Gold Rush Summer Challenge 2011 Results
In a wet Summer Challenge, Team Epic with Jason Van Horn and James Stamper came through to their first win. The event started at 8 am in Red Hills near Jamestown with a 7 checkpoint route on the hiking section. The first 6 checkpoints had to be gained on foot while checkpoint 7 was permitted to be gained either on foot or on the bike, during the bike section. The first team back to ACP1 (Assistance point 1) arriving with the first 6 checkpoints completed, was ‘The Blonde and The Geologist’ after 1 hour 54 minutes. Within the next 20 minutes or so another four teams had arrived all with the first 6 checkpoints. It had been raining continuously and teams returned wet but in surprisingly good spirits and apparently staying warm, even while soaked.
For the next leg, teams left ACP1 and headed West on their bikes to pick up 4 checkpoints on the south side of the Red Hills area before returning through the ACP to pick up two more checkpoints on single track before cycling several miles to ACP2 and the paddle section. The first team seen cycling back past the ACP area was still ‘The Blonde and The Geologist’ soon followed by their pursuers.
Down at the lake, Lake Don Pedro, the first team to arrive was ‘Castle Rock’ who had chosen to skip some bike checkpoints. Soon after them, came ‘Mason Thomas’ the team of Charlie Kharsa and Brian Pro. Brian’s seat post had snapped prior to the single track to CP 12 so they had bypassed 12 and 13 and headed straight for the lake. Epic arrived 30 minutes later with all checkpoints and 20 minutes later the main pack arrived fighting for position. Desk Jockeys, Roadkill, ‘The Blonde and The Geologist’ were all within minutes of each other and got quickly on to the water. Team Cole broke a pedal but hung in and limped to the lake with a little walking and a lot of rolling! The lake water was calm and only one capsize was witnessed.
Epic took only an hour and a half to pick up the three CP’s on Lake Don Pedro before returning to the finish line after 7 hours 35 minutes with all checkpoints and the win. Second place went to Roadkill in 7:49 and third to Mason Thomas with a total of 8:05 after incurring penalties for two missed CP’s. First mixed team was ‘The Blonde and the Geologist’. First (and sadly only) womens team was Brown Eyed Girls. Special mention goes to teens Alex Thomas, Dane Harringer and Karina Redding who were assisted on their respective teams by Joel Ward and Deborah Steinberg.
Thanks to the volunteers who manned the event.
Place, Team#, Team, Members, Total
1, 12, Team Epic, Jason Van Horn and James Stamper, 7:35:32
2, 9, Roadkill, Keith Terpsma and Kevin Schenk, 7:49:16
3, 4, Team Mason Thomas, Brian Pro and Charlie Kharsa, 8:05:05
4, 7, Desk Jockeys, Ryan VanDerVeen and Paul VanDerVeen, 8:07:42
5, 2, The Blond & The Geologist, Ray Kablanow and Karin Weller and Ervin Ruhe, 8:20:24
6, 13, Old Fat Guy and Sons, Jerry McDaniel and Jesse McDaniel and Ben McDaniel, 8:29:03
7, 3, Do The Dome, Matt Hanko and Steve Cooper, 8:37:22
8, 8, MotorBoatin, Neil J. Cervenka and Mike Simbalenko , 9:36:44
9, 10, Castle Rock, Andrew Hunter and Deanna Hall, 10:42:50
10, 1, Never Too Late, Carey Gregg and Mel tanner, 11:42:40
11, 15, Plumb Crazy, James Curtis and Ron Barlow, 12:21:57
12, 14 , Cole, Nathan Cole and Cole Jr, 12:34:50
13, 6, Downey Cavaliers, Alex Thomas and Dane Harringer and Joel Ward, 12:43:52
14, 5, Brown Eyed Girls, Deborah Steinberg and Karina Redding, 13:13:58
15, 11, Team Late For Dinner, Darin Jesburg and Caleb Brubaker, 16:09:15