Sho-Co Results

Official Results: XTERRA Pipestem Creek (Double Click to enlarge images)

Race Schedule

Friday:
2:30pm-4pm Lifetime Eyecare Bike Course Pre-Ride @ Pipestem Dam
5:30pm-8pm Packet Pick-Up, Late Registration and Participant Picnic @ RM Stoudt Ford

Saturday (No Pre-Riding/Running Allowed on Saturday):
7am Race Day Registration and Packet Pick-Up Opens
7:30am Transition Area for RDO Sho-Co Opens
7:40am Registration for Redplum Media Trail Run Closes
7:45am Redplum Media Trail Run Pre-Race Participant Meeting
8:00am Redplum Media Trail Run Start (Awards following last finisher)
8:15am Quality Inn XTERRA transition area opens
8:40am Registration for RDO Sho-Co Closes
8:45am RDO Sho-Co Pre-Race Participant Meeting
9:00am Relay Swim Wave Start
9:05am Men's Swim Wave Start
9:10am Women's Swim Wave Start (Awards following last finisher)
10:30am Packet Pick-Up ends for Quality Inn XTERRA Pipestem Creek
10:40am Transition Area Closes
Quality Inn XTERRA Pipestem Creek Pre-Race Participant Meeting
11:00am Relay Swim Wave Start
11:05am Men's Swim Wave Start
11:10am Women's Swim Wave Start
1:15-1:25pm First Finishers Expected (Awards following last finisher)
1:30pm Participant and Volunteer Picnic Begins!!!

Sunday
8:30am Race Day Registration and Packet Pick-Up Opens for Epic Sports Epic
9:30am Race Day Registration Closes
9:40am Race Instructions
10:00am The Epic Begins!! (Awards following last finisher)

Done

I have successfully completed mowing the run course. Man, did that take a lot longer than I had anticipated. That frees me up to move on to the rest of my schedule this week.

Speaking of schedules, the official pre-ride of the XTERRA and Sho-Co bike courses is Friday at 2:30pm. If you are unable to be there at that time, you can still pre-ride anytime before then and after up until Friday evening. There will be no pre-riding on Saturday morning!!

Trail Run: There Will Be Mud

75% done mowing the run course for the Redplum Media Trail Run and Quality Inn XTERRA Pipestem Creek. I had a mower problem this morning that is now fixed, so I should finish the trail barring rain late tomorrow night.
This course is fun, challenging and definitely lives up to the XTERRA name. It turned out a little differently than what I mapped on Google Earth, but then again I mapped it without being able to actually see the terrain. I tried to follow the natural flow of the land rather than just blaze a path straight over or through something, so you will be winding around coulees, switching back up climbs and laughing all the way down flowing downhills.
Obviously, this is off-road. If you are accustomed to only running on paved trails or a treadmill, this course will be a significant change for you. Anything I felt presents a tripping or ankle twisting hazard will be marked, but for the most part standard attentiveness will be required while on the course. NO ZONING OUT!! If you do, you'll miss the fantastic views of the river valley!
Please be prepared to get wet and/or muddy. There is one short section at about the 3 mile mark that I just couldn't avoid a natural spring seapage area. I walked through it about 20 times yesterday and it gets about ankle deep. Not straight mud, mostly clean water, but after 50-60 people run through it that could change. I don't care if my shoes get dirty, but you might. If you do, you may want to use an old pair on race day.

Race Week

There will be some other events taking place during race week other than the 4 races. Here is some info on what's happening:

Wednesday and Thursday I will be completing the race course marking. That means if you stop by for some race course recon from Wednesday on, you are most likely going to run into me. I'll be driving either a Bobcat side by side ATV or my old blue Chevy truck (affectionately known as Chuck). If I see you, I'll chase you down to say "Hi!", if I don't, please feel free to come over and visit with me. I will not be too busy to greet racers and answer any questions you might have. I'm printing a bunch of course maps and will have them with me to hand out if you need one.
Thursday night at 7pm is volunteer orientation. Here I will be assigning duties and explaining expectations to my team of volunteers. This is always an exciting/anxious time for a race director because you just never know who or how many will actually show up. I have never had a problem with the great group that has helped the last two years, but people get busy and things come up.
There are a couple activities on Friday. First, the official pre-ride of the Lifetime Eyecare Bike Course is at 2:30pm. I plan to lead the ride and it will be at a leisurely pace. Both Sho-Co racers as well as XTERRA racers will benefit from the pre-ride. The bike is the signature of this race course and I strongly recommend pre-riding. Sho-Co pre-ride will take about 30-45 minutes and XTERRA about double that on the long side.
Following the pre-ride you will have time to shower up and then get over to RM Stoudt Ford for packet pick-up and late registration at 5:30 to 8pm. We will be cooking up burgers and having a pre-event picnic. All those registered for any of the four weekend events eat free. We'll have a big tent, so even if it rains we'll be dry. RM Stoudt is located right across the road from the official race hotel, Quality Inn.
Keep checking back for more updates.

See you in a week!!

Epic Sports Epic

Bring your sense of adventure to the Epic Sports Epic mountain bike race, part of the RM Stoudt Off-Road Festival. The Epic will be held Sunday June 26th at 10am. There is no pre-riding, but I did decide to make a trail map on Google Earth. If you'll notice, this is one gigantic loop, not a series of little loops on the same course over and over and over and over.
This race/ride will be as competitive as you want to make it. There are prizes for the top 3 overall finishers. Top prize is a Garmin 500, second is a pair of Oakley's, and third is a Stan's NoTubes kit for 26" wheels. If you're keeping track, that's over $500 in schwag!!
There's something here for the easy riders as well: the poker run. There will be seven checkpoints along the route where riders can grab a playing card from a deck. Best poker hand made from 5 of 7 cards wins a prize. YOU HAVE TO COLLECT ALL SEVEN CARDS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE POKER HAND PRIZE. I'm not telling what that prize is. You have to be here to find out.
The length of the course is just over 25 miles according to Google, a little shorter than the usual route because the North Ridge Trail is unridable due to water. Speaking of water, there will be three aid stations with water and GU available for riders to help themselves. I have ridden this course almost ten times over the past few years and it's taken me anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on how hard I want to go. I've never raced it, so I'm assuming there will be finishing times close to 2 hours if not faster.
If you like riding your mountain bike, nice t-shirts, cool people, having fun, free water bottles, winning, losing or just getting outside for a great ride then you need to sign up for The Epic!!!! If you got here from my website, hit your "back" button and follow the registration link. If you got here from the blog scroll, go to www.pipestemxterra.com and then follow the registration link.

Change of Plans

HOLD EVERYTHING!!! There's water everywhere!!

But no need to panic. All events are taking place as scheduled, but there have been a couple route changes.
The signature bike course of XTERRA Pipestem Creek is fully intact and in fantastic shape. There will be no change there. However, last year's run course is under water for the most part. Taking it's place is a shorter, but more adventurous 4.3 mile course on the opposite side of the dam. I've included a trail map. For reference, the mountain bike course is on the other side of the river from the new run course. The course is subject to some minor changes as it doesn't even exist in real life at this point. I'll be mowing it in over the next couple of weeks.
Also, due to the reservoir being 44 feet higher than it was during last year's race, the swim will be a two 500 meter lap swim with no exit midway through. The point we got out and ran on last year is about 22 feet under water. The good news is the hill to the transition is about a quarter mile shorter!!
Lastly, again because of flood conditions on the reservoir, I was unable to gain authorization to lower river flows adequately to facilitate river crossings during the Redplum Media Trail Run. I know, I know... You're saying, "But Steeeeeeeeve!! I LOVE running through mud and thigh deep water!!! NO FAIR!!" I hear you and I feel your pain as I have already signed up for the trail run looking forward to splashing through the river a few times between hill climbs. I'll see what I can do about placing some of those plastic kiddie pools around the course to make up for it.
Other than that, we're still giving away $1900 in cash for the Quality Inn XTERRA Pipestem Creek, $300 cash between the RDO Sho-Co and Redplum Media Trail Run and another $400 in merchandise prizes for the Epic Sports Epic. That's a lot of SCHWAGGGGGGGGG!!! Not to mention the coolest event t-shirts you'll find, Epic Sports water bottles, chances for XTERRA shoes and free Domino's Pizza at the post race chow down. There is also talk about an unofficial after party at the Quality Inn Tapp's Lounge (smoke free, FANTASTIC burgers and they have been known to serve beer there).
Hit the website and get registered TODAY!!!!! www.pipestemxterra.com