Raid the Rock 2006 - Little Rock, Arkansas

This is where Adventure Racing comes in! Russell and Chris have been sporting this event for several years! I’d heard about “adventure racing” for months, really intrigued and thinking “how cool Russell is!” I mean, anyone willing to take part in a 15-36 hour, physically challenging, extremist’s race is hard core! So, I was very interested to find out what this was all about, and although unwilling to take part in it myself, I was certainly willing to join in as a member of the support crew, a very necessary team member! ;) I was finally getting to see the guys in action!
So, we drove over to Little Rock on a Friday and met up with our team members to form the team:

Chris Kear – Team Captain
Russell Wright – Team Navigator
Dawn Langner – Team Member
Tara Kear – Support Crew
Shireen Wright – Support Crew
Scott Harris – Support Crew

After Friday night registration, a hearty pasta meal at The Olive Garden and about 3 hours of sleep (!), we were on our way to the starting point! It was 4:30 on Saturday morning, the weather windy and bitter cold. First event: canoeing!! Brrrrr… All racers were launched into the lower end of a lock, which was then flooded so that racers could float into the open waters. At the sound of the horn, all canoes were off!! 14 hours later, the team had canoed, hiked, biked, repelled, climbed and crawled, successfully smiling their way to the finish line! I was SO proud of them!
“Go, team! Y’all rocked Raid the Rock ’06!”
Team members in action:
Chris, transitioning to the bike portion of the race!

Russell, in navigation mode!

Dawn, practicing her repel!