North American MultiSport

2005 JAY'S CHALLENGE AR
Jay, Vermont / July 29-31

Nathan Folks, Craig Haggard and myself competed in the craziest event to date for the three of us. This was a solo race so each of us raced our own pace. We came to this event wanting to finish. I did not think it was going to be a question until we hit the trail.

Day 1
30 mile Kayak from Magog, Quebec CA to Newport, VT. We had rented Kayaks to save on the hassle of transporting. This was the largest disadvantage as the lighter and sleeker your craft the faster you could go. There was a world and national champion there that finished the day in a little over 3.5 hours!! We finished around the 5-6 hour mark. Regardless of the boat it was a long flat water race that sucked your mid section and arms of everything that you had. Holding your arms up for 6 hours just wasn't something I was training my body to do. In a canoe, like we usually adventure race in, the boat is higher on the water and therefore not as much of the paddle has to be held up. Anyway it was tough.

Day 2
30-mile Trail Marathon. First off there was less than .5 miles of paved road. Over 2 miles of creek and brook running, 10-15 miles of open grassy field running, multiple river crossings, sand dunes, and over 7000 feet of elevation straight up. The race started with over 300 participants. After a creek bed run and some single and double track we tackled the Jay's Peak Mountain. We had to run up 2.2 miles on a black diamond ski slope to the very top and then plummet down another black diamond slope to the bottom. This was a leg burner if I have ever felt it! To keep yourself from face planting you had to make your legs resist the downward momentum. It drained your legs and jarred your entire body with each step. By the time I was at the bottom my legs were already cooked and I still had 25 miles to go!!! I had finally settled down into a rhythm and found some other racers running the same pace. We stayed together for most of the first 10 miles until the ∏ marathoners split off at mile 15 and then some of the "pack" stopped at the aid station or continued.

Myself..i was cooked! This was the first event in my life that I seriously considered hanging it up. I was beyond miserable. Everything hurt but mainly my legs from the hill. I had a few salted boiled potatoes at the aid station and started walking down the endless miles of grassland trails. I finally grouped up with a couple of guys from Florida and a lady from Montreal. It was nice to have some company now that I was entering the heavy dense forest section. Trails ran back and forth across brooks and water falls. The floor was soft and spongy from the ferns and pine needles that had collected over the years. This was by far one of the most beautiful places I have been. We finally came to the 2/3 completed aid station and I was able to change my shoes. (We were allowed to use a bag to drop at two sections during the race) Fresh shoes and socks brought back life to what I had left of a body. I quickly left the group and sprung up the road to catch several participants in front. Not that this was going to be a great move up the standings ladder, heck I was middle of the pack at most, but mentally it was keeping me going. I crossed several more fields, creeks, single and double track. One of the Florida guys I was running with earlier had worked his way back up to me and we kept each other going. This proved to be invaluable! We finished off the race with a couple of miles of logging roads and then a quick climb and then descent to the finish. I was barely able to walk to our car parked 100 feet away. The craziest thing to date and agreed by all three of us. I challenge anyone to try this run by itself let alone all three days.

Day 3
74-mile mountain bike race We all decided to start this race near the back of the field for a couple of reasons. First we were all so sore from the day before that we just didn't feel like moving to the front and getting run over by the racers who were there just for the MTB race. The second reason was that for this race we had to AGAIN get to the top of Jay's Peak and then back down the same slope as the day before. We knew that being first to the top wasn't going to win the race and none of us even cared at this point. It was survival mode and to finish the weekend. The gun went off and there was a scurry of racers, over 225 of us tackling the mountainside. It was quite a site seeing everyone up the hill pushing their bikes, some sliding down a few feet, some passing, some standing to get a view around them. Once to the top it was madness...the black diamond that we had run the day before was now the slide for over 200 bikes to coaster down. By the time I starting my decent a clear smooth slick-as-butter trail was forming from all the bike wheels. The wet grass combined with dirt made the entire 2 plus mile drop scary to say the least. I road most of the steep sections with my stomach resting on the seat and my rear barely above the back tire. This kept my center of gravity low and lessened the chance of going over the handlebars. The balance of the race was very dangerous technical single track with log and rock crossings, drop offs, creek and steam crossings, man made pallet and ladder sections, mud pits (some knee deep), double track, gravel and paved roads. It was complete torture from the gun. I was covered in mud from head to toe and when I was able to take my shoes and socks off afterwards it left the only spot on my body that wasn't covered in mud. Even my eyebrows and under my shorts and jersey where mud filled. One unique area we were in was up on the side of a mountain near Jay that was used for maple syrup production. Thousands of maple trees covered the mountainside and each one was connected with a spout and a plastic tube that used gravity to collect the sap at the bottom of the mountainside. Miles of clear tubing connected together from tree to tree that eventually was burned down to produce Vermont maple syrup. The tubing lines ran everywhere and you had to watch your head sometimes racing through this area. During this entire ride I had one goal and that was to get to the line. From mile marker 40 on I was strictly in survival mode, our bodies were completely drained from the day before and with several miles of pushing your bike on top of that we just wanted to get it over with!

So we finished the weekend. I think the ride took around 8 hours plus, we haven't seen the results. I stumbled back to the car and back to the hotel with Craig and Nathan. A big thanks to the Folk's for coming and helping us all weekend. I can honestly say that we would have not made it with out them there. We were so sore we could hardly move and they rescued us so many times! Also, the volunteers at the race were one of the best crews I have been able to interact with. My hats off to such a well-organized event.

Matthew Jourdan
CITGO/Gray Goat Multisport Racing