Stony Creek Metropark – Stop #2

 

    

 

Detroit welcomed MESP and the Hi-Tec adventure race series with beautiful facilities and perfect weather.  The race got underway with the return of the Marco-Polo start where one teammate had to race to the water, swim and locate the other two teammates waiting in the sea of kayaks.  Following the two-mile kayak we were instructed to abandon ship and swim the remaining 100 yards to the shore with kayaks in tow.  We were in really good shape after the first event in third place with Red Bull leading the way and team Timex in our sites.  Our only mishaps were having our kayak towline break (twice). 

      

 

Reaching the shore, soaking wet we set out on the 6-mile trail run, but not without swimming another 100-yard section of the lake.  The trail run was a blast with lots of winding trails and a few water crossings.  The run ended with the same 100-yard swim we started with.  We entered the transition area still in third and right on the heals of Timex and Balance Bar in front of them.  Before mounting our bikes we had the marine hurdle special test where each team member had to get over a set of 4 seven-foot hurdles.

          

 

We managed to push into second, grabbed our bikes and were hit with the tube exchange special test.  One bike was chosen to swap tubes from front to back.  (What if all 3 bikes had tubeless tires?)  After the tube swap was the final event, the 11-mile mountain bike ride.  After Timex passed us back, we rode the rest of the ride in third place.  In the last half mile, Team Sobe caught us and remained right behind us into the transition area.  The last two special tests included the double spider web and the wall.  The double spider web had both the vertical and horizontal webs.  The vertical web is where each teammate has to pass through without touching the web and once a hole is used it remains closed to the other teammates.  The horizontal web has to be crossed without touching and one teammate has to cross without touching the ground.  Sobe did a great job at this test and reached the wall just ahead of us.  We got over the wall and finished in 4th place for our first ever podium finish.  It was a tight race as only 65 seconds separated 1st-4th place.