Dances with Dirt Race Report

Dances with Dirt - 10th May 2014

Team placed 2nd overall

Strava data for my legs: Leg 1; Leg 7; Leg 10

Dances with Dirt (DWD), Gnawbone is arguably the biggest race of the year for the Quaff ON! Race team.  It's a trail race festival hosted in our "backyard" of beautiful Brown County - there are 10k, half marathon, full marathon, 50k and 50 mile solo races as well as the 100k team relay race - all these events are off road and cover some pretty extreme hilly trails as well as some bush whacking.

I've participated in the team relay race regularly since 2009 when one of my neighbors put a team together - we were much more in it for the experience and atmosphere of the event than the racing at that time, with fancy dress and fun being top of the agenda.  Last year was the first time I ran for Quaff ON! being part of the second team and this year we were able to enter 3 teams, each named after one of the signature beers - Busted Knuckle, Hare Trigger and new for 2014, the Six Foot Blondes, our all female team.

The Quaff ON! Crew

The relay event involves teams of 5 each running 3 legs spread throughout the day.  The nature of the legs varies between long & fast mostly on trails to short, technical & nasty bush whacking, the challenge is to try to match up the strengths of the team members to the different demands of each section.  The two male teams were, on paper, pretty evenly matched in terms of running strength but the Busted Knuckle team had a distinct advantage of consistency, 4 of the 5 members had run (and won) the race for the last 3 years.  Familiarity with the course and the same people running the same legs year after year really makes a difference - knowing which way to go as well as when to push hard.  I was on the other team, Hare Trigger and we had a collection of great runners most of whom had done something in previous DWD events but none of us had run together as a team before and experience on specific legs of the race was practically zero.

Team Hare Trigger (from L to R): Pat Thomas; Jeff Yoder; Scott Breeden; Logan Worley and Tim Proctor

The race started well, after leading the whole first leg, I made the first hand over with something like 15 secs over Busted Knuckle.  The next team to exchange was the Six Foot Blondes, some 3 minutes back - Quaff ON! racing held 1-2-3 and it looked like that is how the race would continue.  However, after leg 2, Busted Knuckle had taken a 2 minute lead and never looked back, stealing a little more advantage on just about every leg.

My second run of the day was on Leg 7 and pitched me against Danny Fisher over 5 miles - I knew that I would lose time but was determined to minimize the loss.  The leg was about 3 miles of fast singletrack trail and then 2 miles of bush whacking, including about 3/4 mile directly along a creek and climbs so steep I needed hands and feet to scramble up.  The briers took their toll and I ended the run with bloodied and torn legs.  I was pleased to finish only 2 mins slower than Danny's time but this was just another add to our growing deficit in the race for the lead.

Briar'd & Bloodied

My final stage, Leg 10, was a relatively easy 2.8 mile run all on trails, unfortunately the other team now had such a lead that I shared the first mile with Cole Smith who was their runner starting the leg ahead of mine!  This did give me something to chase down and I was able to close a ~15 sec gap over the first mile before our paths separated.

With the lead team being a complete leg ahead of us, the rest of the race was pretty much a solitary affair.  We saw them briefly at the remaining exchange points and we were by this time so far ahead of the 3rd and 4th placed teams we didn't see them either.  It turned out that the Quaff ON! girls were having an epic battle for 3rd place finally stretching this to just over 15 mins after over 8 hours of running.

At the finish, we cheered home our anchorman, Logan, and took the obligatory trash talk from the winners whilst the after-party started.

The race was sponsored by Quaff ON! and our trusty beer truck, Smokey, was already serving beer to the thirsty runners who had already completed the 10k, half and full marathon distances.  The girls brought home 3rd place to complete the Quaff ON! domination of the event.  Not long after they got home, we were able to cheer in Joe Bell, Quaff ON! team mate who had chosen to run the 50 mile race (yes, 50 miles all on his own!).  He finished in 9 hours 33 mins and took 7th place overall, a truly awe inspiring result.

DWD is a great event - it can be a serious race (and we love that), but equally it's a wonderful way to spend a day with 4 companions enjoying the beautiful countryside and natural resources we're so fortunate to have so close to hand.  I know that I'll be back for more and I hope that we can keep the Hare Trigger team together to capitalize on some course knowledge and close the gap on Busted Knuckle!