Goomna

June 25, 2005

The Goomna has always been a fun local race on our calendar. This year we enter two teams highlighting each of our local sponsors. Carol's Team/Alpine Shop is composed of regulars David, Jeff, and Carrie. For the Carol's Team/Big Shark squad, I pick up a couple athletes from the Big Shark Triathlon team, Doug Nishimura and Amy Strahan.

Coming just the day after Carol's death, we dedicate our race to her. Not in a "win one for the gipper" type way, but rather as a celebration of the fact that Carol always tried to spend every moment doing what she loved to do and we should do likewise.

This year's edition starts in the morning and will have us racing through the heat of a rather hot day. Fortunately, the gear list is very light, so our packs won't be too heavy. Or so we thought. At the start we are all given a brick to put in our packs. Along the route, we'll be given opportunities to drop off a brick by answering a question right.

We start by running about half a mile to the canoe put in. Alpine Shop jumps out to an early lead while we hang back at an easy jog. Most teams aren't putting sling seats in the canoe, so by the time we have our seat rigged and get the boat in the water, we are in last place. We quickly improve on that as the boat next to us has two people facing one direction and one facing the other. We may be slow, but at least we know which way is forward!

Alpine Shop sets a stiff pace and by the fourth control they are completely clear of the field. At this point, one of the paddlers has to get out and run to a pickup point about a mile up the lake. They drop off Carrie and then cross the lake to drop off David. Jeff uses their tow bungees to lash two paddles together and paddles on solo.

Back in the Big Shark boat, things are going somewhat less smoothly. I'm in the back, which is not my normal seat, and my limited steering skills are taxed even further since I can only paddle on the right side (a result of broken ribs in a bike crash two weeks ago). We get to the drop off point in tenth place, but then lose a few positions trying to figure out the riddle we're given. It's time well spent as we get it right and Amy is relieved of her brick.

The run to the first pickup point is quicker than the paddle. Jeff finds Carrie waiting but when they get to the pickup point for David, he's nowhere to be found. As they are the lead boat and David took the map with him, they aren't sure they're in the right spot. They move further along the lake looking for him. By the time David arrives, several other boats have congregated at the pickup and he's told that his teammates have headed north. He sets out after them and catches them after a frantic chase.

When Big Shark arrives at the second pickup, the queue of boats has grown considerably. We wait for a few minutes and then are delighted when Doug is the first to emerge from the woods. We've passed ten teams to move into third. Our stay at the front is short lived as we are caught by the faster paddling boats. As we switch to bikes, Doug notices his tire is flat. He changes the tube quickly, but we've slipped back to tenth again. At least we know our weakest leg is behind us.

The bike course is all on farm roads. The navigation is easy, so horsepower will decide the standings. With the temperatures getting into the mid-90's, prudence dictates taking a few extra seconds at the manned checkpoints to refill water. At one of the manned controls, we also get rid of another brick. Alpine Shop consolidates their lead while Big Shark steadily moves through the field. At the end of the bike section, Alpine Shop is told they have a comfortable 15-minute lead. This security is quickly shattered as Big Shark shows up just a few minutes later.

We make up time with a fast transition and by the first running control only a minute separates the Carol's Team entries. With two hours of running in temps approaching 100 degrees ahead of us, this could turn into a brutal dual. Unfortunately, the heat has caught up to Doug who begins to cramp badly. I try towing him, but riding lead for most of the bike hasn't left a lot of surplus in my legs, either. In contrast, Amy appears to be completely unfazed by the fact that we've been working hard in the St. Louis sun for over four hours. We transfer the tow to her and she still sets such a pace that we have to tell her to slow down.

The controls for the running section can be taken in any order. We run them sequentially, which seems like a reasonable choice (although, in truth, I hadn't really considered any other routes). Alpine Shop also takes them more or less in order, merely transposing two of the shorter legs. We pass the Race St. Louis team doing the controls in the opposite order. Although we still appear to be ahead of them, they are moving really well whereas we are struggling.

While we are still approaching the last control, we see Alpine Shop heading back to the transition. Their lead appears to be up over ten minutes. It's not until after passing that Carrie notes, "wait a minute - Amy was towing Doug!" OK, we had the skinny girl doing the towing but, hey, I still had to carry the last brick.

The last control is manned and in the shade. That's more than enough incentive for us to linger a bit, refilling our water and cooling down at least temporarily. From there, we trudge back to the transition and hop on the bikes for the short ride to the finish. Alpine Shop has been there for 15 minutes, the only team under six hours. Race St. Louis arrives about 20 minutes later.

Goomna is always a tough race. In longer races, you can pace yourself, but at six hours you have to go hard the whole way. The field is rather tough for a local event. As with the last year, the top three teams are all regulars on the national circuit.

This year's race lacked some of the imagination of last year's edition with the obstacle course and sewer pipe. The bit with splitting the team during the paddle was a nice twist. Also, although it could hardly be called orienteering, the navigation does seem to get a bit more technical each year. Given that the paddling was the first event, I would have preferred sticking with the afternoon start from years past. That would have meant cooler temps during the run.

Overall, it was a fun event. At the post-race party we all agreed it was a day well lived. If we could just string together 14,726 of those, our lives would be as full as Carol's.