There are plenty of pics on the Gold Rush Adventure Races Flickr page

***Here are pics from Team And Loving It. ***

***Pics from the race can be seen at the Gold Rush Photo Page***

***Check out Jen Klafin's pictures from the course - Team SOAR/Barrbd/RWG***

Norcal-AR wins Gold Rush!

Norcal-AR ran across the finish line at 3:33 PM as WINNERS of the 2009 Gold Rush Mother Lode.  Only leaving a single optional CP off the table, they sealed the win with an impressively consistent performance.  Congrats to Rich, Scott, Mari and Tom...you ROCK!  2nd place goes to Yogaslackers (average age 15 and change???)...kidding, but these guys are young by AR standards, but in no way inexperienced - awesome job!  3rd goes to Kayak Lake Mead who raced extremely smart, and made the right strategic decisions, yet grabbed the last podium place only minutes in front of Dirty Avocados...well done to all you crazy peeps.  And with that, all teams are off the course safe and (mostly) sound...let the party begin!

News finished at 2:42 PM with 27 CPs in the kitty - well done!  Now we are just awaiting the WINNERS...Norcal-AR...

Almost Semipro finished (unranked) at 2:39 with 37 CPs.  They pushed to the very end despite knowing they were unranked - that's a classy way to roll, guys...

Dirty Avocados II finished at 2:12 PM with 26 CPs.  This moves them into 6th place so far, but that could change.  We will post a note when rank is final.

Ready Or Not finished at 1:57 with 20 CPs in the bank

Our Angel Nicole finished with 23 CPs at 1:48 PM.

Dirty Avocados finished at 1:45 PM with 28 CPS also - this puts them behind KLM by only 3 minutes, and currently in 4th.

Kayak Lake Mead finished with 28 CPs at 1:42 PM.

Yogaslackers finished with 36 Checkpoints (CPs) at 1:38 PM.  3 more teams on the final 2 mile trek from the take-out to the finish.  They will finish in 1st or 2nd place...we suspect that Norcal-AR has one more CP bagged.

"And Loving It" was the first team to cross the finish line at the 2009 Gold Rush Mother Lode at 12:19:14 on Sunday Nov. 8th, 76 hrs and 44 minutes after starting this monumental journey.  They bagged 19 check points and look to finish in the 7th-9th place range.  Final rank will be established when more teams cross, and we tally up the bonus CPs.  Norcal-AR look like they're on track to win, but Yogaslackers have been hot on their heels.

All teams are now on the paddle.

Some teams are already heading for ACP6/CP17 where they will be able to rest. Teams will not be able to leave the CP on the paddle until 5:00AM. The time between their arrival and the end of the dark zone will be credited to their total time.

Tecnu/Staphaseptic has withdrawn from the race and are having a well-deserved meal.

Glenn from Tecnu/Staphaseptic injured his finger and was unable to continue. He was patched up at the hospital and his teammates are deciding whether or not to continue on the rest of the course.

And Loving It got in to ACP4/CP12 11:07AM and have all the mandatory CPs (12).

Just heard that SOAR/baarbd/RWG dropped near CP10 and their crew is on their way to pick them up.

Ready or Not was shuttled from Groveland to ACP4/CP12, and are there with 9 CPs.

At ACP4/CP12, NORCAL-AR, Tecnu, Yogaslackers, Almost Semi-Pro, Kayak Lake Mead, and Dirty Avocados I had gotten all CPs, including optionals.

Updates from ACP4/CP12
News -- out at 7:19AM, heading for ACP4a/OCP G via ACP5/CP13.
Dirty Avocados -- out at 7:26AM, heading for ACP4a/OCP G via ACP5/CP13.
Our Angel Nicole -- out at 8:30 headed for ACP5/CP13.

"First dry race in years..." Kat from Yogaslackers crew

Updates from ACP4a/Optional CP G
Tecnu -- in at 12:43AM, out at 2:34AM
NORCAL-AR -- in at 3:06AM, out at 3:38AM
Almost Semi-Pro -- in at 3:19AM, out at 3:48AM
Yoga Slackers -- in at 4:37AM, out at 5:54AM

SOAR/baarbd/RWG's SPOT is not tracking right now, as soon as we have a sighting of them we'll post their location here.

Dirty Avocados II in to ACP4/CP12 at 5:48AM and are planning to sleep.

Dirty Avocados and Our Angel Nicole in to ACP4/CP12 at 4:50AM and both teams are planning to sleep.

Tecnu left ACP4a/Optional CP G at 2:34AM

More updates from ACP4/CP12
News -- in at 2:31AM and planning a 3 hour sleep. They are all having a great time.

A few updates from ACP4/CP12
Tecnu -- in at 2:30PM, out at 5:36PM
NORCAL-AR -- in at 3:53PM, out at 6:50PM
Yoga Slackers -- in at 5:55PM, out at 6:23PM
Almost Semi-Pro -- in at 4:10PM, not out as of 7:50PM

SOAR/baarbd/RWG's SPOT looks like it's tracking again and they appear to be moving well

Apparently three teams are resting at CP12. 

Our apologies for the sparse commentary thus far.  Race staff was spread pretty thin until the ropes course was complete.  We've also had several more volunteers report for duty so we expect to have someone assigned to web coverage full time for the duration of the event. 

The weather has been freakishly nice...that's right, we have nice weather at Gold Rush with no rain in the forecast.  It was about 70F today and into the low 30's overnight.  There was not a cloud in the sky today so it's going to be COLD tonight. 

I do not believe that Kayak Lake Mead, Yogaslackers, Tecnu Extreme/Staphaseptic, NorCal AR, or Almost Semi pro have slept yet

The top four teams have cleared CP12 and are off on bikes again.  Almost Semi Pro is in the lead but has stopped tracking, hopefully they'll be back on the radar soon.

Almost all the teams are out on the Tuolumne River trek.  It's 30 miles long with over 8000 feet of elevation gain.

The moon is out and the sky is crystal clear.  It's a beautiful night to be rappeling, climbing, and ascending on sun bleached granite.

Team Almost Semi Pro arrived first at the ropes at 9:03pm.  NorCal AR arrived 5 minutes later with the Yoga Slackers close behind.

Tecnu Extreme has their Spot tracking again and is right in the top 4 heading for the ropes course.

Team Kayak Lake Mead seems to have taken the wrong road from CP5 and rode Crocker Ridge to Highway 120.  Team News looks to be following their tire prints.

It's dark right now but the bright moon will rise shortly.  The part of the course that was covered today was extremely pretty.  The Merced River Canyon is spectacular and the high country is in full fall color, with bright yellow oak trees highlighting the landscape. The moon was full on Tuesday so it will still be plenty bright to help teams navigate through the night.

Team Nor-Cal AR, Yogaslackers, and Almost Semi Pro are neck and neck heading or the ropes course,  The ropes course is on Sawmill Mountain just a couple miles west of Yosemite National Park.

("Tecnu/Staphaseptic" are not tracking at the moment...it may be until CP6 before they're online again...)

The adventure is on!  4 days non-stop through Sunday...

Gold Rush AR Website