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Saturday September 1st saw the first running of the NORTH—Nemacolin Off-Road Triathlon and Hammerfest. This was also the first event of this type for Grass Roots Racing. This would clearly be a challenge for the staff at GRR due to the amount of course marking needed in a triathlon. Also, Labor Day weekend at any resort would be busy so we were faced with squeezing miles of biking and running into an area already filled with other users and uses. With a long course goal of 10K running and 25K biking, the course would have to resemble the large intestine packed into a triathlete's very small stomach—lot's of twists and turns! Only time would tell if we could pull this off successfully—or fall flat on our faces. The idea of hosting an all-out race with no navigation was appealing enough to give it our best shot. If weather and luck were on our side this could work!

The Start/Finish/Transition Area was in the Lake Paige Marina. There were two rather small lakes (Taylor and Paige) located there and between them we could squeeze in a decent 1100 meter swim. Short course athletes would be treated to a circumference swim in Taylor for a total distance of 500 meters. Long course athletes would swim in Taylor also but would then exit and run 100 meters to Paige for a 600 meter "out and back" swim. At the same time as all of this swimming the duathletes (Hammerfest) would complete a 3 mile run using the Equestrian and Hummer trails in "Crater".

After the opening leg all athletes would transition to bike and follow a newly established single track to the "Arden" Hummer trails. These trails have a lot of technical aspects (dips, rocks, ruts, and mud) but are wide enough to accommodate the behemoth vehicles that regularly use them. The combination made for some fun and fast riding. Short course athletes would complete a 10K loop in Arden and return to T/A for the final run leg. Hammerfest and long course athletes would complete two loops in Arden for a total distance of approximately 20K.

For the run leg all athletes would return to Arden following the same route out of T/A. At Arden the run leg would use a different entry point than the bike leg and would head straight into a steep climb. At the peak of the climb the runners would negotiate an overgrown trail (brambles!) and descend to the base of Arden. At the base they would begin their second climb which would turn into a rock "scramble". Finally at the top again they would descend back down the way they came and return to T/A. Short coursers would finish here while the Hammerfest and long course athletes would run through T/A and head out into "Crater" following the same route as the first run of the Hammerfest.

Off the start it was Toby Angove leading the swim. Once he established his lead he would spend the rest of the day pounding out an ever widening gap and finished in a time of 2:20:03. At the same time, newcomer Rush Howe put on a surprising chase and managed to finish a short (11) minutes behind Toby at 2:31:02, while Ed Koortz finished third in a time of 2:35:50.

Edna Spang led the female long course athletes finishing in a time of 3:11:36. And Grass Roots newcomer Joella Richard Baker showed incredible tenacity and fortitude by finishing in a time of 4:19:05. Joella is a road triathlete training for the Montauk Half Iron Man and her mountain bike skills are—shall we say—developing.

In the Hammerfest it was mountain biker Steve Reger leading the charge with a time of 2:50:55. Dave Mowery hung in despite knee trouble for a second place time of 2:55:15. And Glenn Schwartz of Adventure Racing Team 2Humble 2 Win finished in 2:58:51 for third.

The short course triathletes were led by Eric Huff who finished in a time of 1:37:41. Rob McCoy stole second with a time of 1:38:08, while Ed Zabela settled for third with a time of 1:38:11. The women were led by returning triathlete Alecia Mazza, while second place was dominated by the young talent of Lauryn Macfawn. Laura Gailey of Adventure Racing Team S.S. Lopers pulled off a third place finish in her first triathlon.

Congratulations to all who braved the course at Nemacolin. We look forward to seeing all of you next year with a new and more racer friendly course! Thanks also to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort for re-arranging the activity schedules to allow us the opportunity to race at their fine facility. Hope to see all of you at the Nemacolin Season Finale Adventure Race on September 22nd!

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