Quality Inn XTERRA Pipestem Creek

Epic Sports XTERRA Pipestem Creek The EPIC

FINISHERS

1) Will Kelsay
2) Ian Easton
3) Jake Richards
4) Asa Jacobs
5) Seth Carlson
6) Steve Wenzel
7) Zach Johnson
8) Greg Ames (on a SINGLE SPEED FAT BIKE for crying out loud!!)
9) Matt Wenzel
10) Keith Robinson
11) Tim Crawford
12) Tim DeBruin
13) Alex Kalliokoski
14) Mike Koch
15) Lance Larson
16) Craig Kopp
17) Scott Scudamore
18) Kevin Adams
19) Sarah DeBruin (only female finisher!!)

Jamestown Implement XTERRA Pipestem Creek Sho-Co

Double Click to enlarge

RTS Shearing, LLC Trail Run Results

Women	Time		Men	Time
Nicki Molnar	41:30:00		Justin Slusser	33:50:00
Jennifer Fredrickson	42:09:00		Joseph Jenson	36:38:00
Bernie Bachel	43:27:00		Alex Kalliokoski	40:08:00
Elizabeth Entzel	45:55:00		Steve Mayhair	41:25:00
Stephanie Jenson	46:35:00		Ryan Anderson	42:25:00
Melissa Meidinger	48:23:00		Larry Benke	50:25:00
Leah Entzel	48:33:00		Jacoby Jackson	54:27:00
Shirley Jackson	51:48:00		Casey Stoudt	55:15:00
Sarah DeBruin	55:15:00		Jamie Stoudt	55:15:00
			Jon Slusser	56:38:00

Weekend Schedule (sorry about the formatting)

Sorry about the format of this post. I can't get Blogger to work right and I'm no I.T. geek. Here is the full weekend schedule for the RM Stoudt Off Road Festival. In the event of rain, all races will start on schedule. If there is lightening or other unsafe conditions, I will determine at that time whether to postpone a start time or cancel a specific race. We've dealt with some very severe weather over the last three years and all races have been held (This is for information only, I do not expect to be cancelling anything): Tuesday-Thursday: Course preparation Thursday 7pm: Volunteer meeting at Pipestem trailhead Friday 4pm: Pre-ride of bike course led by Team Timex pro Will Kelsay Friday 7-9pm: Registration and Packet Pick-Up at RM Stoudt Ford RM Stoudt is located at 800 23rd St SW and the festivities will occur in the showroom. There will be pizza and refreshments served at no charge to competitors. Saturday 7am: Race day registration for the RTS Shearing Trail Run and Epic Sports Epic, packet pick-up for all other races begins. Sho-Co and XTERRA competitors need to check in one hour before their race for body marking and transition set up. Saturday 8am: RTS Shearing Trail Run begins. First finishers will be around approximately 30 minutes Saturday 8:30: Sho-Co participant meeting. Race regulations will be discussed and participant questions addressed. Relay teams need to be marked as follows: Swimmer will be body marked or on front and back of swim cap, Biker must have number affixed to bike, runner can have number pinned to clothing or on number belt. Relay transitions must occur in the "RELAY" box marked in the transition area. There is NO RIDING IN THE TRANSITION AREA and helmets must be worn and fastened at all times while on the bike course. Saturday 9am: Jamestown Implement Sho-Co begins. Teams and individuals will start in one wave. Saturday 9:30am: Trail Run awards. $50 cash to men's and women's overall winner. Age Group winners recognized. Saturday 10am: First finishers of Sho-Co expected Saturday 10:30: XTERRA Pipestem Creek participant meeting. Race regulations will be discussed and participant questions addressed. Relay teams need to be marked as follows: Swimmer will be body marked or on front and back of swim cap, Biker must have number affixed to bike, runner can have number pinned to clothing or on number belt. Relay transitions must occur in the "RELAY" box marked in the transition area. There is NO RIDING IN THE TRANSITION AREA and helmets must be worn and fastened at all times while on the bike course. Saturday 11am: XTERRA Pipestem Creek begins. Men start at 11, Relays and Women at 11:05. Saturday 11:30: Sho-Co Awards. The website says $50 cash to both Men's and Women's winners, but that's not enough. I'm bumping this to $75. Age Group winners recognized. Saturday 1pm: FOOD STARTS!!!! Domino's Pizza for everyone, Gatorade, Pepsi products and tons of fresh fruit. First finishers are expected around the 2 hour mark or slightly before. Luke Nelson finished at 1:58 last year and the run course was shorter, but way more difficult. I'm guessing around the same time. XTERRA awards will be held around 2pm depending on finishers. From 1-5pm it'll pretty much be a party. Last year several Trail Run and Sho-Co participants stuck around to watch and hang out along with a bunch of spectators. We'll have some yard games for people to play and you CANNOT forget the annual Ninja, Bear, Cowboy tournament!! If you're sticking around overnight let me know. I'm thinking a barbecue with beers is in order Saturday evening. This would be BYOB, but I've got a massive deck at my place that seats about 40. I love hanging out with fellow XTERRA enthusiasts and my wife just informed me she can "cook for an army." Sunday 8:30am: Epic race day registration and packet pick-up begins. Sunday 10am: The Epic begins!!! This is a BLAST of a race! If you will be in town Sunday, I strongly recommend participating. Epic Sports from Bismarck kicked in a Garmin Edge 500 for the overall winner and we're giving away three pairs of Oakley's!! The fun part is the course. There is no pre-riding allowed and no course map exists. There's a lead ATV and some sparse markings. If you don't see an arrow, DON'T TURN. There will be support vehicles on course and two spots to refill with water, Gatorade and Powerbar stuff. After you've finished (and if you're of age) there will be free cold beer waiting for you!! This ride will take anywhere from 2 to 3.5 hours, but I'm not keeping track of times, just places.

XCITEMENT is Building

Just 60 days away from the 2012 RM Stoudt Off Road Festival, I can't help but get excited!! To temper my enthusiasm, I would like to talk about one of the races each week over the next month of May. I'll use the blog in June to put out specifics about race weekend schedules and special events for the athletes. The first update will be next week and I'll be featuring the RTS Shearing LLC Trail Run, including a trail map and photos from the course. Keep checking back for a special report on every aspect of the weekend!!

For Those About to ROCK.......

If you've never experienced XTERRA Pipestem Creek or the RM Stoudt Festival, you are missing out. The focus of the whole weekend is to provide the participants with an experience that is unique, challenging and memorable! There is an element of adventure in every event.
The trail run takes you off the beaten path through woods, pines and over logs before hitting the North Ridge trail for some great views of the reservoir as you twist and wind along, get this....... the north ridge of Pipestem. Yeah, it starts out with about a half mile of gravel (yaaaawwwwwwwwwn), but makes up for it the other 4.5 miles. The steep climb up from the shore to finish the run is a special touch that your legs will really enjoy.
XTERRA Pipestem Creek Sho-Co (short course) is the perfect off road race to get any beginner hooked!! The bike course packs almost 1000 feet of climbing into 5 miles and the run is a fast 3 mile loop with a rock garden and some punchy little hills.
XTERRA Pipestem Creek is one of the highest rated XPS races the last two years. 9.2 and 9.1 ratings for 2010 and 2011 by the athletes who participated. A huge cash purse paying 6 deep for both the Men's and Women's divisions sweetens the deal. I'm thinking of adding some live entertainment to play while you dine on all the free Domino's pizza and fresh fruit you can handle after destroying yourse..... I mean the course!!!
XTERRA Pipestem Creek Epic MTB is a massive 26 mile loop-style race that takes you on singletrack, gravel, horse trails and NO trails!! Last year about 2" of rain fell during the race that definitely made "The Epic" live up to it's name. It was an absolute mudfest. I buried the lead out ATV and it took me three weeks to get it out! This race had some unbelievable prizes last year including a Garmin 500 and over $400 in Oakleys. I'm working on that same level of prizes for 2012.
All in all, the weekend is a blast and the athletes that participate are treated to a ton of extras that you just don't get at other events (I know, I participate in a lot of other events). Keep checking the blog for updates, or better yet go sign up!!!

New Website

Holy crap that thing is SWEET!!

That is all.

2012 RM Stoudt Off Road Festival!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what a crazy start to 2012!! I have been working my tail off at my real job and haven't had much time to work on my PASSION, which is this event. Well, I've scrounged up enough time to raise some money, get my web guys working on updating the website, paid my XTERRA fee, submitted my USAT sanctioning application and registration will be opening by Friday the 13th. Whew!!
After the success of last year's event, I think we have settled on a weekend format that works for almost everyone. I say "almost" because not everyone is cut out for XTERRA/off-road racing. Some people prefer ordinary and predictable versus the adventurous and challenging. I'm not one of those people and neither are 99% of those who have had a blast at this event the last three years.
2012 brings only positive changes to the weekend. XTERRA has XPANDED their America Tour to include not only the Points Series races, but also any short course triathlons and mountain bike races scheduled as part of the same event weekend. So, the Sho-Co is now XTERRA Pipestem Creek Sho-Co and The Epic is now XTERRA Pipestem Creek Epic MTB. The only course change includes a switch back to the original run course for the XTERRA points race with a tweak to the gravel section to make it more interesting. Oh yeah, you might be interested to know that the pay outs have increased for every race. The details are listed on the website, so go to each race page to see the numbers. The amount of cash and prizes given away at this event is OBSCENE!!
That's all I have for you right now. SEE YOU IN JUNE!!!!!!

Steven

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

Old Man Winter

Wow. Just when you thought it was safe to go outside.....BAM!!! Smacked with 10+ inches of heavy, wet snow and below freezing temps. This is really straining my motivation. It's freakin' MID APRIL!!! Last year at this time we had two weeks already on the trails and were approaching very respecable mid summer lap times on Pipestem. This year I'm 8-10lbs heavy and can't get any consistency other than slogging out runs on the treadmill in the Chamber of Pain.
I have to list some positives of this recent natural disaster or I'll crawl into a hole:

1) I can put off the ever tedious task of removing the trainer skewer from the rear wheel of my road bike.
2) I can make sure the snow blower still works.
3) More computer time available. (I'm really reaching here)
4) Laundry and housework are all caught up due to being relegated to the indoors.
5) It's great to see the seasons change, then change back.
6) Last, but definitely not least, more time in the Chamber of Pain!!

Well, even if the snow sticks around til June, we're still holding the RM Stoudt Off Road, so get signed up!!

I'm off to fold some clothes.

Where Does This All Go Down?

I would like to apologize to the 933 bike shops I sent posters to that drove them to the website. Nowhere on the poster or the website does it say WHERE THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE!! Wow.
Pipestem Dam and Lake Project is located 4 miles north of Jamestown, ND. An update is in work to remedy this gaff.
With that said, get to your local bike shop and look for the sweet poster!! If you are in ND, SD, MN, WI, IA, NE, WY, MT and CO and you don't see a poster in your LBS, they either aren't listed in the yellow pages or they didn't put it up, so ask them about it.

More updates to come as competitor commitments come in.

Wow! It's March!

It has been a crazy few months since 2011 rolled around. Lots has happened.
Officially, the posters went out in the mail to 946 shops across ND, SD, MN, WI, MT, WY, CO, NE and IA today. The website is up and running with up to date info. Online registration is open at www.zapevent.com. The Gatorade and GU are ordered. Two more buoys are ordered (to mark the entrance and exit points of the swim).
I'm getting invites out to some "special guests" this week, so keep checking to see who commits to race this year!!