Thunder Rolls Adventure Race Report

This past weekend, the Thunder Rolls 2011 Adventure Race took place in my old stomping grounds, near Oregon, Illinois. The race is a 24-hour, 100 mile event that pulls in good teams from all over the Midwest, and is part of the Checkpoint Tracker Race Series. One of the teams competing in the event was Rock Racing and they've posted a fun race report, including photos and video, sharing details of their experience.

The real fun started Friday evening, when the teams had their pre-race meeting where they received their maps, passports, and instructions. What astounded me from this report was that they were told that there were 55 checkpoints to be located out on the course. That's an incredibly high number of CP's for a 24-hour race. I'm not sure we had that many in either of the two Primal Quest races that I was a part of. Anyone who has competed in an AR event will also tell you that means an awful lot of plotting points on the maps before you even start the race.

The race actually got underway at midnight, with teams rushing off into the dark, moonless night. The race report gives more details on what it was like out on the course, and it is a good read for beginning racers or those thinking about starting up in the sport. The video below also gives you an indication of what it is like to race at the Thunder Rolls, which looks like it is a good regional race and a perfect example of the often grassroots nature of adventure racing.

Thanks for sharing Chuck!