2008 Ozark Greenways Adventure Race (OGAR)

It was another stellar day in the Ozarks – this was the first year I’ve done the race since 2003 (I can’t believe I sat out 5 years…)

There were 78 teams of four registered, and 77 showed up to race. The race began at 7:00 am sharp with a 3 part harmony rendition of the star spangled banner. (can you feel the goosebumps?)

Best I can tell, we were about 24th on the first leg – an 8 mile run on pavement and gravel roads. We got in the canoes for a 6 mile paddle and picked up 10 spots to 14th, got on the bikes for a 7 mile bike. We lost 10 spots between transition and bike leg #1, and came in 24th going into the next section - which was orienteering. We lost 16 more places during the orienteering. (we mistook one drainage channel for a different one on the map and spent one hour on one of the three check points) Then the last bike leg back to finish (8.88 miles of gnarly singletrack and another 8 of gravel / paved roads) we picked up 11 spots to finish 33rd.

About 9 hours and 31 minutes total elapsed time. The top teams finished in about 6 to 7 hours. If we had not made the orienteering error, we would have definitely been top 20, maybe 15. Waiting for final results to see what place we finished relative to complete team finishes, as they allowed PTF’s (partial team finishes) this year.

It was a very tough race, and each of us showed strength at different times, keeping us all up beat, and moving forward. That's teamwork - not just the team captain (Ben) pushing us all (which he did from time to time). But each team member contributing their best, at the right time.