2001 Florida Coast-to-Coast Eco Race

May 25-27, 2001

St Augustine to Crystal River

60 hours, 48 minutes

First place Female

"We actually felt pretty good most of the race.  My teammates pulled me on the bike early in the race, Paige had to fight with some bad blisters, Mindy was one strap away from falling off the traverse, and Carey was battling sleep deprivation while paddling across the Gulf.  We learned some good stuff to help us in the future.  We hooked up with a couple of different teams throughout the race and met some really good people.  Our support crew ROCKED!  We had ice and cold water every transition and we had hot food when we could.  We slept 3 times:  1 hour, 2 hours, and 1 hour.  I don't think we could have slept less."  - Nancy

"From sunrise over the Atlantic Friday to sunset in the Gulf Sunday and 60+ hours in between, Crew Zen raced 205 miles across Florida. We probably experienced every emotion possible from the adrenaline rush of the traverse, to the fear of being on the Oklawaha river at night trying to outrun a thunderstorm. One wrong turn and we would end up like some 20 other teams that found themselves lost in the swamp for 16 hours. As it was, we kayaked that leg of the race in 11 hours and arrived at the transition at midnight to be met by a small and hardy group of applauding support crews including our own.

After a short break, we decided to press on leaving at 1:30am for a bushwhacking trek south along the river. It took almost 6 hours to find our way to the next checkpoint but some teams took even longer. The winning team last year dropped out after taking 12 hours to complete this leg.

After an hour of sleep we took off for another bushwhacking river hike and this time we had to carry our bikes. The course was jungle thick and we did a lot of lifting our bikes over felled trees but 3 1/2 hours later we emerged into the sunlight and proceeded to the next checkpoint.

After a 4 1/2 hour trek we arrived at the full transition. Full means food and our support crew didn't disappoint. They cooked us hot dogs and hamburgers with all the fixins, they tended to our blisters, filled our packs with ice and water and had hot oatmeal ready for us after we took a 2 hour nap. They even hung up a sunshower so we could clean up a bit. That might have been a bit selfish on their part as I'm sure we didn't smell too good at that point.

So it's Saturday night, we're all cleaned up, and we head off on our bikes to the ropes course. After a short ascent up the rockface, we hooked up to traverse across the rock quarry.  Forty feet high and 200 feet long, the idea is to glide as far as you can and pull yourself up the other side. We had a scary moment when one of my runners came loose and left me hanging on 1 line instead of two but we made it. All those upper body workouts really helped. 

After the ropes, we biked into the Ocala area horse trails. The going was slow and tedious as we had to find trail markers using our headlamps. At times we would lose the trail and have to backtrack. We met up with Jeff and Jono, a 2 man team that stayed with us until the end. Jeff has done Southern Traverse in New Zealand, a 6 day 400 km race, and he provided a lot of inspiration to our team.  Jeff quotes Austin Powers' movies and talks about his desire to work for Krispy Kreme (sprinkles department) but otherwise seems quite sane.  We stopped to sleep on the trail for 15 minutes but the guys snored so bad we couldn't sleep. 

Eight hours later we arrived at our checkpoint for a much needed 1 hour nap.  On to kayak the Withlacoochee river. The steady slap of kayak paddles in the water had us nodding off pretty quick so we sang a few songs to keep us (and everyone else) awake. No worries, we will be keeping our day jobs.  We paddled into some pretty thick smoke for a while but once we hit the next checkpoint the smoke had cleared and we were ready to start our last bike section.  The final bike leg was pretty short but some of us really fought sleep; it's surprising how easy it is to ride 18 miles an hour and nod off. 

We hit the next checkpoint knowing it was the last leg of our race: a 6 hour kayak that took us into the Gulf of Mexico.  We paddled into 2 foot swells until we didn't think we could take another stroke, then we paddled for 2 more hours. 

Now we're heading into the Crystal River and we're less than 2 miles from the finish. Paige and I are cutting the corner to avoid boat traffic and we pass close to some reeds passing right over a gator. We scare the gator (I can't describe what that did to us) and he whips around bumping our boat and splashing water into the kayak.  203 miles unscathed, I'm thinking, and we're going to die 2 miles from the finish. 

With the finish line in sight, we paddle the final 200 yards to the cheers of our support crew. We can't say enough about that part of our team.  Chris, Anne, Charles and Deb you guys were there for us at every turn and we couldn't wait to see you each time.  Your smiling faces and words of encouragement were so important to us, we truly could not have done this without you.  To Mom and Dad from Carey and me, thanks so much for being there at the finish.  We know you worry when we are out there but we are our parent's children and we wouldn't have it any other way. 

To all the great teams we met along the way and all the finishers of this race, you are the spirit of adventure racing.  Keep rocking and we'll see you in the wilds."   - Mindy