Continued from Part 1

The next task was to carry full pack and gear to a cabin a couple of miles away. Mark and I headed out together, following a trail through the woods marked by pink ribbons. The post hole tool was useful as a walking stick on the steep climb. We soon came to a gravel road which was a relief to walk on, and the climb up was gentle for a change. A full moon was appearing and it would soon be time to turn on headlamps.

We arrived a cabin where a couple of race organizers were relaxing by a fire. The first place guy, a trainer from San Diego, was already on his return journey and doing amazingly well. It was fortunate as we heard what was ahead of us. At this check point he was busy eating one pound of raw onion, and not enjoying it. He finished up and was told to head back to the wooden bridge beside the pond with just his Greek book, and translate the sentence that was under the bridge.

Meanwhile, Mark and I were directed to continue up the road to see the Onion King at the Onion Store. More onion stuff? The climb up the road was steep and rocky. It leveled out eventually and then the pink ribbons just lead down into the woods again, through brush and over logs and downed trees. It was steep bushwhacking and again the posthole tool helped. I was wondering what it would be like following this trail back in the dark, it was hard enough to follow in daylight.

Stefanie, the first place girl came charging up the hill – she said it was a really long climb and that we would be eating onions at the Onion Store. I apologetically told her she would be eating them when she got back to the cabin too, if she did not know it already. Still, she was still on a mission and moving very fast.

Eventually after much meandering and hearing cars on nearby roads, we came to a mowed lawn that led up to a quaint stone house on the side of the hill. It was full dark now and the cozy glow from the stone arched garage adjoining the house was welcoming. The Onion King, Roger, and his wife, were our hosts. Here the tasks were to chop up our 10 lbs of onions, eat one pound of them, then do 10 wheelbarrow loads of wood from the woodpile to the garage. More chores! There were two cords of wood to be stacked. The wheelbarrows were in use by other racers so Mark and I sat down to the table and started chopping. It felt like a cooking show, everyone chopping away and chatting. Onions were divided into ten one-pound bags. Some people were chowing down unhappily. There was a bbq grill available to cook the onions so I put two pounds in foil wrappers to roast nicely. After gels, Ensure and sports drinks all day I was craving savoury food and the onions would be delicious roasted. One pound was for now and I would take the other cooked pound with me to eat down at the cabin.

Onions chopped, I got on a wheel barrow and ran back and forth, feeling rejuvenated after the sit down and conversation. The Onion Queen did the stacking and I got the 10 loads over with fast. By then my onion was done and I ate it hungrily. Red onions get nice and soft when roasted and are sweeter than yellow ones.

The Onion King was offering advice for anyone who donated $25.00 at this station. Mark must have heard something about this as he advised me to do it. He was going to drop out at this point as he was tired and facing a long drive in the morning, although I tried to talk him into staying. He generously gave me his pennies so I would not spend all of mine.

This proved to be such a great idea of Mark’s and I am eternally grateful, because as I was getting the $25:00 together, the first place guy is arriving BACK here, Greek book in hand, because he could not translate the phrase. So in the time it took us to get up here and get into tasks, he had run back to the pond, where he could not figure out the translation. He had to go back to the cabin where we had seen him, where they told him he had to go up to the Onion King for the phrase. That is fast but wow what an effort, doing that final bushwhack trail in the dark. My donation to the fund mean Roger whispered in my ear the translation which I very carefully wrote down.

I said goodbye to Mark, thanked him profusely, and teamed up with a group of guys who were heading back to the cabin. Safety in numbers and teamwork were on everybody’s mind. On the way back to the cabin, the second place girl was also on her way back as she too did not make the donation and could not translate the phrase.

Back to the cabin, where we got our onion-eating orders. Mine were still slightly warm. Even the race director there asked for a bite and liked the taste. I got out of there and headed back to the pond to see the Greek phrase and be certain I had the right information. The sentence was ‘The race is one-quarter complete’ and the Greek words seemed to follow this so I told the race volunteer in charge there the phrase and he sent me down to the barn for the next task.

I downed some Red Bull to try to get the onion aftertaste out of my mouth (it didn’t), then got to the next task: inflate an inner tube with the world’s smallest hand pump. It took a while but again I got to sit down and zone out while pumping. I almost dozed off. Sleep was threatening. However, the first place guy finished while I was there and that was a great celebration.

Once the tyre was inflated, they told me to take all my gear and the tube and head to covered bridge farm for the next task.

At the bridge, the task director took me to a nearby pond where I had to stand waist deep in the freezing water, with my inner tube around my waist, and translate a Greek word using my book. My mind was foggy but with three other racers in the pond too someone figured it out and we could go stand by the campfire to thaw out. Feet were numb but no way was I going to quit at that point.

The first place woman and another guy had finished their tasks here and were heading to the finish line so I knew there could not be too much left to do at this point.

Next task – carry about 30% of our bodyweight in sand up over the mountain to the axe store, where we would collector our finisher award!!!! Then come back down the pond. With only the bag of sand to carry we flew up the trails. I was feeling exhilarated that I was still in the game and was going to finish, no matter what other tasks might still lie ahead.

I got to the axe store ahead of the others, no crawling through the barbed wire this time, whew! I was presented my finisher skull by Peter, the axe store/banker guy. He said to head back to the pond however I wanted. I knew how to get there by road and it was all downhill so I took off running, enjoying my second early morning sunshine. This was about 06:00 so I had been on the go for 34 hours or so. I was happy to have a new ‘longest time on feet’ PR, beating my previous time of 26:45 hours on a 100-miler last year.

I ran and ran and ran, enjoying the birdsong and passing silent houses. All this drama had been going on while people went on with their weekend activities. It was like being in a parallel universe.

I got back to the pond and showed my skull to the director there. He told me I was almost done, to pick up all my gear and follow the trail to the river. I was to tube downriver about one mile until I got to the bridge near the farm. I was familiar with this from all the back and forth earlier.

Tubing was difficult in 2 feet of water where rocks poked up frequently. I had let my pack float beside me, with a firm grip!, and use the posthole tool to push off rocks or pole along. Thankfully I had a flotation vest on. I actually stood up and walked a lot of it, even though the footing was slippery. It was better than my butt constantly banging into submerged rocks. The few times the river did get deeper I took advantage and hopped on the tube and it was sweet to be off my feet. I had never tubed before so this was a fun experience. The water was refreshingly cool.

Soon the bridge appeared, and spectators and video crew were present. I got to dry land, shouldered my soaking wet extra heavy pack (tried not to think about the onions swilling about in there with my remaining pennies) and hit the trail. I marched hard knowing the finish was less than half a mile away. I charged up the last slope to the finish area by the barn. Andy, the race director, was on me in a flash, pointing out the last task before I could cross the line: 100 pushups!

I had to laugh. How many times have I done that and more in a WOD? I dropped my gear, got into the pushup circle, and got busy. The race directors said mine were the strictest they had seen from everyone to date – thank you Crossfit! I had dirt all down my front from going chest to ground – ironic since I had been nice and clean from the river tubing.

I got the 100th one done to cheers and applause and could finally cross the finish line. I was happy in a dazed way, lack of sleep and output of effort for about 36 hours finally hitting me.

I know I finished 2nd female and maybe 10th overall – still waiting for results to be posted.

I already want to go back next year, armed to the teeth with straps, webbing, packs, etc. as no way am I carrying buckets again!!!

I still have a trace of the onion taste but it is fading. As are the bruises. And scratches. And mosquito bites. My sense of accomplishment and selfconfidence is never going to fade though.