Once again, there were so many great moments from the 2011 season of the Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing Series.  We started the year off in a brand new venue, Burnaby, and ended in Cumberland for the 12 year in a row.  I had hundreds of photos to review and came up with 20 images and two videos.  Enjoy!!!

—————————————————————————

1. WE WERE THE FIRST  – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- A partial group shot just before the start of the inaugural race in Burnaby, BC.   The weather was ideal — cool in the morning and bright sunny skies in the afternoon.  The race started and finished at Barnett Marine Park, a bit of a hidden gem in the Lower Mainland.

2. WHAT A PADDLE LEG  – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- Todd Nowack leads this group of paddlers on a 10km paddle in Burrard Inlet /Indian Arm and up to Jug Island and back.    Todd won this race and Cumberland (another series sweep!)  and adds two more to his overall win tally.

3. SWEET SINGLE TRACK ON BURNABY MOUNTAIN  – Photo by Matthew Beckett  —- Frontrunners’ Stefan Jakobson cruises down the trails during the MOMAR Burnaby.  Frontrunners is our longest running sponsor having been with us for the past 12 years. Love you guys!

4. COMPASSIONATE VOLUNTEER  – Photo by Andrea Beckett  —- The MOMAR has the BEST team of volunteers.  They are always so hardworking, enthusiastic, and ready to help a racer out when needed.  Here, longtime volunteer, Thomas Howard (and his chicken) takes the time to click a shot of a wiped out racer before helping him up (and asking if he’s ok).  What a guy!

5. CELEBRITY APPEARANCE   – Photo by John Crosby  —- Not only did we have one of the best female adventure racers (Jen Segger) on the start line of the MOMAR Burnaby but we also had Raid the North’s race director, Geoff Langford, too!

6. CHAMPAGNE WISHES – Photo by Mark Teasdale  —- Team Beer O’Clock (Nicole Gibbons, Beth Henschel, Alison Perras, and Jaimie Isaac) from Vancouver celebrates their first place finish (4F) with champagne and big smiles. They found all 36 checkpoints in 7h and 13m.  Great job!

7. HEART AND SOLE  – Photo by John Crosby  —- The Momamas were the winners of the Sole Spirit Award. Tons of spirit all day long.

8. VIDEO:  WATCH THE FOOTAGE   – Video by Erik Nachtrieb of 1iOpen Productions  —- Big thanks to Erik for coming out and shooting video and putting together this stellar video that captures the essence of our inaugural race in Burnaby. Click  here to watch.

9. WELCOME TO THE FOG – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Paddlers set out on Comox Lake for the start of the Cumberland MOMAR.  This was the foggiest morning that we ever had and it made for a really eerie but calm paddle stage.

10. NEW CHECKPOINT – Photo by Erik Peterson —- There has been 12 races in Cumberland and finding new terrain is always a treat.  Here, a new trail was cut allowing us access to a set of fantastic bluffs with a great view of the glaciers to the west.  Team Frontrunners Westshore (Nick Walker and Eric Findlay) look pro as they approach CP 3.  I predict a big year at the MOMAR for this duo in 2012.

11. A FAMILY AFFAIR – Photo by John Crosby  — It was great having Vernon’s Sheila Sovereign take on the 30km sport course with her niece Karly.  The Vernon Morning Star reported: “We did really well with the route finding, but we really had to take our time and think it through,” said Sheila. “I did the Squamish MOMAR and the trail finding was way easier. This was actually pretty tricky so we really had to pay attention.”

12. LOST AND CONFUSED – Photo by Erik Peterson —- We’ve all been there… you know… in the Orienteering Stage of the MOMAR… your navigator isn’t quite sure where to go as your teammate waits (im)patiently for a quick decision. Right?  Sarah Newman and Geoff Huenemann from Bike Over Teakettle figure things out in the final stage of the MOMAR Cumberland course.

13. SPIRIT OF TWO BODIES IN ONE – Photo by John Crosby —- In the most touching story in the history of the MOMAR, Steven Crerar from Campbell River races the MOMAR Cumberland in memory of his brother  Bryan Crerar, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2009.  Steven and Bryan had raced together for four previous MOMARs and this was now Steven’s first solo.  More on Steven’s story, click here.

14. FOUND IT! – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Aside from crossing the finish line, is there any better feeling than finding a Checkpoint?  Sometimes they can be found easily and sometimes they are hidden; either way, seeing the orange and white flag is a great feeling.  In this photo, ELM Fearless Leaders (Kathy Campbell and Lynn Swift) punch the CP at the top of DCDH.

15. OH THOSE CUMBY TRAILS – Photo by Erik Peterson —- A forest is sometimes just a forest but when you get a community of dedicated trail builders you can end up with a forest with it’s own very unique identity.  The trail network behind the Village of Cumberland is simply the best on the Vancouver Island.  In the first years of the MOMAR Cumberland, we took racers on the Crafty Butcher trail, but subsequent logging kept it out of future course routes. Last year, the trail was refurbished and a wicked double teeter todder was added making this the must ride trail of the race. Super fun, super fast, super buff.

16. OH THOSE CUMBY TRAILS – Photo by Erik Peterson —- Just south of the start/finish line for the MOMAR Cumberland sits a steep boulder filled forest and rugged cliffs.  The terrain here is super cool and is the home to a rock climbers, wasp nests, bears and our final orienteering stage. It’s one of my favorite places in Cumberland.

17. YOU’RE ONLY AS FAST AS YOUR SLOWEST TEAMMATE – Photo by John Crosby —- Last Year’s Losers (Irene and Neil Borecky) cross the line with almost all of their limbs attached…. Runner up for the Sole Spirit Award. What a riot.

18. ATMOSPHERE  – Photo by John Crosby —- A big BIG thanks goes out to our title sponsor Atmosphere who have been with us for the past three years.  Without their support and the support of all of our other sponsors, the MOMAR would not be possible (or at least you wouldn’t get a cool shirt, shiny medal, tasty dinner, rockin’ party, accurate maps, heaps of prizes, a crazy MC, etc… ).  And it was great to have a staff team from the Victoria store compete too! In this photo: Steven Craig, Hannah Mashon, William Rankine, and Nick Brame.

19. ROCK STAR – Photo by Erik Peterson —- What a great moment it was when MOMAR’s own event coordinator, Tamara Rhodes, took the stage and sang a few songs with Megalicious at the MOMAR Cumberland after-party.  This capped off another killer after-party!

20. THREE AMIGOS – Photo by ‘some dude with my camera’ —- Dave Norona, Normon Thibault, and me (Bryan Tasaka).  These guys were at the first MOMAR back in 2000 and they are still here today — 35 races later.  Wow. What a run.

21. THE REAL HEROS OF THE MOMAR – Photo by Erik Peterson —- The MOMAR is produced by a core group of hard working, organized, and dedicated event team.  Thank you Tamara Hung, Janine Tasaka, Sheron Chrysler, Elaine McHugh, Lisa Au, Liz Tribe and Gary Robbins!!!  (Note: Dave Norona represents Lisa, Liz, and Gary for the purposes of this team picture)

22. THE NASTYASS ADVENTURE RACER – Video by Kootenay Kaos —- Words cannot properly explain what the Kootenay Kaos are all about… it’s best if you just watch the video.

That’s it!  Nothing but great memories! Let us know what you think by posting a comment below.

I thought I would re-post a great interview that Gary Robbins (MOMAR Burnaby Course Director) featured on his blog last month.  www.gary-robbins.com.

Todd Nowack is a Victoria based, Mind Over Mountain Adventure Racing sponsored athlete. On July 23rd he’ll be captaining a co-ed team of four racers against the most challenging endurance event in North America in 2011, Raid The North Extreme.

GARY: Tell us a bit about your racing history. For those who don’t know, where did you get started with it all?
TODD: Like many other adventure athletes on the west coast, I got into adventure racing with the MOMAR and have kept going ever since.  I was an avid mountain biker and was just getting into trail running and various other outdoor pursuits when I was asked to team up with the infamous ‘Snot Sisters’ to be a ‘Booger Brother’ in the Cumberland 2005 event.  We ended up winning the team-of-4 co-ed category and that race got me hooked.

GARY:  How many MOMAR races have you done to date and how many of those have you won?
TODD: I have done all the races since the Cumberland 2005 MOMAR with the exception of 2009 when I was living in Norway. This makes it 12 total races with 7 overall wins: 2 solo, 4 with teammate extraordinaire Gary Robbins (Editors Note: I DID NOT add that but I will leave it in since it has a nice ring to it) and 1 with Natasha Dilay (only team-of-2 co-ed to ever take an overall title).

GARY: What was your favorite MOMAR experience and/or course to date?
TODD: ‘Three-peating’ in 2007 at the Cumberland MOMAR with yourself. We had won the previous two races of the year and had lots of pressure to win as no racers had ever won all MOMARs in one year. Winning that race was definitely a highlight but the feeling of being completely dialed in during that race still hangs with me.  I think that was the first time where we both really knew exactly how hard we could push, when to back off, and how to flow from control to control while being efficient. I still have memories of us ‘running’ through the town of Cumberland like scarecrows with cramps everywhere, our legs stiff like pencils, and our arms and back stuck like the Tin-Man from Wizard of Oz while Brian is yelling at us that we could sit down and have a coffee and still win.  Memorable times.  Favourite course would have to be one of the incarnations in Cumberland. The single-track riding is phenomenal, the area is beautiful and the community is fantastic! (Another Note: I swear I did not know that would be his answer, and I did not add it after the fact myself! PS Couldn’t agree more Todd)

GARY: Will we be seeing you lining up for our first ever Burnaby MOMAR race?
TODD: Yep. I will be there racing solo and looking to have yet another great time and experience.

GARY: Have you ever raced an expedition race like RTNX before?
TODD: I’ve done two other expedition races (RTNX 2007, and the Baja Travesia 2007).  I’ve also done some 24 hour and 36 hour races, and some orienteering ‘Rogaine’ events.  I have yet to have success in expeditions with brutal 20+ foot swell kayak conditions in Baja that wiped out several teams including leaving us unranked due to abandoning one of our kayaks and gear.  In RTNX 2007, we had some really bad luck with tearing our inflatable kayak open (even though we were being extremely careful and watched other teams literally drag their boats over sharp rocks) this situation delayed our paddle by many hours pushing it into the night where I ended up suffering from hypothermia after my body temperature had dropped by 3 degrees due to being exposed in our open cockpit kayaks.

GARY: What did you learn from these previous experiences that you feel you can apply towards your next shot at this format of race?
TODD: Eat lots of pizza and drink lots of beer to make sure that you have a good spare tire to keep you warm in times of need.  Seriously though, I think these races come down to fitness, experience and a bit of luck.  Had we been able to make it out of the swell and get to the checkpoint in Baja (which was literally right there) we would have continued ranked and placed close to the top.  RTNX would have been the same had it not been for a piece of rusted rebar that was sticking up out of the beach and virtually invisible.  Either way, luck would not have it.  For this coming race, I’m going to bring all the fitness and experience I have, stay out of trouble and race smart.  I’m done with this bad luck stuff

GARY: Tell us a bit about your teammates?
TODD: Pete Cameron and Leanne Mueller are a very strong and experienced adventure racing couple based out of Ontario that have partaken in numerous races over the years and are always contenders in any event that they enter.  I met them at Raid the North Extreme in 2007 and had the pleasure of racing head-to-head with them during the final stage of the race.  In 2009, we had teamed up to race the biggest race of the year, Explore Sweden, but due to some technical issues, were not able to race together.  So, it seems fitting that we are teamed up again.  While I have yet to have the pleasure of meeting our fourth member, James Galipeau, I have only heard good things about him, one of which being that he is a team strongman (able to take extra gear, pull others, put his head down and never stop).  The great thing about this team is that we have three solid navigators (Pete, Leanne, and myself) who all have proven race navigation experience and all of whom we can count on for pre-race mapping work, route choices, race time decisions, etc; this is an incredible advantage .  I have never been in this situation and cannot say how incredible this will be knowing that we can trade off navigating when the mind begins to crumble after countless hours of no sleep and physical hardship.

GARY: How is the rest of the field stacking up this year? Where would you place yourselves, and what are your racing goals for RTNX?
TODD: Being that Primal Quest is no longer and there are no other large events going on in North America, RTNX has virtually sold out with a great number of strong teams signing up which is awesome to see. Compared to 2007, the field will almost be double. In terms of our placement and goals, a great thing I learned from speaking with my teammates is that we all really have a similar approach to racing; we race against ourselves and where we end up at the finish is where we end up.  As long as we all put in our best possible effort during the entire race, I don’t think any of us would care what place we came in. That being said, of course were shooting for first. J

GARY: Rumor has it you were injured throughout the winter. How has your training been going lately, and describe for us what a typical week of training might look like right now?
TODD: I have been suffering with an ‘upper body injury’ (insert NHL pun here) that I am still recovering from. While I’m still not 100%, I keep in shape on my bike commuting long distances, rolling my kayak down to the beautiful waters off Brentwood Bay to partake in long paddles, and doing lots of walking and hiking off-trail through the forest to simulate expedition racing conditions. I’ve been playing it on the safe side and not running much so I’ll have to see how I fare on my legs on the new MOMAR Burnaby course.

GARY: What’s one piece of advice that you have received or learned over the years that you would pass on to new and aspiring adventure racers?
TODD: Learn how to navigate. Join a local orienteering club and get to the point where you can run while reading a map and navigate on and off trail; this is a very rewarding experience and will enhance your outdoor pursuits. Don’t train, just get out lots, compete here and there, and have fun! I’ve never trained a day in my life J

Great stuff Todd! Thanks for your time and best of luck at the race this summer. I know I’ll personally be glued to my computer looking for live updates and cheering you guys along.

Mind Over Mountain is proud to be sponsoring Team MOMAR Atmosphere at this year’s Raid the North Extreme. Team Captain, Todd Nowack, will lead an experienced and competitive team consisting of Pete Cameron, Leanne Mueller, and James Galipeau.

Over 6 days, four-person co-ed teams will navigate a 500km+ expedition over an unmarked route by paddling, trekking, trail running, mountain biking, and using fixed ropes through the wild and historic West Kootenays of British Columbia.

50 teams from around the world will take part in the 8th edition of Raid the North Extreme including some of the best in the sport.

For more information on the race, visit www.raidthenorthextreme.com.

Time to go school, adventure racers.  The MOMAR Training Clinic Series is back! 

We have a great lineup of clinics this year that includes:

• MOMAR 101 – Navigating the MOMAR
• MOMAR 150 – Mountain Biking the MOMAR
• MOMAR 201 – Advanced AR Training for the MOMAR (2 Day)
• MOMAR 301 – Advanced Navigation for the MOMAR
• MOMAR 305 – Advanced Orienteering and Navigation Techniques

All of the instructors (Sarah Seads, Tom Jarecki, Doug Doyle, John Barron, and Todd Nowack) are long time MOMAR racers except for Magnus Johannson, but he is Canada’s National Orienteering Coach!  We have also partnered with Big Dog Biking in Cumberland who will be teaching the MOMAR 150 bike course. 

Click here for a full clinic description and to register.

I just got off the phone with Gary Robbins from Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR who just wrapped up Day 1 at the BC Bike Race. Today’s 89km stage went from Shawnigan Lake and finished in Lake Cowichan. The race started with two laps around the Shawnigan Lake School campus in an effort to spread teams out before the single track. As could be expected, teams hammered off the start line to get a good position in the narrow trail. However, in this early loop teams had to cross a farmer’s field which had just been plowed the day before. This made things a bit muddy and one of the Trek teams blew BOTH of their derailers in the first few km into the race. They ended up getting the bike fixed but left 20min+ behind the last team–still they ended up finishing 4th overall for the day!

Gary and Todd were hanging with some top teams for the first few hours of singletrack, but 3/4 of the way up an 8km climb, Gary started suffering from severe leg cramps. These cramps would plague him any time they came to an incline and he had engage his inner quads. Todd was a workhouse for they day and by the sounds of it, very patient with his suffering teammate. Fortunately the final 20km were on the Cowichan Valley Trail (old rail bed) and they were able hammer it out at a ~24km/hr pace.

MOMAR Squamish winners Team Helly Hansen / Vancouver Island (Justin Mark & Jeff Reimer) had a troubled day one as well. Justin was suffering from the heat which reached highs of 32 celsius. Todd went through 10 bottles on the day and Gary chugged 2L of water at one aid station (almost made him puke).

Unofficial results had Gary and Todd finish in 25th place with a time of 5h15min and Justin and Jeff in 5h28min. Other notables include Team Kona (Normon Thibault and Wendy Simms) who finished 10th overall with a time of 4h45min. Today’s winning team finished in 4h14min (I think it was one of the Cannondale teams). The Trek team finished second. The results will be up on the BCBR website soon: www.bcbikerace.com.

Tomorrow’s stage is 125km long with 123km on mainline forest service roads. It’s going to be a day where teams will ride in packs just like a day on the Tour de France. It’s going to be fast and furious!

I just found the link to the SNAP Newspaper’s photo gallery from this year’s MOMAR Squamish.

But enough with Squamish. It’s time to start dreaming about Shawnigan Lake!  Are you getting in some good training days (hours?)???   Be sure to check out the NEW MOMAR 301 - Advanced Navigation course with Todd Nowack that we have recently added to this year’s course list.  There are only six spots available in the July 12th clinic so please sign up early.  Here’s the course synopsis:

The MOMAR 301 clinic is an advanced navigation specific course designed by Todd Nowack, head navigator of Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR.  The goal of this course is to make you race smarter and faster by giving you Todd’s tips and tricks that will speed up your navigation abilities.  This ‘hands-on’ course will use orienteering specific maps and will consist of a series of excercies that will demostrate how you can be more effective on the maps by making smarter route choices.  If you’re looking to shave off that additional time to get closer to the podium, or if you’re simply looking to have a better understanding of how to navigate well, then this course is for you.  Participants should be comfortable with a compass, have participated in at least one previous MOMAR, and should be quick on their feet.

The blogosphere is alive with great post race stories from the MOMAR Squamish!  There’s nothing like getting the story straight from the horse’s mouth.  Grab a coffee, a beer or a protein shake and settle in for a play by play account of how it all went down at the front of the pack.

• Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR captain Gary Robbins details how he uses a broken shoelace to deak out the followers. GO.
• Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR navigator Todd Nowack writes about hardtails and navigation — he even admits to small mistakes on the nav! GO.
• Elm Health’s Sarah Seads writes about being the first female across the line and lessons learned along the way. GO.
• Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island’s Justin Mark tells the tale of how sweet the MOMAR victory feels. GO.
• Team Helly Hansen Vancouver Island’s Kristenn Magneson writes about losing a bike shoe in the trek. GO.
• Course Designer Jen Segger-Gigg details the great feeling of having designed on killer course. GO.

And if you prefer the old school way of getting your news then you can check out the Whistler Question, SNAP Magazine, and the Pique for awesome post race coverage.

Thanks to everyone for telling your stories!  You are an inspiration to us all!

If I missed any blog reports please let me know and I’ll post it up.

Team Helly Hansen / MOMAR’s Gary Robbins and Todd Nowack at last year’s MOMAR Squamish. Photo by Tony Austin

Here’s a quick list of some adventurous blog worthy reading:

+ Gary Robbins writes about his triumphs at the Diez Vista 50km Trail Run
+ On the flip side, Todd Nowack describes race lessons learned at the same run
+ Jen Segger-Gigg writes about her new love… paddleboards
+ Read Lina Augaitis‘ great postrace report following her 3rd place finish at the Baja Travesia