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Bolton adventure racers take silver at coast
Friday October 3 2008
Caledon-based adventure racing team Salomon-Suunto finished a close second at the Coast Raid, a four-day event in the remote Lower North Shore region of Quebec. Pete Cameron and Leanne Mueller of Bolton joined Sean Roper of Toronto and Cameron's brother Andrew in a tough field of competitors that included teams from Canada, the U.S., Italy, France, South Africa and Brazil.
In adventure racing, teams navigate with map and compass as they mountain bike, paddle and trek cross-country to find checkpoints along an unmarked wilderness race course. Captained by Pete Cameron, Team Salomon-Suunto is acknowledged to be one of the top teams in Canada.
"The first challenge of the Coast Raid was getting there," Cameron noted. The race was headquartered in Blanc-Sablon, Quebec on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, just west of Labrador. This isolated region is defined by its rugged coast, carved with inlets and dotted with islands. Heading inland, the terrain turns into a seemingly endless wilderness of low mountains, tundra, lakes and salmon rivers.
Although the highway runs east into Labrador, it only runs a short distance west in Quebec before coming to an abrupt halt. Most teams arrived by a circuitous route, flying to Deer Lake in Newfoundland, then travelling to the northwest tip of the island to catch a ferry across the Gulf to Blanc-Sablon.
Teams competed in a stage format over four days, completing long stages each day and racing one night stage. At the finish line for each section, organizers handed out maps, instructions and the starting time for the next stage. "It was tough on the team navigators," Cameron commented. "We didn't get much sleep."
Mueller agreed, "I found the stage format difficult on the body and a bit stressful from a preparations perspective. But what I loved about it was the interaction we were able to have with other racers and people in the communities."
Residents in villages along the route came out to cheer, collected autographs, opened schools and community halls for accommodation, and invited racers and volunteers to bountiful seafood buffets. "It was like we were celebrities," Mueller said in amazement. "These people were very excited to have us experiencing their region, and it was an honour to be there. I'll never forget their generosity and warmth."
Each stage was a mix of sea kayaking, cross-country trekking, rope work and mountain biking on roads and rough ATV trails. Teams spent eight to ten hours on the race course each day. Because the route was unmarked, racers had to stay focused, especially as sleep deprivation took its toll later in the event.
"The terrain was spectacular - it was absolutely stunning out there," exclaimed Mueller. "We visited checkpoints on peninsulas jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with waves crashing on the shore, on the peaks of rocky mountains with breathtaking views, and next to old fishing huts that stood all alone on a shoreline with nothing else in sight. It really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. The journey we had was incredible."
After racing 36 hours and three hundred kilometres, Team Salomon-Suunto earned second place in the four-person team category, finishing just fifteen minutes behind California's Yogaslackers. The only other Canadian team from west of Quebec was Palgrave's Team Tree Huggers, Richard Ehrlich and Barb Campbell, who finished fifth with teammates Tim Grant and Kristen Harrison of Etobicoke.
After the long hours of bushwhacking through thick shrubs, kayaking on choppy ocean waters and biking up mountains, Pete Cameron and Leanne Mueller are ready to tackle their most adventurous challenge yet. They're getting married this weekend!