Alright my friends, Thad has responded.
Here is what he had to say:
Dear Shawn,
Here are some answers to your questions...I hope they help...
- Can we use two ended paddles in the canoe?
Yes
- Are there any rules about fins in the swim portion? Such as are monofins allowed? Split fins? Freediving fins? We just want to know if anything goes there. And how about webbed gloves? Or do we have to have bare hands?
What ever fins you want and webbed gloves are okay.
- Can we use the same canoe for the safety canoe that we use for the race leg? Does the swim leg end in a convenient place to move the canoe to the river race leg? Does the safety canoe need to have two paddlers? If the safety canoeists are not racing, do they have to pay?
Yes you will have plenty of time to use the same canoe for both uses. The swim leg ends at Kinzua Beach...very Convenient.. One will be enough for the safety canoe. They do not have to pay.
- Are there rules about the definition of a canoe that we should know about?
Any open canoe can be used. Kayaks can be used by the solo racers only.
- Will some people have slick racing canoes and others have the traditional aluminum trekkers?
Yes
- Is there a map available of where each part starts and ends? Or is that part of the challenge? Obviously we don't need a map for the orienteering section, but we need to know where the runners will be staged when the orienteering guys come out.
I have attached a map of the transitions points. The start and finish are near the YMCA on Lexington Ave.
- Is there a coed division?
I have not decided on the awards yet but there will be awards for the coed and all female teams.
Call or email me if you need more questions answered.
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Thad
The map is helpful too. I'll try to post it here (Yippee, it worked! -- see top of post -- You can click on it to make it bigger). The bike ride looks to be quite exciting, starting at Kinzua beach, crossing back over the bridge, going up the LSD to Forest Road 492, around a big loop and down into the Elijah boat launch area, where the swim begins. This news of being able to basically wear any kind of apparatus in the swim excites me. (I don't know about you). I wonder what other swimmers will be using.
In case I don't get the map up, here's how the whole race works: Run from the start by the Y on Lexington Ave. all the way to Kinzua beach (that's crazy!), where the bike begins. Bike nearly 20 miles to Elijah Boat launch (no crashing! You're out in the boonies), swim from there back to the beach. Orienteerers start and end at the beach after hitting all the points, then the second run begins there and goes over to the Big Bend boat launch below the dam. The canoe proceeds from there down to the finish back at the Y.
Sounds easy. Maybe we should all do it ourselves. :)
5 comments:
I think if Shawn does the swim he should dress like Aquaman from SuperFriends or perhaps Swamp Thing.
I would have to work very hard to be able to use big fins and gloves for 2 miles.
Then after the event I'd need some massive therapy to recover from the leg cramps.
Wow, the run, bike didn't shock me. But thinking about the swim gets in your head a little. That is not exactly a short trip in a speed boat. I'm not sure fins, gloves, and a small propeller if I would want to do the swim. That is a long ways. I usually give up on water skiing about dew drop starting at the beach. Whoa, only a sucker would agree to swim that far.
Just call me Lolly Pop. Yes, it is a killer swim. I was thinking that when I used to camp up there in high school that Greg E and I used to swim for miles albeit wearing life jackets (which I needed as I didn't float too well back then). We went across the lake and back a few times and one day we just swam for hours until it was dark then had to hike back on the road, and it just took forever. Now...that was a few years back, and I was actually in shape, but I wasn't wearing a monofin or webbed gloves. I'm sure it evens out! :)
I would need to make sure I had some buoyancy, like a wetsuit and/or some pads to keep me from the valley floor, but I am into it. If we decide to go that route, I will need to account for that in my training, starting very soon. That could take up some time on weekends for sure, getting to a lake and back. I'll have to check on pool rules to make sure they would let me swim in there with the tail. P.S. I could totally dress like swamp thing! That would give me some more buoyancy. Maybe I'll spraypaint the wetsuit.
I wonder if anyone else emailed Thad to inquire about the legality of using webbed gloves. That cracks me up. I wonder if a snorkel would also be legal(?).
I like the leg assignments posted too. I was hoping the orienteering would start at the beach. In deer seasons gone by, I made countless round-trips from the beach up to and around the Rim Rock parking area. I know that part of the ANF pretty well. Of course, that probably will not offer any significant advantage, as I have absolutely no idea what the actual course layout. At least I won't get us lost.
Today I officially started my Hal Higdon half-marathon training plan in preparation for August 4. It is an eleven week program, which will take me right up to race day. My personal goal is to complete the 13.2 miles in 1 hour, 52 minutes or less. That would give me an average of 8.5 minutes per mile. Given the "hilly" course up Route 59, I will be happy with that time as a worst case.
I also thought of a snorkel after I got his answers. It would definitely speed things up. From what I can tell based on his responses, I am assuming almost anything goes for the swim, as long as it is human powered and "in" the water, as opposed to on it. I would also think that no oxygen tanks are allowed or anything that would propel you without effort. This would be an ideal time to field-test some of my ideas for human enhancement technology. I have an idea for a fin that I swear would get me going so fast I could pull off a full-body breach. I'm not saying I could keep that up for two miles, but it sure would be fun to try some stuff out. He specifically said "Whatever fins you want." In trying to get into his thought process, I am thinking that the idea is to figure out how people can swim as fast as humanly possible using only their bodies and non-powered appendages attached to it. So if you were a Navy Seal, for example, you might like to know how to do your underwater demolition or ordinance disposal with the greatest alacrity and least oxygen usage. Letting the world of creative athletes try to solve your problem for you might be an interesting way to find new possibilities. If only I didn't have schoolwork!
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