Busy, busy, busy.....

Submitted by andy on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 10:00
I know, it's not exactly February anymore, but we've been, well, you know, busy.
 
 
Working backwards, there was the second annual ColdAvenger's Extreme North Dakota Iceman Triathlon, on February 26th.  Over 125 hardy souls took on the challenge and with starting linetemperatures of -13 F, -29 wind chill they all are champions in our book. Dakota Harvest provided awesome pre and post race refreshments, Swiftwick hooked all the racers up with arm warmers, Due North by Sure Foot Corporation gave out loads of traction aids, Power to Go fueled racers with their 'five hour energy' trail mix, and everyone was out sporting their ColdAvenger masks proudly.  The event was a huge success and we can't wait until next year when it's going to be even better with the planned addition of chip timing.  Check out the END-IT page for full details.  A huge thanks to all our wonderful sponsors, volunteers, and the awesome folks of the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals, all of whom made it possible.
 
Loads has been happening on the racing front personally for the team as well - I (Andy) completed (unofficially) the Arrowhead 135 on bike again this year, serving as a chaperone to Tom Fisher, a 17 year old junior from Central High School in Grand Forks who became the youngest official finisher in 34 and a half hours.  You can read my take on the adventure here, a more general piece about the race here, or visit the race website for more info.  Jason (of team Yogaslackers) has just finished 'the last wild race' in Patagonia as a member of Team GearJunkie.com in second place.  14 teams started and only six made it to the end in what sounds like an absolute epic race with some great stories.  You can find the website by clicking on the picture.
 
[Note: The following paragraph was accurate at the time it was written, but the relationship between ENDracing and GUP has since changed--they are two distinct entities, but all profits from ENDracing still go to GUP at the end of the year.  2014-12-13]
 
The exciting news for us is that as of January 3rd, 2011, ENDracing is officially a trade name of the larger organization, GroundUP Adventures (GUP)- now a registered not for profit company in the state of North Dakota.  It's the first step in a long journey to develop (essentially from the 'ground up') a thriving adventure based activities hub for the upper great plains.  After finding our way through  the mound of paperwork required to receive federal recognition as a non-profit, we're hoping to get the ball rolling this spring and start looking for funding for some ambitious local projects, including a boat house for the Red River.  'Luckily', I'm now officially done with grad school (and thus unemployed) and able to devote my full 'professional' energies to ENDracing and GUP.  We've got a few great folks lending their talents to the cause but can always use more help (in particular on the accounting side of things) and local participation, so if you've got an interest in being involved, or just want to be kept in the loop, just shoot an email to me at groundupadventures@gmail.com.
 
And finally, we're now in full swing planning the next race on the calendar - the Extreme North Dakota Spring Primer Adventure Race, scheduled for May 8th in and around Turtle River State Park.  It promises to be an exciting (as expected) race - expertly crafted to serve as a great introduction to the sport for novices and challenge 'pro' teams alike.  Up for grabs are free and discounted entries into North Dakota's first ever twenty four hour race, this years END-AR (part of the CP tracker series), to be held over labour day weekend in the Pembina Gorge.  We're hoping to partner with Swamp Donkey adventure racing as well this year, so stay tuned for details on that arrangement.
 
See you out there
Andy
ENDracing Team

Happy New Year!

Submitted by andy on Mon, 01/17/2011 - 10:00
Hope the first few weeks of 2011 has been good to everyone!  Things here in Grand Forks are white and cold, just like expected!
 
[Note: The following paragraph was accurate at the time it was written, but the relationship between ENDracing and GUP has since changed--they are two distinct entities, but all profits from ENDracing still go to GUP at the end of the year.  2014-12-13]
 
The exciting news for us is that as of January 3rd, 2011, ENDracing is officially a trade name of the larger organization, GroundUP Adventures (GUP)- now a registered not for profit company in the state of North Dakota.  It's the first step in a long journey to develop (essentially from the 'ground up') a thriving adventure based activities hub for the upper great plains.  After finding our way through  the mound of paperwork required to receive federal recognition as a non-profit, we're hoping to get the ball rolling this spring and start looking for funding for some ambitious local projects, including a boat house for the Red River.  'Luckily', I'm now officially done with grad school (and thus unemployed) and able to devote my full 'professional' energies to ENDracing and GUP.  We've got a few great folks lending their talents to the cause but can always use more help (in particular on the accounting side of things) and local participation, so if you've got an interest in being involved, or just want to be kept in the loop, just shoot an email to me at groundupadventures@gmail.com.
 
On the ENDracing front - planning for the Iceman triathlon is in full swing.  We've got more sponsors on board -Swiftwick (custom armwarmers for all racers - seen in the picture to the left), Surly, Ibex, Blue Moose,Surefoot, Inov-8 - and are amassing a huge prize pool not to be missed!  We'll once again have prizes for fastest male and female through each section, as well as the glacier awards - a little something special for those stalwart individuals who bring in the rear.  Early registration ends on Jan 31st, but register by the 27th of January to ensure that you get the custom armwarmers, as the production cycle for the top quality 200 thread count sleeves requires a bit of lead time.  Racers registering after the 27th (up until mid February) will still get regular armwarmers however.
 
We're planning to have the course maps up on the website, as scheduled, by the end of the month.  We'll also get out and lightly mark the course at that time (early february), and be hosting several course previews of the individual sections for those with a desire to pre-run the course.  Check out the facebook page and/or the ENDracing website for more details.
 
Finally, don't forget the other local events that serve as perfect training opportunities for the iceman - the Frozen Feat 5K and 10K and the Bikecicle Icebike race.  In fact, these are both on the same day (Feb. 13) so its the perfect brick training day!
 
See you in the snow -
Andy
ENDracing Team

Fire and Ice(man), and everything nice

Submitted by andy on Tue, 12/21/2010 - 09:00

First the fire - 
I'm recently back from participating with Team Yogaslackers in the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge, a six day stage race taking place in the fabulous United Arab Emirates.  Since its inception in 2007, the race has quickly gained recognition as one of the toughest and fiercely contested adventure races in the world.  Maybe this is because the perks of this race don't end with fantastic scenery and a grueling course - it's actually a government supported event (to the tune of 1.5 million US dollars).  This results in fantastic media coverage, swanky accommodation (2 nights booking in a 5 star resort hotel included in entry fee), rock bottom entry fees, and a prize purse of over $150,000 that pays down to 30th place.  Team Yogaslackers, captained by my twin brother Jason, took 19th place last year after dragging first time adventure racer but world class mountaineer Eric Myers (who claimed the race was harder than climbing both Everest and K2 in a comparable six days - and he's successfully climbed them both) for miles across the deserts of the "empty quarter".  

Teams crossing the Empty Quarter
The 100+ km desert trek stage is always the toughest test of the race.  In previous years teams were given 36 hours to complete it, during which they were forced to take a minimum of 8 hours of rest.  For reasons that I imagine can only be appreciated by a select group of deranged elite racers and/or particularly sadistic race directors, the race organization made a few changes to the stage for 2010 - they made the first two days of the race all leg work (biking and running), made these initial stages harder than ever before with twice as much elevation gain as in years past,  added a 96 km mountain bike leg over hilly terrain on roads often unrideable due to massive sand drifts that segwayed immediately into the desert trek, added only two hours of time (38 instead of 36 to complete the entire section of bike plus trek), and oriented the trek in the opposite direction so that teams were forced to climb the soft and steep side of dunes and descend down the hard stuff.  Unseasonally high temperatures upwards of 100 degrees fahrenheit didn't help.  Ouch.
 
It was brutal, but we made it.  I struggled mentally the most about 22 km from the end.  I wasn't thinking straight and my addled brain had me doing the math incorrectly and convinced we now wouldn't make the cutoff and had shot ourselves in the foot trying to get just one more optional CP.  There was lots of yelling and swearing.  Heat and exhaustion do strange things to you.  As adventure racers, we do such strange things to ourselves.  Yogaslackers ended in 14th place - beating out several super fast teams that were just eaten by the desert.  You can see more photos of the race by visiting the official race site, or the websites of Checkpoint Tracker or Breathe Magazine, both of whom covered the action.  Below are a few more photos from the race.

L to R: Team Yogaslackers near the end, me near my low point.
 

The bike section leading into the desert trek.
Then the Ice -
Registration for the ColdAvenger Extreme North Dakota Iceman Triathlon opened on December 1st.  People are signing up and taking advantage of early bird registration prices, which end with 2010.  All registrants will receive a deep discount on gear from our title sponsor, ColdAvenger for the purchase of up to two masks - awesome cold weather training gear that we promise will allow you to, as their slogan states, "stay out longer".   We will be giving away five of the masks leading up to the event via a drawings held the last week of January. We'll draw one female yeti, one male yeti, and one team from registered racers on Jan 31st, so make sure you're registered by then to be eligible!
 
Cash prizes of $100 for the top male and female "yeti" and $300 for the top team are up for grabs, but won't be easy pickin's - the top male from last year was the first registrant this year and I've got it on good authority that the top female (who happens to be my wonderful wife) will be back as well.  Then again, I also know of lots of new local talent looking to make their mark this year by vying for top spot. 
 
Rest assured though, there'll still be awesome swag and loads of raffle prizes thanks to our wonderful sponsors for those who are just looking to challenge themselves against the course or just come out and have a great day of fun racing.   We'll keep registrants posted via a separate newsletter as we finalize details about racer swag, additional event sponsors, course details, and any cross country skiing and/or winter biking clinics that we put together in the coming months. 
 
Cheers and Happy Holidays
Andy
ENDracing Team

Fall Wrap-Up

Submitted by andy on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 10:00
We've been busy over the past month!  Late October saw me making my way out to Moab to participate as part of team Yogaslackers in the Checkpoint tracker Adventure Racing National championship.  I barely made it as flight cancellations forced an overnight drive from Grand Forks down to Minneapolis in order to just make a last minute connection to Las Vegas where another long drive got us to Moab just at the tail end of registration, proving once again that often the hardest part of adventure racing is getting to the start line!  We (Yogaslackers) went hard and crossed the finish line in 2nd place, nearly two hours ahead of third, and 20 minutes behind first place Team Osprey, arguably one of the top 10 teams in the world at the moment.  Unfortunately, six hours of penalties levied to both teams took us back to 7th and 10th place respectively.  Those interested in a bit more detail on this somewhat controversial turn of events can find the 'official' explanation by CP tracker here, and Yogaslacker's take on things by reading through the post comments.  As a result of the race, I realized how far behind the rest of the team I am in terms of biking ability and now have my work cut out for me in order to get stronger before Yogaslacker's next big race, the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge which takes place Dec. 10-15.
 
In other news - ENDracing's next event, the Extreme North Dakota Iceman Triathlon (END-IT), is slated to open registration on December 1st.  The planning committee is having weekly meetings and things are starting to come together.  The race will be held at the same location as last year but the individual sections of the course will be slightly different.  Because we are expecting a bigger field, we're hoping to improve the mass start, streamline the transition area, and have a large warming tent (in addition to the warming hut) to accommodate the larger numbers.  All the cool stuff (sledding, 'cliff jumping', off trail biking and running) will of course remain a part of the experience.  We've also recently secured a title sponsor - Talus Outdoor Technologies - a company that makes fabulous extreme cold weather headgear that is perfect for winter training.  We're psyched to be partnering with them and want to extend a big thank you for their support in helping to make this year's race better than ever.  We'll soon start offering discounts on their products through our website - some of the proceeds of which will back to fund future ENDracing activities.  In addition, folks who sign up for END-IT will be offered a special code for a one time special deal on Talus gear so that they can get some and get training, no matter how cold it gets in the coming months!  Finally, as was the case last year, all profits from this year's event will be put directly back into local non-profit organizations to help them do what they do.
 
Finally, I'd like report that the Grand Forks Cyclocross series ended the last weekend with it's third race.  I participated in the last two races and had a blast.  Cylcocross is often called the 'hardest hour in cycling' and I found this to be an apt description.  Both races were awesome courses and well executed by the UND Cycling Club.  Their next event is an ice-bike race in celebration of Valentines day - scheduled for Feb. 13th.  Hey - that sounds like a perfect opportunity to practice your winter biking skills in preparation for the the Iceman Triathlon!
 
Cheers  -
 
Andy
ENDracing Team

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