Race Photos

DoubleShot head photojournalist, Paul McEntire (www.PaulMcEntire.com), did us the honor of coming to the races to take photos.  He's the Ansel Adams of DoubleShot Racing.  You can see his photographs here.  There's also a link from the homepage of the website.

These photos are just for you to look at.  If you want to buy photos, visit this webpage, where you can find our friend Duane Whitsett's race pictures.

Success

The races have come and gone, and I thought they were fairly successful.  

Thanks to everyone who participated- volunteers, racers, spectators, sponsors, etc.  We do it for you.  It's a lot of work, but it looked like everyone had fun and enjoyed all the festivities.

Congratulations to everyone who raced.  I know the course was rough in areas and it took perseverance to keep going.  I heard a lot of compliments on the bike course, which I really appreciate.  I put in a lot of time designing the course, and Kari and I did a lot of work cutting the new trail and weed-eating overgrown trails.  I really liked the way the course flowed; linking trails at Turkey can be challenging.

Special congratulations to Shelly Chronister and Ray Hall for winning the Duathlon.  And to Kristi Perryman and Jordan Haffener for winning the 5k.  You can see all the results by going to the DoubleShot Duathlon Homepage and clicking on the results link.  You'll also find a link to pictures that you can purchase.

I'll be posting some of our own pictures to the site soon.  And I'm happy to answer any questions you might have- just shoot me an email:  Brian@DoubleShotDuathlon.com

You might want to bookmark this blog and check back occasionally.  We're planning more races and will definitely have the DoubleShot Duathlon and 5k Trail Run again next year.

Packet Pickup

Tonight from 5-7p at the DoubleShot Coffee Company (18th & Boston) will be packet pickup.  You can register tonight for the Duathlon or the 5k.  You can also wait and register on race day, but that's a lot of last minute hoo-ha, so it would be better to register tonight.  And have a cup of coffee.

I am trying to keep a daily updated list of entrants on the website.  Go to the homepage of www.DoubleShotDuathlon.com and click on the link at the top of the page to see who is registered.  There are rumors of who is and who isn't going to race, but don't believe everything you hear.  And don't believe the voices in your head.

I wanted to answer a few questions.

1) Will there be post-race food and drink?  Yes.  We'll be grilling hotdogs and pouring beer for you.  Marshall Brewing has donated a keg of their not-yet-released Oktoberfest and Grand Vin has donated a keg of Leffe Blonde.  

2) Do you need to wear a helmet on the run?  I don't know.  Do you?

3) How long do you think the race will last?  I suspect we'll be wrapping up the duathlon around noon or before.  The 5k shouldn't take very long, but I encourage 5k'ers to stick around and cheer for the duathletes.

4) Will there be race day registration?  Yes.

Run Course

First, I made one little amendment to the bike course.  It's marked.  When you get to the bomb shelter trail, just to the north of 71st Street, instead of turning right, you'll turn left and ascend bomb shelter (through that creek bed drop that is so fun going the other direction).  When you're almost to the parking lot, look for a trail on your right.  I weedwhacked it and marked it with ribbon.  Turn there and follow the trail through the woods and down the hill, under a fallen tree, and out to the trail that turns you left and back up to the paved River Trail.  Up to the top of the hill, left around the outside of the parking lot all the way to the field just west of the parking lot.

That's where the transition area will be.

Ray Hall rode the course a few times on Saturday.  He said it was around 12.75 km (7.92 mi), which is a tad short, but it's a good course and adding anything on would mess up the flow.  I heard another guy say it was about 8.25 miles (13.27 km), so it's somewhere in there.

The run course.

I marked the run course on Sunday with orange ribbon.  If you're riding the bike course, don't follow the orange ribbon.  

Anyway, the run goes along Elwood, same as the bike, and up the big hill to the upper parking lot.  Keep going straight past the parking lot, out the Powerline Trail.  Down some technical rocky stuff and out the dirt doubletrack until you're at the top of the very steep downhill section.  At this point, there is a trail that shoots off to your right.  I weedwhacked the path there and tied orange ribbons on, so you should see it.  Follow that trail until it meets up with the Millennium Trail.  Turn right on the Millennium and follow it up the the wider, sandier trail that heads back to the top of the mountain.  A little ways up that trail, look for markers going off to your left- on a crossover to the Ridge Trail.  It goes down through a creek bed, then turn right and run up the windy trails that take you to the main trail on top.  Turn left there (away from the upper parking lot) out to the open field.  Keep going straight all the way out to the point (a small bike course crossover there) and down a treacherously rocky hill.  We descended this hill last year.  When you get to Ho Chi, turn right for a minute and then back left.  Jump over a downed tree and descend more rocky trail all the way to the main trail that takes you right to the parking lot.  Finish line.

Or transition area if you're du-ing it.

I'll post much more info this week, so keep checking the blog.  The race is this Saturday at 9a.  And don't forget, packet pickup and late registration is this Thursday at the DoubleShot from 5-7p.  You can still register and/or pick up your race packet on race day, but I recommend you do it before then.  It helps us a lot to know how many people to expect.

Stay tuned.

One Week Out

The bike course is marked.

We got a little rain last night and it feels a bit damp. I haven't been to Turkey yet today, but I would guess the trails are firm.

The course is marked with red and black checkered ribbon. It's not heavily marked, like it will be in the race, but I marked all the turns and you should be able to see it if you pay attention.
I incorporated some trails that haven't been used in a few years, so I'll be weed-eating and cleaning up trails today. The trail I'm going to cut through the woods is pretty clear already, but I'll break the trail today.
The course spends most of its time on the west side, which is pretty fun. It drops down and around a pond and comes out onto the powerline trail just below the steepest hill. You'll turn left onto powerline and ride out and down the drops by the old truck (be careful). Just before the next washed-out creek crossing, turn left into the woods again. Follow those twisty, rooty trails next to another pond (the one by the old shipping containers) out almost to the Pepsi Plant, then turn right and ride up to the spider. Take the Ridge trail to the point and circle back until you almost get to Lipbuster again (where you rode up), but make a left before you get into the clearing and take a nice, meandering trail down to Ho Chi. Right on Ho Chi and left on the new trail with the bridge that takes you down to the main trail. Wander around back to the left under the powerlines and down the boulders to the paved river trail. This part can be confusing right now without all the extra markings. Take a left on the river trail. Ride down to where the trail goes into the woods for Lo Chi. Don't take that trail. But right across from it is another trail that heads off to the east, down a loose, rocky trail- stay on that trail to the creek crossing. Up the other side is a pretty tough lift, so it probably will be a get-off point for most people. The rest of that uphill is pretty easy though. Then you'll see more markers meandering through the woods, doubling back and eventually re-joining the paved river trail. This time take a left back toward the parking lot. Just before you get to the parking lot, turn left into the grassy field and ride around the outside of it, all the way to the drinking fountain and across the parking lot entrance to transition in the big field west of the parking lot.

That's it. I think it's a fun course. I went out and blew up early on yesterday, which made parts of it not that fun, but overall I think the trails link together good and there is some stuff that hasn't been used much. So I think you'll like it. Ray Hall is out on the course today, getting ready to kick your ass. He told me he thought it was one of the most creative courses ever put together at Turkey. So go have fun.