Kent State University at Stark - Adventure Race

This first time event was held very close to home.  I was so excited to see it involved biking, canoeing, and running.  You had to be on a two person team and you had to use a canoe, not a double kayak.  Darn!  We got a double kayak this summer and it is wicked fast!  They wanted to keep the playing field competitive and keep it family friendly.   Nick had just done the Akron Marathon {whole!!} the weekend before and his knee had been bothering him.  Blaine had been puking all day the previous day and I had woken up with diarrhea.  Would be an interesting day for sure.

It started in downtown Canal Fulton with a 4.9 mile bike ride, then a 2.4 mile canoe downriver, then a 2.3 mile run back to where you started.  It was all on the towpath so they didn't need to worry about traffic.

The bike - They started bikers out in groups of four every 10 seconds are so.  I was nervous things would get clogged up on the trail because we started over halfway back in the field, but we ended up having no problems and were in first place by the end of the bike.    Our time was 16:05.

The canoe - OH MAN!  Things got bad.  Bad meaning wet wet wet.  My mom said it was hailing at home but we only had to canoe through pouring rain.  Eek.  Our time was 29:24.

The run - I was pretty cold and my feet were frozen by this point.  We just had to keep trudging because even though we couldn't see  anyone behind us, someone who started in the very back could have had a better time than us.  We finished the run in 19:33.

Our total time was 1:04.56 for first team overall!  I was happy but haven't been happy since.  I came down with a fever and sore throat the next day that I STILL HAVE!  I have never been this sick for this long.  I can't necessarily blame being out in the cold rain but it probably didn't help since I was probably coming down with the bug before the race.  Up next: recover from fever!

All photos credits go to Kent University at Stark - Fitness and Wellness and / or Ohio Race Day

Probably the best pic I have of us since our wedding.  We are wearing our prizes: Kent fleeces.  Ironic because we met and graduated from rival Akron. :)