Dear Storm'ers,
Looking back on this past weekend, our post-race notes are best summarized by three words:
PERSEVERANCE
We've certainly seen "weather" at Storm the Trent, but Saturday's rain was definitely one for the books! An already-challenging course had developed into a monster slogfest, but despite the downpours, teams powered their way through the mud and the slick and sloppy conditions. We prepared for the worst, but actually ended up seeing the least amount of team pick-ups, mechanicals and emergency calls in recent memory. They say adversity brings out the best in an endurance racer, and we saw ample evidence of this on Saturday. Huge props to all of you for pushing though to the finish!
HUMILITY
On Sunday morning, we were nervous. The Hike race has always been touted as an entry-level course, but with the late thaw, wet trails, and now 15mm more rain dumped onto a course that had seen 400 racers plow through it the day before, this race route was suddenly looking anything but 'beginner-friendly.' We decided to call an impromtu "pre-briefing briefing" for our 15 family teams to give the heads-up on the conditions and to suggest route alternatives. This course was going to be tough, but maybe this time it was just a bit too tough, and we admittedly were now bracing for the worst...
Well did we ever eat crow for dinner, as man those Hike teams crushed it out there!! Outside of a bike mechanical at the start, every team saw the finish line and every team made the paddle cut-off - possibly one of our best finish rates to-date. Congratulations to all of you for being such rockstars on what may have been one of our most difficult 'Hike' courses yet!
GRATITUDE
This year's race was a tough one going in, as a number of things behind the scenes didn't go as planned, or had to be changed on the fly in the final weeks. We are so very grateful for the help of an amazing group of individuals who quietly filled the gaps and kept the event execution intact - they are too many to mention all by name, but we want to acknowledge the amazing efforts of: