Raid North Georgia, 2004
By Steven Snyder

Stages 3 & 4
The TSD that was handed out the night before followed the canoe section. Teams were given a few moments to catch their breath after paddling for an hour. With no time to waste, the clock started again and off they went for the first of two Time/Speed/Distance legs. A perfect run for the TSD put teams at the beginning of Stage 4 in 127.79 minutes. The bike leg of the Raid was held on trails in the Chattahoochee National Forest and the course was approximately 3.5 miles long. As teams arrived at the check-in point, their times were recorded and they had about ten minutes to get ready to begin their leg of the biking section.

Stages 5, 6, & 7
Once teams completed the biking stage, they were given time to load their bike before being given the ‘nav-sheet’ for Stage 5. This was a different nav-sheet than what was used in Stage 1 but the goal was the same - to get as many points as possible. Again, teams were given a deadline and coordinates for the beginning of Stages 6 and 7.

Due to the delays at the beginning of the canoe stage and other hold-ups, it was beginning to get late and the obstacle course was greatly abbreviated. Stage 6 – the obstacle course was a hill climb and descent followed by a mud bog. Teams climbed a fairly steep trail approximately 80-100 yards in length and then descended down the back side of the hill which was not as steep but had plenty of off-camber spots and technical crevasse to drive through. At the bottom of the descent was a 40-50 yard section of road that was 1-2 feet deep with mud and water.

As teams lined up for the hill challenge and mud bog (aka obstacle course), organizers began setting up the “food challenge.” In my opinion, this was by far the most difficult stage of the entire Raid. Teams were served small portions of eight different ‘foods.’ Someone had been watching way too much “Fear Factor” when they concocted this stage. The food stage included 1) pig uterus (actually I believe it was fallopian tubes) 2) a whole pickled duck egg 3) kim chi 4) pig liver 5) strawberry soy milk 6) Rice Krispy and bird seed treat 7) a whole crab in the shell (a little larger than a quarter), and 8) Fermented soy bean curd (the real nasty stuff).

This stage was so nasty that many teams did not even attempt a single food item. A big congratulations (or dry heave if you prefer) goes out to Team 05, Nate Murray and Brian Larkin, because they were the only team to consume all the ‘snacks’ and keep them down for the minimum time. There were a few teams that attempted the stage but many quit voluntarily or, in some instances, their bodies physically rejected the ‘nutrition’ (that’s right…they BARFED).

Stages 8 & 9
By the time teams completed the obstacle course (Stage 6) and food challenge (Stage 7), it was completely dark and there were still two more stages to complete. It was time for a night “Navigation” and night “Time/Speed/Distance.” As teams left to begin the navigation we departed for the camp site with some of the organizers. Once at camp we knew it would be quite a while before teams would finish the TSD and be back. I believe the first team arrived back at camp around 11 PM. Honestly, I have no idea what time the last team finally made it into camp. As teams arrived they turned in their ‘nav-sheet’ and TSD sheet to the organizers. It had been a really long day and scores would not be calculated till the next morning.

Sunday morning I awoke to the sizzling sound and aromatic smell of French toast. Laura Timms was already awake making herself PB&J French toast for breakfast. If you have never had this wonderful breakfast you should try it. Imagine a PB&J sandwich dipped in egg, dusted with cinnamon and skillet fried till golden brown – THAT WAS A GOOD BREAKFAST. Thanks Laura.

As I was enjoying my breakfast, Kyle began to tally the score.

Turnout for the event was fantastic with 18 vehicles entered. Unfortunately, and surprisingly, only five teams completed the entire Raid. This made the job of scoring much easier. In First Place, Team 05, which included driver Nate Murray and navigator Brian Larkin (driving a 2002 Nissan Frontier) completed the Raid with a score of 546 points. \

Second Place went to Team 666 with driver Tony Hirko, and navigator Wade Long driving their 1977 Jeep CJ-7 to 430.5 points.

In Third Place, driver Billy Wheeler drove his 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee to 305.5 points with his navigator Jacob Emperley. See the next page for complete scores.

Conclusions --->