Chicago’s Danny Bobrow is a veteran thrill seeker who lives for mountain climbing and wilderness adventures. But even when he’s stuck in the congested, concrete city, Bobrow knows how to make do.
During a frigid day and night one October, when the temperatures plunged to the 30s, Bobrow com-peted in a race that uniquely tested his limits and changed his outlook on adventure racing forever. The event involved trekking up 103 floors, nearly to the top of the Sears Tower (and down again), crawling through darkened under-ground tunnels beneath City Hall, rappelling off Navy Pier and climbing on jagged lakefront rocks.
Participants, who had no idea what to expect until mo-ments before the start, also canoed along the Chicago River at night, kayaked in dangerously cold and turbulent Lake Michigan, in-line skated, biked and ran. Overall, the racers, who compete in three-person teams of mixed genders, tried to traipse across more than 100 miles of the Chicago area in 24 hours.
The little-known event–which only 7 of the 52 teams managed to finish–was the inaugural Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race in 2000, and it did more than open up a whole new world for Bobrow and dozens of other pioneer-ing souls.
The brutally challenging Wild Onion added a creative dimension to adventure racing, a sport that traditionally takes place over several days in remote jungles and com-bines teamwork with navigational and outdoor skills.
Though, as advertised, the Onion did make some people cry, it also turned the Chicago area into a hub for this in-tense new athletic subculture: people who make mountains out of high-rises and adapt to whatever real or artificial environment they’re in.
Part extreme athletic contest and part scavenger hunt, the urban survival race has evolved to showcase local flavor and attractions by requiring racers to stop at checkpoints such as Wrigley Field, CTA stations, obscure statues and fire stations.
New Jersey’s John Hartley, the top urban adventure racer in the country, called the tempestuous kayaking portion of the first Wild Onion the “lowest moment in my entire career” when his team was mercilessly dumped from the boat and washed to shore in bitterly cold water. He also found it wildly exhilarating.
“The stimulus you get in an urban environment really keeps the buzz going,” said Hartley, whose team won the inaugural race.
Since the Wild Onion’s birth in Chicago in 2000, it also has been held in Manhattan, Houston and Indianapolis and inspired other cities such as Milwaukee and Pittsburgh to design their own forms of urban athletic torture. As it grew, it sowed the seeds for dozens of shorter, easier, less gear-intensive events like the upcoming Wild Scallion in Chicago, scheduled for Oct. 2.
These races, sometimes called sprints, can last six to eight hours (instead of 24 hours), are spectator friendly, eliminate the bothersome variable of sleep deprivation and are a perfect introduction to the sport, racers say.
“They’re more accessible and there’s less fear in an urban race,” said Rob Harsh, 33, one of Chicago’s best urban adventure racers, who competed in the Eco-Challenge in Fiji–a non-stop, 7- to 12-day race that involved navigating and trekking mountain ranges, highlands, bushwhacking and mountain biking through jungles.
“People think they can do it. They might not think they can climb a mountain or paddle a whitewater river, but they can in-line skate and mountain bike,” said Harsh, who has survived three Wild Onions.
The nooks and crannies
Besides, said Harsh, who didn’t expect to like urban races, “they’re a blast. You see parts of Chicago no one else ever sees. It’s more than concrete and skyscrapers. There are beautiful nooks and crannies out there.”
The shorter, urban races–which can be held anywhere from downtown regions to forest preserves and city parks–represent the growth in adventure racing, said Troy Farrar, president of the United States Adventure Racing Association.
In 2000, there were about 35 adventure races. Today, 350 have been sanctioned across the country, and officials expect the numbers to double during the next several years. Meanwhile, an estimated 25,000 people have tried one, Farrar said. Most racers are male; women make up only about 30 percent of the field. But the number is growing, Farrar said, partly because women-only races are popping up.
Sunday’s Big Woolly Adventure Race, held by the Crystal Lake Park District, is a typical co-ed sprint. Teams of racers will bike, run, canoe, and find points using maps or a compass, covering about 50 miles.
Chicago’s Wild Scallion, designed so about 95 percent of the racers will finish, will be this year’s featured event. There will be no 24-hour Wild Onion–which has just a 30 percent finish rate–as organizers regroup to design the first world championship for 2005.
The Scallion is not easy but clearly beginner friendly. During the Onion, racers rappel off the tower of Navy Pier. In the Scallion, they run to the end of the Pier to find a plaque.
“The only part I’m a little nervous about is the run,” said Naperville’s Flo Powell, 45, who has never tried an adventure race but is signed up for the Wild Scallion. Powell, a Hoffman Estates police officer, was partially inspired by the 94-story stair-climbing race “Hustle Up the Hancock” back in February. Now on a “workout kick,” she’s running, lifting weights and plans to get some orienteering lessons from friends who are firefighters.
In all adventure races, gear lists are provided beforehand, but participants have no idea what they’re in for until moments before the race. Physical prowess is a must, but brains and good chemistry among teammates are essential.
If one person quits, the entire team is disqualified, which is why adventure racers often tow each other on bikes and scooters or tether themselves together on runs.
“Everyone always thinks it’s the girl [who is the weak link], but in most cases, the girls pull the guys along,” said adventure racing coach Jenny Hadfield, who has competed in three Eco-Challenges. She now runs Chicago Endurance Sports, which will hold Wild Scallion training programs this summer.
Pulling together
“The longer the race, the better we are. Leave your ego at home, and use everyone’s strengths,” Hadfield said.
Spouses and lovers, meanwhile, are strongly discouraged from signing up together.
“The first race we did a lot of yelling,” admitted Plainfield’s Michelle Maldonado, 31, who has endured two races with her husband, Rob, 32, and now enjoys her critical role as support staff.
The events in urban races are limited only by the creativity of the organizers, who often have to ask city officials attention-getting questions like, “Can we rappel off your building?”
Wild Onion/Scallion creators John O’Connor, John Hamill and Will Burkhart, who used to design workouts in the city to simulate wilderness adventure racing, are considered by many race organizers to be the best in the business.
Wild Scallion athletes might stair-climb 50 to 90 floors, cycle 20 to 25 miles, and tackle 10 miles of running and metro trekking, which is navigating the downtown environment. Last year, there were 9 miles of metro trekking with checkpoints at the Art Institute, Wrigley Field, stores on Michigan Avenue and statues throughout the city.
In Houston, where the race time has been reduced to 12 hours from 24 to open the event to more people, athletes might whitewater raft at Astro World Six Flags or pull teammates around an ice rink at a shopping mall. There’s also an obstacle course on the ice rink, paddling in the bayou and mountain-biking around town.
Creativity helps
Training for these races takes some original thinking. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, many buildings–like the Sears Tower–became off limits. Public buildings closed their stairways, eliminating key training sites.
Bobrow manages by sneaking into buildings for stair training, walking or running the lakefront with a full pack on his back for hours, and taking kayaks out on the lake through the Lincoln Park Boat Club. Competing in an Ironman triathlon–a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 run–is another training strategy adventure racers like Bobow might use.
“I live to find adventure in everything I do,” said Bobrow, director of Climb for a Cause, which organizes mountain climbs and hikes for charity. “In some ways, it’s particularly gratifying to find adventure in places and ways others do not, like racing through downtown Chicago.”
– – –
Test your mettle
Here’s where to give adventure racing a try, or maybe just sit on the curb while the pack hurtles by.
SUNDAY
Big Woolly Adventure Race, Crystal Lake. Events include biking, running, canoeing, navigation, orienteering over 30- to 40-mile course. Contact: Matt Wehby, 815-459-0680, ext. 228.
www.crystallakeparks.org
SATURDAY
TheLaacke & Joys Mid America Xtreme Urban Tadpole Adventure Race, Milwaukee. Includes biking, running, climbing and mystery tasks in two- to three-hour race. Contact: Paul Daniel 414-271-7885, ext. 145. www.adventureracing.net
The Laacke & Joys Mid America Xtreme
Urban Frog Adventure Race, Milwaukee. Includes biking, running, paddling, skating and mystery events in a six- to eight-hour race. Contact: Paul Daniel, 414-271-7885, ext.145.
www.adventureracing.net
Summer Groove Adventure Race,
Manistee National Forest, Whitehall, Mich. Disciplines include trekking/orienteering, mountain biking, canoeing and fixed ropes in a 15-hour race. Contact: Don Hudson, 734-417-6132, don@infiterrasports.com;
www.infiterrasports.com
JUNE 26
Northern Route Adventure Race, Chequamegon National Forest, Cable, Wis. Disciplines include trekking, orienteering, land navigation, paddling, mountain biking and fixed ropes. Both 24- and 12-hour races will be held. Contact: Lance Basting, 715-271-9857, basting@att.net, www.team-enterprise.com
JULY 10
Whirlwind Adventure Race, Batavia.
Disciplines include biking, canoeing, running, navigating and the triad (scooter, in-line skating and biking) in a 3 1/2- to 6-hour race. Contact: Ryan Jastrzab, 630-406-5282 or 630-879-5235, ryanj@batpkdist.org; www.whirlwindadventurerace.com
JULY 11
Wild Scallion Adventure Training Clinic, Fleet Feet Sports, Piper’s Alley, Chicago. Contact: Jenny Hadfield, 866-237-7861, www.chicagoendurancesports.com
JULY 17
SMAC Sprint Adventure Race, Howell, Mich. Disciplines include canoeing, mountain biking, orienteering/trekking and fixed ropes in a 13-hour race. Contact: Paul Piorkowski, 734-699-5182. www.smacworld.com
OCT. 2
Wild Scallion, Chicago. Disciplines include triathlon (swim, bike, run), stair climbing, in-line skating, scootering and navigation in a six to eight-hour race. John O’Connor, Urban Adventure Racing, 312-464-3300, johnoc@urbanadventureracing.com; www.urbanadventureracing.com
