The 2012 Gold Rush Mother Lode is a five day unsupported Expedition Race running from August 8th to 12th 2012. The event took place in the Sierra Mountains of central California, Race with check-in on August 7th . The event included hiking/running/orienteering, mountain biking, paddling and rope work. The winning team in the co-ed 4 person class recieved a free guaranteed entry into the ARWS World Championship event in France'
Results:
We have taken considerably time and care in reviewing many factors to ascertain the results of the Gold Rush Mother Lode 2012.
The primary factor was to judge the correct response to the forest fire encountered on the final trek after TA5 which split the field. We judged the correct response was to .omit the results of that trek. Unfortunately one of the results of that trek was that Team Sole/GRML arrived at the end of the leg with insufficient time to tackle the final section of the race, a climb, trek and pack-raft orienteering section. The last point unaffected by the fire was TA5 and the final race scoring will be based on team positions to that point.
The second major factor involved is the application of penalties for Team Sole/GRML’s missing passport at 3 CP’s (26, 27, 28) between TA4 and TA5. Proof of visiting the check points was provided by the team just not in the passport. Ambiguity between the written rules and directions given at the official pre-race briefing, have prevented a black and white situation. At the pre race meeting it was stated that teams should punch their map or similar in the absence of a passport. This was during a discussion of what to do if a checkpoint was missing. In settling this point we have erred on the side of performance over paperwork and issued the lesser penalty to Team Sole/GRML. This lesser penalty is that of missing mandatory equipment and totals 4 ½ hours.
We congratulate all the teams on their efforts on a very difficult course and hope that every team can accept results based on performance up to the point that the course was equal for all, which was TA5.
The final results of the Gold Rush Mother Lode 2012 are as stated at the awards ceremony on Sunday 12th and are as follows:
Place |
Team |
Notes |
1 |
|
|
2 |
Sole GRML |
|
3 |
Tecnu |
|
4 |
Perdidos |
|
5 |
Thin Air |
2 person |
6 |
Seek Adventure |
3 person |
7 |
Fiirestarters |
|
8 |
Torti |
Incomplete one section |
9 |
Thin Air |
Incomplete one section |
19 |
Winshallah |
Incomplete |
11 |
GearJunkies/YogaSlacker |
Dropped |
Notes:
During the final trek of the 2012 Gold Rush Mother Lode expedition race all but one team encountered a fire on the course that changed how we needed to score the event. The fire occurred after all teams had departed the final transition area of the race. Team Columbia Vidaraid passed the site of the fire before it started and completed the entire course as intended. The rest of the teams remaining on the course encountered the fire and each had to choose whether or not it was safe to proceed. One team chose to press ahead, the rest chose to return to the transition area and they were shuttled to the next checkpoint beyond the fire. This created a two group scenario:
There are many questions that deserve answers.
Essentially, we consider the fire a natural disaster or uncontrollable act of nature (with the help of an idiot camper). Once racers encountered the fire not all teams were doing the same course. We were challenged to find a fair way to compare the results of the teams that trekked up a very difficult canyon with the results of the teams that were shuttled ahead. TA5 was the last place that everyone was racing on the same playing field and the final results reflect the standings at that control point. Any other solution involves educated guesses about what might have happened, for example:
The decision to go with TA5 standings negates the errors and penalties that took place after TA5. If Team SOLE/GRML had raced the final leg perfectly the reasoning behind the decision would be easier to understand and seem more fair.
Gold Rush Mother Lode 5 Day 2012 : Entries
# |
Team |
Country |
Captain |
101 |
Team Tecnu |
|
Garrett Bean |
102 |
GearJunkie/YogaSlackers |
|
Jason Magness |
103 |
|
|
Urtzi Iglesias |
104 |
Firestarters |
|
|
105 |
Seek Adventure |
|
Ken Boyer |
106 |
Team Torti |
|
Fletcher Hamel |
107 |
Perdidos |
|
Tim Kuenster |
108 |
|
UAE |
Jim Bychowski |
109 |
Thin Air |
|
Mike Chastain |
111 |
Team Incline |
|
Dave Noble |
112 |
Kayak |
|
Dan Able |
113 |
Wh2ORat |
|
Charlie Kharsa |
114 |
Team Sole/GRML |
California |
Paul Romero |
.
Gold Rush Mother Lode is excited to join Untamed new England as one of only two North American qualifiers for the Adventure Racing World Series, and the ONLY qualifier on the West Coast for 2012. Teams will compete for a paid entry to the AR World Championships to be held in France in September.
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GRML 2011 Four day Results
Team Tecnu Extreme won the 2011 Gold Rush Mother Lode. The expedition Race, part of the Adventure Racing World Series, and presented by Hi-Tec, Princeton Tec and Tecnu Extreme took teams from Bridgeport to Columbia for 280 miles across the Sierra Nevada mountains. Fast packing/trekking, mountain biking, navigating, paddling and a 600 foot rapell. Tecnu Extreme was followed by GearJunkies/Yoga Slackers, Dart-nuun and Perdidos.
RESULTS
Team# Team Missed CP's Finish Time
(Time of day Sunday 11th)
106 Tecnu 4 9:40:37
104 GearJunkies/YogaSlackers 4 1:56:30
115 Dart/NUUN 6 11:27:36
103 Perdidos 8 1:07:47
107 Lupus Extreme 9 11:44:42
114 Seek Adventure 13 11:25:32
102 Racing With Giants 14 11:14:10
116 Cygolite-TMT 14 11:38:03
117 OutdoorMindset.org 15 11:32:01
111 Breakouts 9+ 1 mandatory 11:40:14
108 FireStarters 16+ 2 mandatory 9:32:01
105 Dirty Avocados 16+ 2 mandatory 9:56:56
109 Mojo 10 Dropped Team Member 12:40:50 Unranked
110 CaliCO Incomplete route 1:35:45 Unranked
112 And Loving It Dropped after CP 15. Medical DNF
101 CITO Dropped after CP 14. Time DNF