North American MultiSport

THREE IN-A-ROW AT THUNDER ROLLS

When we hit land we quickly jumped on the bikes again. It is now dark and warm for being October at 10pm. We hit the streets to find several more checkpoints. We eventually came upon TA1, which was north of downtown about 8-9 miles. It was only a gear change TA but thankfully Nathan's parents were gracious enough to drop off a bag of Pringles, drinks and Clif Bars. We were now ready for the roller blade section of the race.The CITGO train continued its domination of Midwest racing in Rock Island, IL. This was the largest stage race in the United States in 2004. The race consisted of a 12-hour course on Saturday and then another 12-hour course on Sunday. The times of both days would be added at the race finish to determine the placing for the weekend. The team consisted of Bonnie Rutherford, Nathan Folks and Matthew Jourdan.

We attended the mandatory team meeting Friday evening. They had a mandatory gear check and you had to demonstrate your connections for the zip line and rappel that we would encounter during the event. We then heard about the vast history of the surrounding areas that we would be racing in. This was an area that the Native Americans would continually strive to hold during the white man‚s push to the Pacific. A famous Indian chief named Chief Black Hawk called it home. After some race safety and briefings on the conditions we were given our maps and other pertinent information.

We then camped out at our hotel and started our mapping. We found the course to be quite challenging and mapped our route for the following day.

We arrived Saturday morning around 5am. Race start time was 6am. It was still quite dark and we wouldn‚t see daylight until a little before 7am. We grouped near Chief Black Hawk‚s statue in a park located in Rock Island.

The race started with several checkpoints that we had to find within a several mile radius. We hit our first 4 and then had some trouble finding one. We decided to go after a few CP‚s that were beyond and then come back on our way to the finish. We had little trouble finding the balance and eventually walked up to the troubled CP. We ran quite quickly the entire start of the race. We then made our way to the finish of the orienteering section to start our paddle section.

The paddle started in Rock River. We had a portage around a dam where we carried our canoes and gear up and around the dam. We were in the lead and tied with 4 other teams. Little did we know this was the cut for the top placing for the weekend. We nailed our first checkpoint in the water. We then headed towards the mighty Mississippi River. The race director had eliminated two checkpoints for the paddle due to the river conditions. When we hit the Mississippi we were surprised that we were canoeing at all! There were 40mph winds, 3-1/2 foot swells and it was barely 40degrees. When we turned into the Mighty Miss the waves lifted the front of the canoe up into the air and then dropped us straight into the water. The front of the canoe was fully submerged in the river and then popped out. This dumped several gallons of water each time. We had to stop along side of the river and dump our canoe 5 times in the 4 hours we were on the river. There were times when we were paddling like mad to not even make an inch forward. It was to the point that pulling the canoe along the side of the river would be faster. We were miserable and holding either 3rd or 4th place during the
paddle section. We finally came to the second to last checkpoint. It was on an island in the middle of the river. Getting across the river was the worst part. Huge swells almost dumped us countless times. Imagine a large speedboat running along side your canoe and you having to keep balance with the waves coming from it. Once we came to the island we jumped out to find the CP. We were tied for 3rd going after this checkpoint. We started to run. I couldn‚t feel my feet. We were soaked from head to toe and after being stationary (except for dumping the canoe of its water) we were stiff. It took several yards to just be able to make my steps stable. I felt as if I was running on bones alone. We quickly found the CP and headed back to the boat. Running through all kinds of vegetation. We started off back across the river to the final CP of the paddle. We were miserable and I couldn‚t be any colder. We finally came to the CP, portaged our canoe
uphill and to the canoe drop-off. We then had a one-mile run to the first and only TA.

When we arrived at the TA we were told that we were around 20 minutes behind the first place team. We knew they were good at about every aspect of racing. It was going to be tough to catch them. We were also told that the next section would be on foot and not on the scheduled bike. The trails were to wet and they were closed to bike travel.

We transitioned quickly and took off for our twelve CP‚s. We hit our first one and then found the zip-line CP. In route we could see the 1st place team starting the zip-line. We completed the 100-meter zip line and then headed off to the next one in hopes of catching the 1st place team. We eventually did and continued as a two-team group. We each had the same goal so it was hard to get away when you are on the same trails. We were running well and several times put good gaps on them. After CP# 14 we took a different approach to CP#15 than they did. It proved to be day 1‚s winning move. Even with a little trouble finding it we snagged the CP and headed towards the finish. The route we took back was about 80 percent open road running. We ran hard and came into the finish line in 1st. The 2nd team came in around 10minutes behind and third was over 30minutes behind. We would start Sunday morning with a 10 minute overall lead. We all started
together but like the Tour De France you held the time and if 2nd was to beat you they would have to beat you by 10minutes and 1 second on Sunday.

After a nice warm shower we headed back to the finish line area to set-up camp. For this race we camped out overnight in tents. They provided a nice meal and some Native American music performed by some locals. Then we had our meeting and map distribution for Sunday. This was all out in the open. I had 7-layers of clothing on! It was a cold nights sleep but we had warm sleeping bags!

Sunday Morning, Day 2
We awoke to a rustle of fellow competitors around 5am, each getting their gear ready for the upcoming race day. The race started again in the dark @ 6am. We started off with a glow stick trail foot race to the canoes.

The race director had strung glow sticks around the surrounding park area. Most of the sticks led you bushwhacking around. Eventually we came upon the canoes. The first obstacle was to portage the canoes down to the river. The maps we had showed a trail, but where the canoes were staged you had three different trails to use. However, only one took you directly to the river, which was the shortest of the three. Nathan chose the right one and we were off down the slope to the base of the Mississippi. It was still dark, our headlamps showing the way. Steps were critical. A missed step meant a long painful day and even worse - DNF! Bonnie directed Nathan and I as we had the canoe above our heads. We finally came to the river, mounted the boat and hit the water.

What a difference an evening can make! The water was like a mirror, calm and ripple free! We found our rhythm and plowed our way up the Mighty Miss! We were the only team in the water for at least 20 minutes. We had to find our way up and across the river to the other side. There was a chain of islands between us and we had to snake our way through them. If we entered the wrong channel we could waste minutes if not hours getting to the correct spot. We found the channel and then across to a small river. We entered and headed up the river until the water was too low to continue. We left our canoes and ran up and along side the river to continue our move North. The 2nd place team of the overall race was now on our heels. We had taken our time crossing the river to conserve energy to „put the hammer down‰ on the way back. The two teams came to the foot orienteering section together. We had 10 checkpoints to find and then return before heading back to the canoes. We hit every point dead on! Several points were in deep 200ft gullies that were not only hard to get into but very difficult to get out of. We had one point on top of a rock pillar that made us free climb 15 feet in order to acquire the CP. We were running to every CP. Nathan was on fire on the maps. Bonnie was again carrying the passport and was responsible for the punches at each CP. We checked out of the last CP in 1st. We then headed back to the canoes. Running when we could, staying clear of the roaming cows, and jumping rocks in the low river we arrived at the canoes. By now there were canoes everywhere. We looked back and saw no one. We hit the water and paddled our way back to the Mississippi. We entered and then crossed back to the other side the same way we came. Even though we were now going against the current in some areas we opened up our gap. We were around a ∏ mile away the boat was moving fast. We had our rhythm down and we had quite a wake flowing behind us. We gave it all we had and finally came to the only TA we had for the day. We checked in and jumped on the bikes for our last section of the race day and the race weekend.

We had several CP's that were spread over 50 miles of gravel and paved roads. We had a smooth pace line going and knew we had it won if we hit all the CP‚s and kept a good pace. Nathan‚s plots were perfect and we nailed each CP and finally came upon a short foot section to the rappel. We dropped the bikes and started walking towards the rappel. We went the high land figuring the rappel would be high. We started to get nervous when we entered the wrong ravine and descended down to the bottom. We then regrouped and headed towards the correct ravine. Excited to finally find the rappel we grabbed our harnesses and tied into the rope. The rappel was off a rocky ledge that formed what looked like an amphitheater. It was a great rappel and we all found ourselves upside down at the top about 30 feet off the ground. When you came over the top there was no place to secure your feet to get stable and descend upright. The ledge came back against itself so you had to just drop and let gravity do its job. It is hard to make yourself drop especially when you start almost upside down! We each made the drop and then headed off back to the bikes. In route the 2nd place team came from the opposite direction looking for the rappel. We mounted the bikes again and then grabbed the final CP, which was a mile or so down the road from the rappel. We then had a 7-mile or so ride to the finish. We came down to the finish and once again found ourselves first across the line. The race director had pizza and drinks for the finishers. We then went off to grab a quick shower and to gather/sort all of our gear before the long ride home. The 2nd place team came in around 50 minutes behind.

This gave us an overall race victory by 1-hour!This completed a three straight race sweep for the team. 3 in 4 weekends!

Matthew Jourdan
CITGO/Gray Goat Multisport Racing