The Big Chill Lives Up To Its Name

The Big Chill 24 hour Adventure Race was held in and around Bastrop State Park. Despite the forecasted cold weather, 22 teams showed, 5 of which were from HART. The teams represented a well-respected contingent of adventure racers whose robustness would be tested throughout the 24hrs, proving crucial to completing the entire course.

The race started with a navigation leg, where at each check point a question or riddle had to be answered. There were 5 checkpoints covering the western half of Bastrop Park. The second leg was a fairly long trek/paddle leg. The trek slowly led teams to the paddle put-in, which was at Lake Bastrop, about 2 miles north of Bastrop Park. Upon reaching the lake, teams were greeted by sustained winds of over 30mph accompanied by 3ft-high white caps. The harrowing paddle covered the entire lake and swamped at least two boats.

After making it back to the park from the paddle, teams had to scooter, skate, or hike Road 1A around Bastrop Park. There were two check points along the way and this leg provided a short rest period before the longest leg of the course. Next was the bike/trek section. It involved some trekking navigation, a hike and bike, and a Tyrolean traverse, but was overwhelmingly bike oriented. The leg took the racers southeast to Buescher State Park and then east to Rocky Hill Ranch and back to Bastrop Park through a circuitous route between the two parks. The entire length of this leg was over 50 miles total. The final leg of the race was a Rogaine orienteering section where teams had until the 8am cutoff time to find as many of the 10 checkpoints as possible in any order. By this time, the temperatures were dipping into the mid-20s and winds were still gusting up to 25mph throughout the park.

Out of the 22 teams that started the race, 9 teams had to drop out. One HART team, consisting of Tara Kelly, Mike Messer, Mike Mey, and Andrew Royle, made the podium in 3rd place. All HART teams finished the course, clinching the inaugural “Too Cool Cup”, awarded to the club with the highest point total based on finishing place.

Bastrop State Park was a great location for this race. The variety of terrain proved to be a navigator’s paradise, as it was fast and exciting. The Big Chill was the longest adventure race for about half of the participants and it will likely be one of the most memorable.
Kenny Farrow participated in the Big Chill 24hr Adventure Race with Team HART Shaped Box. He and his team finished a respectable 9th place out of the 22 that started the race.