Raid the Hammer 2012

Well, what can we say.  We raided, but we didn't exactly hammer.

We thought we'd try something different, and we did.

On the morning of the race, we thought we were arriving early, but it seemed like every other team was there already, planning their routes.  We didn't know you could do that.

I think the majority of people doing this race have tons of orienteering experience.  We had one 10K race with not one navigation course.  I can't even read road maps with everything written on it.  How could I have hoped to read these maps?





There were thirty checkpoints to find.  It took us 5 hours to find the first 24.  We did find them (eventually).

This race is billed as Ontario's toughest running race.

I loved the trails.  We were dropped off in Mt Nemo and we had to run into Waterdown.  I wished I could just keep running instead of looking for those pesky checkpoints.  (It is confirmed that I'm a runner, not a navigator!)

I admit it was fun to find the checkpoints.  We did get lost a few times, and that costs lots of time.  We spent lots of time just staring at the map, trying to figure out routes.  This is not my idea of fun.

We still HAD fun, though.

We saw some amazing trees along the way.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.

At one point, one of our team members had run off in one direction to look for a checkpoint.  When he didn't come back right away, my friend and I thought we should try to signal to him.  I had forgotten my whistle, and hers was attached to the back of her backpack.

I said, "Do you want me to blow your whistle?"  As soon as the words were out of my mouth we both collapsed in laughter.  We couldn't stop for quite some time.  I still laugh when I think of it.

Another time, we had just found a checkpoint and we were deciding which way to go next.  My friend said, "We just have to go over that cliff there."

I responded, "That's not a cliff, it's the fricking Escarpment!"  (It was, too.  We had to go around.)

Anyway, after five hours we had exceeded the time limit and we knew we would be disqualified anyway, so we called it a day.

We learned more things.  We burned lots of calories.  We saw some beautiful trails.  A good way to spend a Sunday.