An Adventure Comes To Town - Jeremy Paquin

By Jeremy Paquin

"On Sunday July 20th, 2003, under a blanket of dark clouds and pouring rain, adventure racers from across North America anxiously boarded the Algoma
Central Railway train at the Searchmont station. There would follow a scenic 3-hour long excursion through the rugged Algoma region of Northern Ontario.
My teammates Ian Dunlop, Isabel Sigouin, Neil Baker and I settled into the comfy chairs while removing our socks and shoes allowing our feet to dry. The
Race Course Designer, Rich Marshall, entered our railcar and handed us our collection of maps and instructions for the first half of the race. Now the fun
would begin. We quickly plotted out the first coordinate to find that the race would start right in the spectacular Agawa Canyon. On paper, the contour lines
indicating change in elevation were crammed together so tightly that we knew our legs would warm up real quick from the brutal ascent. Once we stepped off
the train there were towering cliffs, blanketed by tangled trees to the east and west, and at first glance it seemed there would be no easy way out.
Shockingly, the first check point was located nearly 50 kilometers away. And we had to get there by foot…
The Eco Challenge North American Championship was hosted by the city of Sault Ste. Marie five years ago. I was captain of Team Sault Ste. Marie during that
grueling but memorable event, difficult beyond words. My personal race journal was chronicled in Townies magazine, describing every agonizing discomfort,
and blissful eye-opening experience.

However that was then...and this is now. Frontier Adventure Racing is hosting an Adventure Challenge on Saturday, September 6th, at Searchmont Resort.
Teams of three guys, girls, or both, will bike, paddle, hike, trail run, and navigate an unmarked 40km wilderness course. A solo division has been added to this
event, and I signed up on impulse.

Funny how the announcement of an adventure race nearby can lure an old guy out of retirement!
The last decade or more has seen an extraordinary thing happen in sports. There is no doubting there is a new kind of athlete, participating in new kinds of
sports, not for fame, money, or career, but simply for the experience of living. Pleasure comes from pushing ones self to the boundaries of personal
strength and endurance. I have experienced this personally, and I have witnessed countless people push themselves in my running clinics and spin
classes. There is no greater reward than improving your own health and wellbeing, and there is no better motivation than committing to compete and
experiencing the racing culture first hand.

The Sault and area hosts a variety of annual races, primarily running events. The St. Joseph Island Triathlon is a welcome exception, now in its fifth year.
The 8 Hours of Superior Single Track at Hiawatha attracted nearly 100 mountain bike racers recently and was considered a raving success by event
organizers.
Now this is a call to all weekend warriors: invite a couple of friends, combine running with mountain biking, add some paddling (hey anyone can paddle
a canoe!), and you’ll be toeing the line at Searchmont Resort on September 6th! This will be unlike any other local race. Over the coming weeks I will
provide insight into my training and preparation for this event, offering tips and strategies to improve your mountain biking skills, trail running, paddling,
and navigation.

It’s not often an adventure race comes to town...