Racers brave 30 hours of cold, wet adventure in national championship

Canoes line up at the Adventure Race National Championship on the Pepacton Reservoir yesterday morning. Photo by Carol O'Beirne. 

For the past two days, the Catskills have played host to a grueling 30-hour trial of physical strength and endurance: the 2012 USARA Adventure Race National Championship. 

Adventure racing is a team sport that involves an obstacle-course-like route of paddling, hiking, cycling, navigating  by compass, and rappeling down rock faces. The idea is that just by finishing the race in one piece, you win. (There are prizes for the fastest racers as well. But the real prize is survival.) 

Every year, the US Adventure Racing Association picks a new location to host its national championship race. This year, the 100-mile course was in the Catskills, beginning with a canoe-paddle on the Pepacton Reservoir in Delaware County yesterday and ending at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, Ulster County, this afternoon. 

Several locals were onhand at the Pepacton Reservoir at 8am Friday morning to watch the race kick-off, and they sent us photos. You can see all the images below. As you think about what you did over the 30 hours this weekend, take a minute to applaud the racers -- the last straggling team made it to the finish line at 4:18pm today. (The offical race cut-off time was at 2pm.) 

Everybody seems to have had a great time. From the USARA's website:

We're picking up on the following themes: 1. It was cold 2. It was tough 3. It was beautiful 4. It was wet 5. It was awesome 6. It was long 7. It was cold 8. It was awesome.