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Posted by Grant on 26. August 2009 20:47
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There's lots going on around here, the final weeks of Summer are upon us and I'm squeezing in some orienteering meets along with the usual biking/running/paddling. Might even start swimming now that we figured out what the signs say at the indoor pool near our apartment (it's taken us 2 years to realize that it's actually open to the public on a regular schedule!). I'm doing a 2-day mountain rogaine event next weekend with Fiola, an Irish racer on the Irish AR Denny team; she's racing in
Abu Dhabi in December and so I hope to be able to hang in there at the rogaine while she powers up and down the French Alps!
Speaking of French Alps, Christian (aka The Ibex) is running in the
Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc that starts on Friday. It's 166 Kilometers with 9,400 meters of climb, and will be a couple days of non-stop running for The Ibex. It's right up his alley. He raced it last year, so he knows what he's in for, and we'll be sending him good vibes! There will be some live tracking on the race at
http://utmb.livetrail.net, so
keep an eye on #2266.
Here is a link to a map of the course.
We'll be organizing a 1-day orienteering event here in Zurich, Switzerland on Saturday Nov 21st; there will be divisions for bikes or on foot, as the trails up there can be really fun on bikes! We'll base the event from our good friends at the Spiffing Ales Brewery and I'll be sure to have some Loopy Laura in honour of Virginia's Joel Jimenez (since he took such a liking to that brew at Untamed Switzerland this past April).
Joel, Sherry, and Jason will be racing in Virginia as "Untamed Adventure" at the Back Bay Blitz Sept 12th and 13th. If you're in the Virginia area, go check it out! If I can get around to it, they will have some fresh Untamed propaganda to circulate at the race but we'll see how quickly I can make something happen...
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Let's see, in other news we have an intern starting early next week. This should be a good experiment and a lot of fun -- he'll be helping out at the
AR World Championships in Portugal in November, covering teams from North America as well as getting some great hands-on experience, and taking the lead with some marketing/media work this Fall.
We'll be starting a new Trivia Challenge for September via
our FaceBook group, so get in on that if you know your Untamed and/or Adventure Racing trivia!
Untamed New England 2010 is settling into the Aug 25-29, 2010 date window, and we will be making that official in the next several weeks. Early registrants will enjoy a nice discount and secure complimentary rooms at the Balsams host hotel, so there's plenty of incentives to start planning for next year right now. Some particularly exciting developments in New England, by the way, but I need to save any announcements until later on (OK, just a quick tidbit: an orienteering relay will factor in to the 2010 course).
I've not mentioned the big
Untamed Switzerland 3-day Alpine Stage Race for 2010 yet, but that event is shaping up to be super-fun and several have been in touch to say they are circling the April dates for an end of winter blowout. The Ibex will have several fast and smart competitors in 2010, so who knows if he successfully defends his 2009 title? Hopefully we'll see a good complement of "mere mortals" to compete, too, as it's always enjoyable to have a diverse spectrum of athletes/adventurers in attendance. I may be including a sledding element on the course, too, where we'd provide the sleds and racers enjoy a 10-15 minute trip
down from one of the big climbs -- smiles will be mandatory gear for that leg!
So, like I said, "lots going on around here." Hope you're enjoying the rest of your Summer!