one as gorgeous and clean as Florida’s. The gulf coast of Florida is known for sugar sand beaches and warm water. Not as built up as the Atlantic coast, there are still relatively untouched barrier islands that make for a great spot to relax. Florida’s Atlantic Coast is perhaps better known for it’s joie de vivre. Between Miami and Daytona there’s something always going on. USA Tours almost always include Florida, no wonder!

Racing in Florida’s Wilderness

February 16, 2012 By Jillian

Florida is best known for amusement attractions and beaches, but a little known fact is that Florida has an incredible abundance of wildlife. That’s a fact I’m becoming well aware of as we do more adventure racing in Florida’s wilderness.

A few weeks ago, at my second adventure race in Florida, I learned a universal truth about Florida. Holidays in Florida involve the beach or Mickey Mouse and usually a lot of sun but in the wilderness of Florida…there will always be alligators. We heard of its position in the river not long after we capsized in the mangrove swamp. Thankfully I didn’t know about the gator until after we spent ten minutes thrashing about in the ankle deep water and waste deep mud.

Needless to say, we’re slowly getting used to adventure racing in Florida’s wilderness. Florida’s terrain makes for a different kind of adventure race where the topography isn’t the challenge. Dickinson State Park, the home of this race, is known for manatee sightings, alligators, birds, and any number of other animal and plant species. While Florida beaches may be white sand fit for a postcard, the interior of the state is a bit like a beautiful bayou. Flat, grassy and filled with water during the rainy season. More than the topography, the vegetation becomes the main challenge. Sawgrass is indeed sharp!

This race we added a member to our adventure racing team and for the first race ever we were a trio. It turns out being a trio is significantly different than being a duo. Where two were a well-oiled machine, three just couldn’t get the mojo flowing. Perhaps we should have clued our new compadre into adventure racing 101 BEFORE we loaded him and his equipment into the car on the morning of the race.

Oh well.

We never quite reached our sweet spot on this race, even the orienteering, which is usually our strongest point felt inadequate and more than once we looked at the map several times before realizing a “cut through”/ “trail” or creek didn’t go through. So much for bushwhacking it to save time.

The real bummer on this race was bike checkpoint 17. There’s always one that gets you, but checkpoint 17 really threw us for a loop. Instead of cutting our losses and getting out of there, we spent more than an hour looking for it, convinced it was just behind the next bramble bush. We weren’t the only ones, we saw several other teams bumbling around the woods for checkpoint 17, many of whom we assume gave up rather than press on. I guess there should be some honor in pressing on, but there wasn’t. Add to that a critical map reading error and well… it wasn’t our best finish.

Fortunately we were able to take a step back from our lack of mojo and appreciate the race for what it was- a day in the wilderness. (And our worst ever Adventure Race finish…)

IF YOU GO: John Dickinson State Park is located just north of Jupiter, Florida. It’s a great day trip from South Florida – located a bit inland there’s plenty of biking, hiking and canoeing available. Expect to have a day in the quiet and plenty of animal spotting. The park also has a number of horse trails and rentals are available on site. Alligator spotting is free!

Photo Credit: Photo 1 courtesy of flickr user allspice1 via a creative commons license, Photo 2 courtesy of Pangea Adventure Racing

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September 22, 2011 By Jillian

“Gator!” I yelled as the reptile came into view. Unwilling to believe me, Danny replied with a sarcastic and drawn out, “right”. Insisting more vehemently, I pointed to a thick branch sticking out of the placid water. Indeed it was a gator. A baby gator of no more than 20 inches, but nevertheless a gator.
Seeing a baby gator from the safety of a canoe isn’t a big deal. Realizing that 20 minutes before you were slogging barefoot through waist deep water in the same waterway, dragging your canoe behind you… well, that is a big deal, especially to a girl from Philadelphia where the only dangerous reptiles live in the zoo. From the moment the baby gator was spotted I swore come hell or high water, I was not getting out of the boat again until dry land.

And so went our first adventure race since coming back to the United States. Twenty-one months overseas and three season away from the sport we had forgot all of its joys… the bug bites, the small creatures, the thorns, scratches and random bruises you wake up with the next morning… all for the glory of a few points and the satisfaction of completing another adventure race.

As it turned out we didn’t do too badly for our first race back. In fact, we placed in the top 50% of finishers and second (out of three) in our division. Given that most of the competitors were on 3 person teams and we were only a co-ed 2 team, we were pretty pleased with our finish.

We are constantly surprised by the small differences we come across here in Florida. Had we taken a second to think about it, we probably would have acknowledged that not only the terrain, but also the fauna would be different at this race. That realization came when we read our first clue that included a hint about “saw palms”.

To a Yankee, as Danny keeps calling me, all palms are essentially the same. They don’t exist in my world; therefore anything resembling a palm tree is simply referred to as a palm tree. Similarly Floridians don’t understand that there are different types of snow. If only Bubba had rattled off the different types of palms instead of shrimp, I would have found that checkpoint a lot sooner. Then there was the clearing we crossed, half way through realizing the thorny bushes weren’t just thorny bushes, but actual cacti hidden in the brush. I think I froze for a good 30 seconds before moving carefully forward.

Adventure racing is never without its challenges. That’s what we love about the sport.

Why We Said “Yes” to An Overnight Adventure Race

Unseen Florida

Racing in Florida’s Wilderness

Back to Adventure Racing

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