Beautiful spring weather set the tone for the 3rd annual Savage Adventure Race to benefit the American Cancer Society. As the representative from each of the 125 registered teams took their place on the starting line, you could feel the energy building. GOALS ARA always has a unique starting event to their sprint races and this would be no exception.

At the sound of the horn, the racers ran to the edge of the lake and proceeded to plunge into the chilling water. Their passport, with the sequence of checkpoints, was in a boat just off shore. The early spring water temperature took your breath away. With passport in hand, the teams put together their strategies by which they hoped to complete the course.

The course was designed so that teams started in all different directions; some biked first, some canoed, some ran, and some climbed the rock wall.
The team challenge section included a buddy carry, water tube challenge and a portable 30 ft rock wall.

The 20 miles included plenty of mud, some unfriendly thorn bushes, and enough elevation gain and loss to test the new and experienced racers. No one was spared the confusion that comes from holding a race like this in a park environment. The park is too small to have a decent map and what is available often does not have all of the trails that appear in the woods. But with only a few really local teams, the disadvantage was shared by the entire field.

The winds on the lake were gusty and often seemed to favor the other team, like the lines in a grocery store. The one you're in always seems slower. A little confusion on the part of some of the volunteers left the CP4 flag in the Ranger boat as the first teams arrived at the designated location. Luckily the Rangers were armed in order to fight off the boats of racers that attempted to board their boat to get at the punch. The punch itself eventually came away from the flag and needed to be replaced. The Rangers really pulled through, rescuing at least three swamped canoes.

The finish line had its usual level of drama as teams crossed, some barely making a cut off and others who were told that they would not make the cut-off and would have to stop. The emotions on both sides were genuine and truly attest to how much of themselves racers invest into their performance.

Congratulations to all who participated. This was by no means an easy race.