The G-Rant : Grant's Rants on Adventure Racing

Around the Potable Water Source for July

2008-07-01T10:38:00Z

Team Untamed Adventure snagged 3rd place (2nd place in the premiere division) at the Tidewater Traverse this past weekend. Eric Cone and his team sponsored by a Richmond gear store (Yeren ???) got 2nd place (1st in the premiere division); Eric has been a vital part of the Untamed Adventure organizing team, and continues to be so for Untamed VA 2008 , and so it's really cool to see him on the podium at the TT also! Apparently just 10 or 15 minutes separated all the lead teams so it was a dramatic...(read more)

Untamed Dash & Riverboarding Clinic

2008-06-27T08:51:00Z

In advance of the Untamed Virginia adventure race , we've arranged for a riverboarding clinic the weekend of July 26 and 27. Shane from RipBoard will show you the ropes and take you through some of downtown Richmond's whitewater . . . and I assure you that riverboarders will encounter that stretch of water during Untamed Virginia so why not learn the river from a pro?! In other Untamed VA news, we're officially announcing the 4-hour Dash course in conjunction with the 30-hour "Pro"...(read more)

Team EMS Surprise on O-Course "C"

2008-06-26T18:03:00Z

Here's a nice write-up from the EMS Team on their experience staffing a "surprise" checkpoint during Untamed New England . We pulled this together pretty last minute and it worked out really well!...(read more)

Promotional Flyer for Untamed Virginia

2008-06-25T19:50:00Z

I know many of you have helped spread the word about our events before . . . and word of mouth is the most effective marketing we can get . . . so in case it makes your life easier I'm posting a link to the Untamed VA flyer that you can circulate at gear shops, gyms, and other areas where adventure racers lurk! Be warned, the download is 3+ MB and sized for Legal paper (11x14). If you can use something different just let me know and I'll see what we can brew up!...(read more)

Flying Home and Sprint Course Island

2008-06-25T13:57:00Z

Just a few hours from flying back home (finally) and life will return to a semblance of normal . . . wake up, walk the dog, work out, do some computer nerd work to pay the bills, and then get cracking on promotion work for Untamed VA . The Untamed Virginia 30-hour race course is done -- and we've added a 4-hour course to entice the novice racers. It was good to catch up with friends while back in Virginia, too, and reconnect to an area that I called home for several years. We'll see how the...(read more)

Untamed New England on the Radio and Some Virginia Thoughts

2008-06-19T15:14:00Z

We had some good media exposure through the Untamed New England race; this links to an MP3 of a piece that ran on New Hampshire public radio earlier this week . We're getting lots of traction for future events up here, and it bodes really well for what we want to do in 2009. You'll have to stay tuned for more. I'm still cleaning up the mess from the race last weekend, and catching up on sleep. I'm also turning my focus to Virginia for this Fall and it looks like we'll have at...(read more)

Untamed New England Quick Thoughts

2008-06-16T18:57:00Z

We're recovering from Untamed New England ; it was a great race with so many memories, we're eager to get all the photos etc together. The race was won by Team Summit Adventure, a team with racers from Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut; these guys raced with lots of intensity and it was fun to see them take on the course. Chasing Summit Adventure for nearly the entire race was Racing Free from Canada. They raced a great race and kept the pressure on Summit Adventure . . . just one mistake...(read more)

Serious Road Hazard

2008-06-03T02:48:00Z

We often say that the most dangerous thing participants in an adventure race will do is bike on the same roads that cars will travel. If you needed more proof, check out this story on CNN about the bike race that was interrupted by the drunk driver . This single photo sums it up: Only one biker was killed in this -- a terrible tragedy but from the looks of the pictures it's shocking there weren't more fatalities. Be careful out there. Read up on how not to get hit by cars in your rides ....(read more)

The Double Wides

2008-06-02T16:39:00Z

New Balance is a big sponsor of our Untamed New England efforts, and as part of this they're hooking our staff and volunteers up with the latest in New Balance trail shoes . I got my new pair and, on a whim, requested the wider version of the shoe and I really like it. It feels like I've got slippers on instead of conventional shoes! I haven't really put the shoes through anything rough, and I don't plan to before the race (so the shoes look nice and represent NB well), but just walking...(read more)

Two Surprises in New England

2008-05-26T11:02:00Z

I'm settling in to New England now, starting to get over the jet-lag and prepare everything for the Untamed New England race that is just around the corner. I've got a packed schedule that includes meeting with reporters, land managers (for 2009 actually, if you can believe it), medical staff, the host hotel (we've had a heck of a time getting on the same page with the Inn but I think we're clearing up the confusion finally), sponsors, finalizing staff arrangements, testing out our...(read more)

Untamed on YouTube

2008-05-19T14:46:00Z

Boli, the Untamed dog and mascot, is pitching in since I'm behind on photo processing from Untamed Revolution Switzerland . . . she cooked this up (thanks for some tips Jason!) . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezC-3nlvqBg . We might put the dog to work during the New England race and see what she can do!...(read more)

Untamed New England Audio and More

2008-05-18T16:24:00Z

We're in the middle of the make over for the Untamed New England live race site . By the time it's all said and done we should have a very fun portal for following all things pertaining to the race. We even have an initial audio post (lower left side of the main Live Race page) introducing the race and kicking off what we hope is another successful and memorable event! In other news, the local Swiss bike shop wants 900 dollars to replace my bike's Avid Juicy disc brakes; it was a scary...(read more)

Surfski Champs and the Grandparent Test

2008-05-14T08:04:00Z

GPS tracking is spreading like wildfire. Bill "Surfski" V pointed out that the World Surfski Championships, in Molokai Hawaii , are experimenting with tracking. They have a live tracking system on their website to make their Molokai-to-Oahu (32 miles) paddle event more accessible to web viewers. From their online summary: "The top seeded male and female paddlers will have GPS Tracking units attached to their skis for the race. The units are small, weigh only about 140g and will not...(read more)

Sweet, Blissful, Sun

2008-05-13T19:29:00Z

I can feel Untamed New England right around the corner now; it's exhilarating, the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of other things to attend to and it's tough to make time for everything. I still have Untamed Revolution Day 3 photos that need uploading from my computer; here's one of the better ones we already posted to Flickr, Tom and Deb O'Donnell having a Julie Andrews moment: I don't know about where you are, but...(read more)

New England Race Registrations and Kudos to TrackMe360

2008-05-09T09:42:00Z

I'm feeling recharged after a quick visit to Rome with my wife's family. Traveling gives me such a valuable perspective on things, and traveling to Rome is a huge dose of "perspective" since it's the city with probably the most accessible layers of history on the planet. We've really only begun to explore Europe despite living here for almost a year. I might jump at the chance to do that race in Turkey this summer, after all . . . even if I'd have to do some swim training...(read more)