THE COLUMBUS MAD COW URBAN ADVENTURE RACE

What a great day for a race!

Maybe if you live in San Diego, something like this doesn't mean much to you, but after a long, cold, grey winter that just wouldn't seem to leave, springtime finally hit Columbus and provided a great backdrop for this urban adventure challenge through the streets of Columbus, Ohio.

The race began in the Short North area when competitors had to run about 1.5 miles to their boats on the banks of the Olentangy River and put-in below the 5th ave lowhead dam. Their 4 mile paddle took them through downtown, over another portage and out of the river just before the Greenlawn Dam. Once out of the water, they proceeded on foot through German Village and north into downtown looking for their skates which had been taken from them at the start.

Spying the trailer full of skates and scooters behind the Bank One building on East Broad St., many made a beeline for it and started the transition, only to find to their dismay that the CP was 25 flights up! ...and then 25 flights back down again. Two unfortunate teams reached the top and realized that they had let their scorecards on the street and had to make the trip twice. Ugh!

From there they had their choice of skating or scootering the next couple of miles, and headed for the Santa Maria on the downtown riverfront to CP3, and then back to the Short North for their bikes. Once on their bikes they headed north, by their choice of routes to Vertical Adventures indoor rock-climbing gym. A challenging climb to the top on an overhanging wall and then down and out and off to the Olentangy bike path for the conclusion of the 25 miles bike ride.

Racers had to find 3 CPs placed along the Upper Olentangy bike path, which on a beautiful spring day was packed with joggers, families with children and the dreaded dog-walkers. Th last CP was on the OSU campus followed by a very short ride back to the finish at Donato's Pizza for some hit food and cold drinks.

Team Sawbones (John Wyrick and Brad Youse, winners of the inaugural Mad Cow Urban Adventure Race) came in at 3:50, followed about 20 minutes later by Randy Bauer and John Chase of Team Orange Triangle. Steve Kaczor (who won the second Mad Cow last November) and Sue Douglas continued on their winning streak (first coed team at Toad Hollow Wilderness Adventure Duathlon). Teams finished over the next several hours, but no matter what their overall standings, they all seemed to be smiling, which in the end is all that matters.

Teams collected playing cards at CPs along the way, and the winning hand (John Lotter with a paltry 3 of-a-kind) received a subscription to Trail Runner Magazine. Team 7 had 2 pair (7s & 10s) and received Mad Cow headtoobs from Snakeskinz. The prize for the best team name goes to the "Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who each received a subscription to Adventure Sports Magazine. Rich Fowler, regional editor for Transition Times was racing with Team 7 and is writing an article that will appear on their website (and perhaps in the magazine itself). I'm sure his report will be much more interesting than this humble account, so take a look and check it out.

Many thanks to Jason, Chad, Jeremy and John - our volunteers who helped make this race possible. Thanks to Machelle Fowler for her mad photo skills and a special thanks to our Ambush intern Adam Moore who transported all of the boats back to the finish.