Team Merrell Zanfel

What makes Adventure Racers so rabid about a sport in which there are so many variables that it boggles the mind and soul? What drives us to fly around the world for adventures we know nothing about, in places we've never seen, and with no guarantee of success? I suppose that there are as many different reasons for racing as there are individuals, but I do believe there is a common thread among us, and that is the humanity of it all.

I made the jump from Triathlon to Adventure Racing in the mid 90s because I was intrigued by a sport that relied less on negative splits and ripped abs than on wits, skill, teamwork, and the human spirit. My first race was the Raid Gauloises in 1994, and although we finished dead last, I was hooked for life. Adventure Racing is like a rubics cube of athleticism, human synergy, adversity management skills and sheer guts. If you're missing one of those essential elements, you're sunk. But when you have a team that has that special ability to rearrange the puzzle in just right way, it's a magical experience beyond description.

The beauty of Adventure Racing is that at the end of the race, you know you’ve accomplished so much more than merely conquering a difficult course and testing your personal limits--you've actually proven yourself in life's most important adventure: being a great human being. Adventure Racing allows us to bring out the hero, the warrior, the healer, the leader, the genius, and the compassionate friend in each of us. In a successful Adventure Racing endeavor we are our very best, most enlightened selves, and we can see that reflected in the eyes of our teammates. This is the reason we all sign up for the world's most painful but life-affirming races again and again. Yes, the places we go and the things we see in this sport are often truly inspiring, which is much of the reason we all plunk down that first big entry fee. But somewhere "out there", as the challenge becomes too overwhelming for one tiny speck of a human being on the vast face of the earth and we allow ourselves to experience the comfort and strength of silently sharing one heart and one mind with three other human beings, we are both transformed and transcendent. Which leads to the eternal question for every one of us--"When's the next race?".

Xo Robyn

Hello Friends! Sorry it's been so long since my last confession. I just got home from the Church of the AR World Championships in Sweden, and despite what happened to our team, the race was gorgeous, well thought out, rugged, varied, interesting, and aside from a few glitches like not enough kayaks to go around and no time bonuses given for the hours that teams had to wait, the 2006 ARWC was a race worthy of it's title (finally!). No trails on the hiking sections, super cool technical glaciers, unearthly and exquisite rock formations and granite mountain ranges, no ridiculously long bushwacking or bike bashing sections, a nice continguous and sensible flow to the course, a peek of the Northern Lights at night (only 3 hours of darkness!) and endless Lapland scenery made the race even more stellar with every step (when one wasn't looking at one's feet, which was far too often). My one criticism: If I had my perfect world, there would have been a lot more paddling than only 10 percent of the race mileage with so many perfect opportunities around, but a paddling team always wants more paddling, don't they? We're just waiting for the race that has just as much paddling as hiking or mtn biking. Wishful thinking? :) In general, though, Michael Nordstrom put on a great race and should be proud of his efforts and his staff/volunteers.

Now for the juicy stuff. A little too juicy when it came to my feet! I know the coverage of the race was spotty at best, so if you're interested in why Team Merrell/Zanfel dropped out of the race, here's the scoop. I had something called Trenchfoot, which I have never before encountered, and will hopefully never have to deal with again! Sooo terribly painful. Basically, trenchfoot occurs when your feet are very wet for long periods of time and are unable to shed the water. They develop deeply inset pockets of fluid that separate the skin layers and press on the nerves, and the result is a searing pain that I can only describe as walking on broken glass with every step. AaAgggghhhhhhhhh! I literally walked until the very last step that would support my weight, and I finally sat down in agony for the last time at the least accessible point on the race course--the top of a technical glacier in Norway. While the helicopter ride out was waaay cool, this is not a recommended way to leave a race course. :). Just so none of you have to go through this, here's why it happened: I've been in many wet races and had perfect feet (ie EcoChallenge Fiji, Eco Challenge Borneo, Eco-Motion Brazil, etc), but in this case, I made the rookie error of wearing gore tex boots as my required mountaineering boots for the glacier sections. In the first mountaineering section on day two of the race, I managed to get water in my boots (as is always the case--nearly unavoidable to keep ones feet dry in AR), and my feet were then trapped in water for about 15 hours. That was the beginning of the end. When I had to wear the same boots for the second glacier section 2 days later, it put the pain level right over the top and, sadly, sealed the fate of our team. The only reason we got as far as we did in the race (12 hrs from the finish), is that in the "trekking"/non mountaineering sections before and after the glaciers, I was able to wear my regular favorite hiking shoes, the Merrell Overdrive, which, of course, get wet, but shed water well, are super lightweight and dry quickly. With a few hours of putting my feet up each night, I was able to recover and move pretty well (albeit not nearly the race speeds we're used to), and it actually seemed like my feet were healing themselves hour by hour in the Overdrives... Until they had to endure the gore tex again on that final glacier....

Other than that, Team Merrell/Zanfel, I'm proud to say, really had a good race. Great teamwork, great navigation, good decisions, and no mistakes (a first!). We were a bit slower than the other teams chasing the top 5 due to the fact that we really left our blood and guts on the race course at Primal Quest 5 weeks earlier (every other team in/near the top 5 had at least 2 "fresh" racers, if not all Freshies), but we did the very best we could with what we had. Which is the silver lining in all of this. My boys rocked, and I love them for their patience, their consistency, and their class, especially in the face of all the adversity we have endured together in our last two races (right from the literal frying pan of PQ into the fire of Sweden!). If you'll indulge me in my dreams of the Perfect AR World once again, I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that we wish that the race directors would talk with one another and not make the big expedition races so close together on the calendar in the future. Our team doesn't want to have to add fresh meat to the roster since we genuinely love racing together, and our particular team is so much of the positive experience for us. Just give us a little recovery time in between, and I think we'd all be a lot happier and healthier. But I digress.

SO the moral of the 2006 AR World Championships story is... Don't try to go waterproof in AR. It's not possible, and it can actually screw up your race, big time. Stick with lightweight, fast-wicking, quick draining shoes like the Merrell Overdrives and you're good to go--and go. I feel like a bit of a dumbass learning this lesson again after watching other friends make this mistake over the years, but at the very least I can find some redemption in helping some of you avoid the agony of 'defeet' in the future. Hehe. My bad. Sometimes bad puns happen to good people. Now go on with your bad non-waterproof selves and kick some butt in your net race! Next up for me, Ironman Kona in October (eeeeek), and EcoMotion Brazil with my awesome boys in November. A couple more chances for my feet to redeem themselves. :). Send us some good race juju if you can!

Love and happy racing,

Xoxox robyn

Flashover Chief Robyn Benincasa and her team win
the Bull of Africa Adventure Race, July 2005.

What to do if you've been exposed to poison ivy, oak or sumac:

KEY FIT CHARACTERISTICS
Snug in the heel: It’s important to get a snug fit in the heel because, in a stride, your foot bends at the ball, and the heel tries to pull away from the boot. That prevents the slipping and sliding that eventually causes blisters.

Snug over the instep: Besides preventing the toes from sliding forward when you go down hill, a precise instep fit gives you internal control. When you’re standing on sloping rocks, the boot sole doesn’t sideslip underneath you.

Toe Room: You’ll want plenty of room to the toes, and when combined with a sturdy toe box, your toes will be protected from getting bashed by rocks.

SIZING AND SOCKS
When you purchase a new pair of boots or shoes, you should always consider sock thickness. Please keep these guidelines in mind:

WOMEN’S SPECIFIC FIT
Women may want to take into account the key differences that may impact fit for them. A women’s specific last (a form on which the shoe or boot is made) is always an option to discuss when you are purchasing footwear, and some manufacturers take the following into account when developing their lasts: