Team Rookie Rampage
adventure racing newbies powered by MPGear.com

File Photo by Scott Markham
Jon Ng is all smiles as he takes a break from mountain biking along the Klickitat Trail in Southwest Washington.

At the finish line of the X-Dog snowshoe race, Jon Ng told me the time has already come for him to leave Rookie Rampage. "Our goals just aren't the same," he said. Since humor is my defense mechanism, I smiled real big and joked back, "That's because you're fit and competitive!"

Honestly, it's a smart move on Jon's part. Though he is new to AR, Jon is already a lean, mean, racing machine. At the Fall BEAST adventure race back in December, Jon generally led our charge. If our team can't compete on a level that challenges Jon, there's little reason for him to hang with the Rookies.

I'm glad we've decided to build a Rookie Rampage training group, instead of a cut-and-dry four-person, co-ed team of four. If we only had four athletes to draw from, we'd be in serious trouble if one person decided not to race with us any more. As it is, we've got nine newbie adventure racers training with us nearly every week, and all are eager to try their luck.

Jon said he'll continue to focus on events like today's snowshoe race, and that he may even be at a few of the adventure races Rookie Rampage competes in. Wherever we see him next, we'll cheer him on. He's the first official "graduate" of Rookie Rampage!

Photo by Ivan Arredondo
The start/finish line of the White River 8K Snowshoe Race was at the White River East Snowpark on Mt. Hood, Ore.

Rookie Rampage team members competed today in the oldest snowshoe race in the Pacific Northwest -- the White River 8K Snowshoe Race on Mt. Hood, put on by X-Dog Events. In for the fun were Jon Ng, Ivan Arredondo, Cindy Chastain and Mike Bitton.

Jon and Ivan took off at the start and ran most of the 8K. Because the course was out-and-back, I got to see them on their way back to the finish line. Jon looked barely winded, and appeared to be in the top 10. Not long after seeing him, Ivan jogged by. "I'm dying!" Ivan joked. "Don't die, Ivan," I shouted. "You have another race next weekend!"

I walked the entire 8K, because my immediate training goal is to burn off extra pounds. A long, slow burn works better than an 8K run for what I'm trying to do. Cindy walked with me some of the time, ran ahead at other times, and every once in a while waited for me to catch up. She and I walked the last 2K together.

X-Dog had chili and hot chocolate at the finish line to warm us up. We had a great time, and will likely use more X-Dog events as training dates in 2007.

Photo by Mike Bitton
Rookies on the trail run included (from left) Dana, Scott, Kim and Jan.

The Rookie Rampage Training Group continues to grow! Yesterday, Scott Markham and I trained for the first time with Dana, Jan, and Kim on the trails of Portland's Forest Park. Kim's Australian shepherd dog led the way for most of the session, which was a 7.5 mile trail run/walk. It was the perfect preparation for our next adventure race, the 4th Dimension AR winter race Feb. 4 at Snoqualmie Pass, Wash.