Before any long endurance race it is typical for athletes to feel uneasy about what they are about to put their bodies through. 

Whether it is a marathon, a lengthy cycling event or an ultramarathon, athletes often find themselves at the start line wrestling with a familiar question: Am I prepared for what lies ahead?

As rain clouds clustered above on the afternoon of Aug. 26, athletes stood on Tennessee Pass and wondered if they were cut out to take on the 170-mile plus adventure race across the greater Summit County area.

Among the group of athletes debating the decision to toe the start line was longtime Summit County local Olof Hedberg. As a seasoned veteran when it comes to competing in adventure races across the globe, Hedberg decided to take on the mega-endurance race for the second year in a row due to it being hosted in the place he calls home. 

Last year, Hedberg displayed why he was awarded a bronze medal at the 2017 Adventure Racing World Championships, winning the 2024 Expedition Colorado race. 

“Last year it was a 36-hour cutoff and I won it solo,” Hedberg said.  ” … I did my first adventure race in 1999 and was on the World Championship podium in 2017. Since I (have) a little child now, I have not been able to race as much. Now that we have a bigger race with a longer course is really appealing to me. I love Summit County, I love the outdoors here.” 

An adventure race is a multi-discipline, endurance event where participants must navigate an unmarked course by using maps and compasses to find checkpoints in different environments. Races can last as long as a few hours to multiple days and can incorporate disciplines such as trekking, mountain biking, kayaking and climbing. 

The winners are determined by who can collect the most checkpoints in the shortest time. All athletes competing as a team must stay together, while solo participants can take on the course as fast as they want.

Warrior Adventure Racing’s 2025 Expedition Colorado consisted of approximately 70 miles of trekking, 90 miles of biking and 23 miles of paddling. All competitors were tasked with completing the race in 72 hours. 

Hedberg was not the only Summit County resident to take off from the start line on Tennessee Pass on Aug. 26, as former professional cyclist and Breckenridge resident Taylor Shelden also competed in the daunting adventure race.

Hedberg and his teammates, Jari Hiatt and Jason Blair, began the race by trekking on foot into Camp Hale National Monument before traveling down to Copper Mountain.

From there, the trio traveled up and over the Tenmile Mountain Range via mountain bike to Miners Creek and then over to the Frisco Peninsula. It was during the second leg of the race that the athletes were soaked by rain, quickly dampening the spirits of all involved.

“We started in the afternoon and got into Copper sometime in the evening as night fell,” Hedberg said. “We got on our bikes there and did more of the Colorado Trail backwards. Up over Miners Creek, so that was a lot of hike a bike during the night. It was a really rough night due to the weather.”

It was around the eight-hour mark of the lengthy race that rain poured down on all the competitors, creating chilly and adverse conditions in the middle of the night. 

Although Hedberg and his team were thoroughly soaked, the group kept pushing forward and reached the 23-mile paddle leg on Dillon Reservoir at 2 a.m. on Aug. 27. Shrouded by pitch black conditions, the team navigated the lake as fast as their cold and tired bodies would allow.

“We were completely soaked and wet,” Hedberg said. “We switched into kayak mode and started paddling the lake at around 3 a.m. … Kayaks are not the fastest and us starting at 3 a.m. made it quite cold. It took us right under six hours, I think, to do that paddle.”

Once off the water, Hedberg’s team was tasked with one of the easiest legs of the journey  — a mountain bike ride from the Frisco Marina to Baker’s Tank off Boreas Pass Road. After persevering through cold and dark conditions on the water, the easier leg swiftly boosted the morale of the team.

The fifth leg sent the trio up Bald Mountain and the Baldy Ridge by foot. Even though the leg does not look super daunting on paper, it featured some of the most extreme vertical climbing of the whole race.

“In terms of distance it wasn’t very long,” Hedberg said. “I think it was only 15 miles or so, but the vert was pretty high. We started going down into Indiana Gulch and then got up on Hoosier Ridge. We then traversed Hoosier Ridge to Boreas Pass and then up over Baldy Ridge.”

As the team got off Baldy Ridge and back to Baker’s Tank, the group of athletes started mountain biking in the dead of night to Keystone. Sporting a more than eight-hour lead on the second-place group, Hedberg and his team decided to sleep prior to the race’s final trek leg. 

After some much needed rest, the three endurance athletes tackled the last leg of the race, which consisted of climbing up Grays and Torreys peaks, as well as Mount Edwards. As he towered over Summit County below, Hedberg soaked in the sights of the final leg, fully enjoying the segment.

“The last leg was probably my favorite even though it is a somewhat long foot leg,” Hedberg said. “There were a lot of mountain goats between Grays and Edwards. When we hit Grays and Torreys there were a ton of people, but then going towards Edwards all the people disappeared and there were mountain goats. They were following us and looking at us. That was a super, super cool highlight.”

Hedberg and his team — which was sponsored by Warrior Racing — completed the race in a time of 56 hours and 3 minutes. The team took first overall in the competition, being crowned the overall and co-ed champions. 

“Racing at home is awesome because you get to see your family at the end,” Hedberg said. “Getting to see your wife and kid at the finish line is amazing. It also brings another dimension to the wonderful outdoors that we have here in Summit. We are so lucky to have so many outlets for outdoor activities.”

Hedberg and his team celebrated the feat by promptly scarfing down a meal and then falling asleep.

Shelden finished the race as the second overall solo male. Like Hedberg’s team, Shelden found it challenging to keep pushing in the pouring rain, but saw the race through to the finish line.

“The rain was definitely a lowlight, but the highlight was going on a lot of the terrain that I am used to trekking on,” Shelden said. “I really like the Colorado Trail segment between Camp Hale and Copper. It is such a sweet trail.”

In his first adventure race lasting over four hours, Shelden enjoyed being able to explore his body’s limits. 

“It was really cool,” Shelden said. “I was super happy and my feet were very sore. Now I know what to do better next time — how to train and how to prepare myself.”