New Hampshire based adventure racing teams, Granite AR and Granite AR-1, set off to Pilot Point, Texas last week in hopes of bringing home the United States Adventure Racing Association (USARA) National Championship trophy; a dream amongst all adventure racers, a dream amongst the newly formed team, a dream that came true for six dedicated athletes.

It was a lofty goal set by the newly assembled squad as the trip was originally aimed at being a building block towards the foundation of Team Granite AR’s future. Teammates Dave Lamb (Kingston, NH), Chad Denning (New London, NH), Jennifer Johnson (Bethleham, NH), Melissa Coombes (Pensacola, FL), Erik Grimm (Pittsford, NY), and David Romilly (Kensington, NH), met in the unseasonably cool Texas arena for what turned out to be a race designed for speed.

24-hours in length, the race incorporated approximately 110 miles of mountain biking, 20 plus miles of windy and choppy paddling, and 10-20 miles of intense trekking. The term trekking, used loosely here, involved ducking, bobbing and weaving around pencil length thorns and barbed wire branches.

A race for the ever elusive checkpoint, otherwise known as CP, was the name of the game. Collected in a particular order, the 42 CPs outlined the Texas course and offered a distinct type of connect-the-dot scavenger hunt for the 62+ teams that competed in the event. No GPS units allowed, each team had to navigate the Texas country side using nothing but a compass and map.

The two (3-person) Granite AR teams stuck together throughout the entire event and were at each others aid during periods of distress and physical exhaustion. The temperatures reached almost 70 degrees during the day, and plummeted close to freezing during the night, compounded with wind that topped nearly 20 miles per hour while paddling on the water and 5 inches of rain received the day before the race, and it was a very muddy, cold race.

“We are a team that thinks as a single unit,” commented Granite AR-1 navigator David Romilly. “It is what you need to do in order to forge through the twilight hours, when mud is splashing in your eyes, your body is soaked from head to toe, and hypothermia is attempting to set in. You need to be there every step of the way for your teammates and friends. Whether it is a flat tire or a nutritional request, you have to be completely selfless in order to succeed.”

Crossing the finish line together in a tie, race directors awarded both teams with the coveted National Championship trophy. The trophy will be in Team Granite AR’s possession for the next year, until they have to defend the title at the 2010 USARA national Championships, scheduled to be held in Pennsylvania. The trophy will be on display for the time being at Exeter Cycles in Exeter, NH.

Photo courtesy of Bobcat13 Photography