The Monster in Quincy IL from Jill Plassmeyer

On Saturday, September 20th, The team chose to do the Long Course of the Monster Adventure Race in Quincy, IL, which consisted of about 45-50 total miles of biking, running/trekking, orienteering, kayaking, an obstacle course, and worst of all, a 40 lb sandbag carry for 2 miles!
The team sent Jill Plassmeyer, Marc Fisher and Ken Chappell to this race. Bryan had a wedding to attend that weekend (hey Bryan, where's your priorities???) ha
For some reason, all three of us seemed to be more nervous for this race than some of the others. I think I had to use the restroom at least 4 times before the start of the race. Due to the last stop to the restroom, I forgot to put my Camelbak back on. I realized this just before the horn sounded. After letting out a classic, "Ohhhh F*$@" like Ralphie from a Christmas Story, and as I frantically sprinted to get it, my team ended up about 30 seconds behind the rest of the teams. Nice one Jill. Not exactly the best way to lobby for MVP of a race.
This race, like all races, was another adventure for sure. We spent much of the day on our bikes, riding through sand (or attempting to ride), torturous hills on the road, and mud, mud, and more mud. Did I mention mud? The 2 mile creek run was also interesting. With the extra rain they had received, the creek felt like quicksand much of the time. Marc did the kayaking portion of the race and had a blast! He couldn't stop talking about how much fun it was.
We also owe a big round of applause to Ken for learning to do the orienteering in a little over a week. He even checked out a book and a video from the Lebanon Public Library He guided us through the woods as if he had been orienteering for years. This was key as the more people knowing how to orienteer and navigate, the better. Woo-hoo, nothing like hands on learning in combat situations.
Near the end of the race was the dreaded sandbag carry. All three of us agreed that that was the worst part of the race. I know my back was sore for three days after the race.
Overall, we had a great day. The weather was almost perfect (about 5-10 degrees cooler and it would have been perfect). We ended up finishing 4th in our division (3 person co-ed long course) and 10th overall with a time of 8 hours 22 minutes. We were disappointed that only the top three teams qualified for nationals, but at least our goals are in sight. The organization from the race staff and volunteers was "spot on" and one of the best I have participated in. I would strongly recommend this race, as I know we will probably continue to do this race in the future.
Race summary by Jill Plassmeyer