Nike ACG/Balance Bar team wins weather shortened adventure race

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FRISCO – A true adventure faced the competitors in Saturday’s Adventure Xstream race that started and finished at the Frisco Bay Marina.After hours of paddling, biking and trekking through mountain terrain, ominous black clouds began to form over the heads of the 12- and 24-hour racers. By 3 p.m., rain was pouring and thunderstorms brought hail and lightning on top of the 150-plus competitors, some of which were at more than 12,000 feet of elevation when the storm hit.When the storms didn’t let up, race director Will Newcomer instructed the competitors to come down the mountain to the finish line. Many of the 12-hour racers had finished at that point, but none of the 24-hour teams had come close.
The Nike ACG/Balance Bar team, made up of Vail’s Mike Kloser and Sari Chwalk, Boulder’s Ian Adamson and Michael Tobin of Idaho, was declared the winning team in the 24-hour four-person coed division because they had covered the most ground when the race was stopped. The last two legs of the race involved a hike from Beaver Run in Breckenridge to Copper Mountain, by way of the Wheeler Trail, before inline skating back to the marina in Frisco. Park City, Utah, resident Beau Johnson was a member of the first four-person team to make it back to the finish line after being told to call it quits. By press time, the overall results had not yet been posted.”We were around 11,000 feet when it was thundering and lightning all around us,” Johnson said. “We just pulled into checkpoint 11 and heard there was a hold on the race, then it came over the cell phone that the race was over.”I’ve been training since February to do this event. I can’t say it’s not disappointing, but what can you do?”
In the 12-hour open division, Breckenridge residents Anne and Kate Chapman formed the only Summit County team in the competition. It was the Chapmans’ first adventure race, and a costly navigating error cost the mother-daughter duo a chance at a top-three finish.While charting the coordinates for each checkpoint on Friday night, the Chapmans mismarked the 12th checkpoint, leading them on a two-hour detour Saturday afternoon.After getting back on track, the elder Chapman knew they had to make up time.”The storm chased us the whole way and people were turning back,” Anne Chapman said. “I told Kate if we run, we’re going to do it, so we did that for two and a half hours from Beaver Run to Copper Mountain. Once we hiked up, we ran all the way down.”
Denver resident Jay Willoughby was part of the 12-hour four-person open division winning squad, Team Adrenaline. Willoughby had all the victor’s cliches ready after his team cruised to win.”We dealt with a lot of elements and a few diversions, but we’re happy to capture the gold,” he said. “You’re only as strong as your weakest link and we have a strong team with a strong foundation.”Andy Frame can be reached at (970) 668-3998, ext. 236, or at aframe@summitdaily.com.

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