This was the most-heard sentence after I answer the "what are you up to this weekend" question. Wasn't last weekend's Vermont episode enough? I should be resting! Alas, the ego got me again, with the XMan Triple Crown to be earned. If anything, it's a good way to close out September (and mostly the OCR season) with a local product.
It's the same core of volunteers event after event so it is something like a family gathering every time. The 3rd and last race of the series is in beautiful Lac-Beauport, QC, just outside of Quebec City, at Ski Le Relais. It's not a big mountain, but pulling up to the ski lodge I could see all the fall colours on the slopes. I'm excited already - actually there is a general vibe of excitement in the air as we hand out some race packets to participants Friday evening. Since it's been a long day of waking up early and driving, I hit the sack early.
Saturday morning is sunny and the morning air is slightly cool - perfect race weather. I get to help do some final set-up (sticking numbers on the obstacle name cards) and get to see the last bunch of obstacles glistening in the sunlight, waiting for the participants to climb, jump over and conquer. Surprise! I find a Mudd Queen (Annie), I know she will enjoy the race. I tell you, the Mudd Queens are all over the place, kind of like Starbucks popping up all over urban street corners. You can't escape us!
My obstacle is a new one for the race - L'ArchAnge (The Archangel) - and clearly the guys have been watching a lot of American Ninja Warrior. About an hour after the elite wave departs we see the first 3 who have pulled ahead. 2nd place is Marco Bédard; not long after the first 20 or so elite men pass, we spot the queen of the Killington Beast - Claude Godbout! She finishes 1st among the elite women, what a machine.
Marco Bédard
What's an obstacle course race without costumes? Behold the tutus!
At 2pm the volunteers line up at the start, eager to have a crack at the course. Like most every other race on a ski hill, we start an uphill climb. I am not sure how I'm going to perform, as it did get pretty hot and humid as the day went on. Plus I am not the fastest starter on the planet, so this combined with my still-tired legs slowly warming up, I am DEAD LAST. The course sweeper is ahead of me! Oh well, it is what it is. Right after the first uphill is a little downhill and I pass a few people. Up ahead on the next climb are little mud hills and trenches (aka Tough Mudder's Mud Mile), then the slip n' slide, onto the hay bales. K2 has been disassembled, instead there's 4 rows of hay rolls to hop over before an A-frame climb ("Expédition"), Apocalypso and barbed wire crawl, among others.
Uphill we go again to another new (and fun) obstacle - XSwing - which is basically running up then down a seesaw! More obstacles en route, including a small cement block carry, crawling under a net (Le Piège), and a 12-foot wall.
The course plot is fantastic, as there are single-track trails in the woods, grassy slopes (including running across the face of a slope), plenty of mud, and a packed, wide trail path here and there. That, and there's enough obstacles clustered and scattered along the way - no boredom whatsoever. A cheerful fellow running with a group is saying hi to everyone, he introduces himself as P-M. Just when I think I'm finding more and more assholes at OCR's (pushed aside while getting passed on the trails at the Vermont Beast, for one), P-M proves otherwise. Seriously, first-timers should follow that guy.
The log for the log carry was very manageable, but the loop was wet, squishy mud so some caution there. Le Temple Maudit (see picture) was almost at the midpoint which was good, plenty of energy left. Zigzagging in and out of the trees, we get to some repeat customers like XSlack (participants get to cross a bunch of slack lines between trees), hanging ring traverse by placing your feet in the rings (à la Platinum Rig), Top Gun (the paintball gun obstacle), and of course, a sandbag carry. Sure, it's a little bag that probably doesn't weigh any more than the Spartan pancake; the twist here is a small net to crawl/bear crawl under twice (once up the gentle slope and once on the way back), and a slightly tricky turnaround, but still, I think I am fed up past my eyeballs with uphill sandbag carries.
Judoooo chop!???
The course winds its way downhill, and back into some woods we go, to Koalex (first seen at XMan Sherbrooke) - very similar to the Tyrolean Traverse, but some PVC piping is covering the wire. What also helps is they are all angled slightly downward, so the traverse is manageable (likely aided by my legs covered in mud). More fun stuff like over-under-through-walls, more barbed wire, balance beams, rope climb - the action never stops. I hesitate at Hell's Path (like ANW's Quintuple Steps), but shut my mind off and successfully navigate it.
Again, the Platinum Rig is the only obstacle I opt out of (it is only upper-body traversing), then onto the tire flip and finish once again running up the Dark Angel (1/4 pipe). 7km and 47 obstacles later, bring on the finisher medal and beer!
XMan races always leave me with more scratches and bruises at the end than most other OCR's, but the fun factor makes up for it. The hardest of the 3 was definitely the one on Mont-Orford, simply by the steeper hill climbs, but Sutton and this latest one are good to try, as the hill climbs are very doable. What a great way to finish this series - great organization, original obstacles and a fantastic team of volunteers. See you in 2015!
Slight snafu as in no Triple Crown medal, I'll settle for the t-shirt!
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