Team Member: Brian Madden

Race Name: Strong Adventure Race – Ocoee TN

Race Date: 8/15/2009

Race Placement/Time/Qualification: 5th in Co-Ed Elite, Qualified for National Championships

Tell us about your race (limit 500 words)…: Team Sport Factory-Masters (myself, Vicki Cherry & Chris Celka) competed in the 8 hour AR in the Co-Ed Elite Division as there was no Masters Division. This race included a swim/trek section of 6 miles, a 17 mile mtb bike section with some serious single track sections (where Vicki got introduced to bike-whacking) & a beautiful 6 mile paddle on Lake Ocoee. It was a very hot day but it finally all came together for us as we ran our most complete race of the season. Solid pace, solid nav and good strategy. We took a conservative approach on the bike as the cutoff of 8 hrs was a hard deadline that meant DQ if you missed it. We skipped 2 CPs out of 25 and finished 50 minutes early so had time to spare. The 5th place finish against some of the best in the SE earned us a spot in the USARA Nat’l Championships in TX later this year. Sadly, we can’t attend due to family schedules but the qualification was nice to finally have.

Great race & great teammates!