2007 Impossible Panther
From 4LPH41337.com
Contents |
Impossible Panther Map
Impossible Panther Website
http://www.gobushwhack.com/ipar07.html
Impossible Panther Results
Impossible Panther Reviews
Josh's Take
Overall, I think Don Childrey put on a great race. One nice touch that helped our team out tremendously was that he overlaid relevant trails on the topo map. Because there is a spiderweb of trails at Uwharrie, there was really not much need to go bushwhacking. Most of the CPs were within 100 feet of a trail. There were a few trails that weren't overlaid on the map, so if you knew the area you had a slight advantage. This was our team's first time there, and I think this is totally okay. there should be some home court advantage--just not an overwhelming one, which is what it would've been if he hadn't overlaid the trails. Being my first rogaine-style race, I was extremely happy with the strategy involved in the 8-hour course, because in the 12-hour it was a decision of what way to get all the CPs whereas in the 8-hour course, it was both a decision of which CPs to get (since the 8-hour course included all the CPs of the 12 hour course) and what way to get them. the surprise event was a ropes course. so navigating various rope traverses with steadily decreasing balancing aids at 60' above the ground. great fun. there was a recreational camp that it was setup on that had a towering wall, a spiderweb where people pass others through, etc. so there was a bunch of stuff for Don to choose from.
the park was well populated with horseback and ATV riders. if you were lucky and didn't run into any horseback groups, then you probably saved yourself a good 5 minutes a group. we later learned to take the initiative and navigate around, rather than allowing them to pass us. we had practice after crossing the paths of 10 or so such groups.
as far as our team performance, we brought our A-game. we made no major mistakes. we did have a scare when Holly rolled her ankle really badly while Jordan was towing her and it started ballooning up. but we kept her moving and using it to prevent it from going useless and she ran for another 2 hours on it. it could've taken us out of the race if she hadn't been so tough. one of the nice tactical moves we did was during the paddling section, we were canoing down the slow-moving river and i had spotted a pretty big U-bend (1.75 miles) on the map and so we jumped out and portaged across it for ~800 meters. saved 20 or so minutes and when we dropped in, we looked back and saw two kayak groups. we put it in gear to get out of visual distance and left them. they never knew what hit them. :)
talking with the winners of the 8-hour race, Carolina Trash, after the race: they actually portaged the canoe most of the paddling segment, since there were a couple of trails that covered 75% of the river and they had portage wheels. we didn't have any wheels. Crying or Very sad again, congratulations are in order for their 60 point victory--they didn't even look tired after finishing.
we had to duck out before unofficial results were announced, since we had a long drive and coming back at 3am after 8 hours of exercise is kinda dangerous. however, the meal that was catered afterward was very good. hats off to Don for putting on a great race! we plan on hitting up the Golden Nugget now also.
Jordan's Take
Holly's Take
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