Thunderclouds on the horizon, and Thunderstruck playing in the background to a motley crew of racers electrified the atmosphere. Adventure racing competitors would live the high life for a day of racing at Bark Lake in Ontario.

            The 2009 edition of the Saucony Race the Rockstar was held again at Bark Lake, in the Haliburton Highlands. An untouched, pristinely kept private outdoor area with a copious amount of trail networks and a very amusing and pleasant staff.   

Since the first edition of the Rockstar last year, the organizers, Heather and Mark Arnold (of Hark Events) and Sean Roper (of Storm Racing), have managed to make the event friendly for both the beginner and the experienced (a four hour ‘short’ course and an 8 hour ‘long’ course). What has separated the Rockstar from other typical ‘rogaine’ style adventure races is

 their use of a central “hub” and good old Rock n’ Roll. Teams of two to three are allowed to choose which sections they want to complete and in what order, with each section starting and finishing from the hub.
Among the teams vying for a first place finish and ranking in the Ontario Adventure Racing Points Series were Beowulf (of which Cathy and James Gallagher were present) and the Tree Huggers (of which Barb Campbell and Richard Ehrlich were present).

The first mandatory section for all racers began with a “FUN”, albeit wet, bike leg. Competitors were bussed out to location, from which they had to negotiate the trails, mud and puddles, to find their way back to the hub. Andrew Cameron, a member of team Salomon ATP, was deployed as the sweeper for the course explained the first section to be an awesome ride, “full of a good amount of mud, uphills and downhills”.   
Although the bike leg was wet and muddy, competitors would be in for a greater degree of wet as thunder clouds were staking the energetic bunch from only a few kilometers outside of Bark Lake.  During the first transition Campbell and her partner Ehrlich indicated that the impending weather was weighing heavy on their route choice. They made the decision to stay off the water early on (hopefully the storm would blow by while they were on the ground) and to proceed on foot to nab as many check points as possible.      

Although rain did fall throughout the day the storm and torrential downpours did not arrive until later in the afternoon. Because of the delayed arrival of the storm many teams completed most sections grabbing as many points as possible, getting a good soaking from the storm just as they crossed the finish. In the end the Milton Basement Racers (for the coed team of two division, eight hour) managed to squeeze into third place ahead of the Connell Clan by a mere 40 points. The Tree Huggers nabbed a total of 1280 points, landing them second place and Beowulf came in first with 1400 points.
Team RaceDayRush.com came in first for the men’s team of two division and Funderstorm took first place for the women’s team of two.
Out of the Men’s three person division Six Feet Under finished first as did the Big Kahunas for the Womens’s three person teams. In the coed division it was 3XYTEAM that took home a first place win (complete results are available at racetherockstar.com).
Again the Saucony Race the Rockstar proved to be another well organized and energized event. Despite the rain competitors still jumped into the lake at the finish (even after completing a snorkeling section) and enjoyed a rockin’ good time post race.
There was one team however that decided to abandon their gear and set off to look for checkpoints with a lightened load. Besides being a risky maneuver (all their survival essentials were in their packs) it is against the rules and would land any team caught doing this an automatic disqualification (DQ). After a swift search the Rockstar team found the crafty competitors and brought them back safely to a warm meal, a scolding and a DQ, "Not having your gear with you for four hours carries a pretty heafty penalty," exclaims Cameron.  
Two other teams also required the deployment of the Rockstar search party but were eventually found and and liberated to the Hub. A point that deserves mentioning: because of the experience of the Rockstar Team, the organization and communication, and the fact that it appeared Heather Arnold had “eyes everywhere,” they were able to ensure the safe return of all competitors. 

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