'Mighty Ducks' take on Wilderness Challenge

One thing you notice about "adventure racing" is that the team names sound like movie titles. Grave Diggers, Toxic, Devil's Rejects, Three Midgets and a Mormon, Warbucks -and, of course, the Mighty Ducks of NAS Jacksonville. Each team consists of four active duty personnel, one of whom must be female. It is a staged event that gives some time between each event to change clothes, rest and rehydrate.

The team arrived in West Virginia late on Oct. 1 and began their preparations.

"The next day we were up early and since didn't have to check in until lunch, we used the morning to go mountain biking. We pedaled 16 miles along the edge of the mountain overlooking the magnificent New River gorge. If you strayed from the trail you were going straight down for hundreds of feet," said Mighty Ducks team leader Shawn Roberts. "At check-in, we got our wet suits and maps, took our team photo and turned in our bikes for transport to the start point of the 14-mile mountain bike race Saturday morning."

Day One: "We were hyped for the 8K run and the 14-mile white water rafting and half-mile mile swim. The run went well until we realized we were not in Florida anymore - as we hit our first steep set of hills. Our bridge training in downtown Jacksonville helped. At the end of the run along the Gauley River, we changed into wet suits and got into our 1,200-lb. white-water raft," said Roberts. "Our team was randomly paired up with another four-man team, plus, a local river guide. Unlike white-water rafting, this was white-water racing where you paddled like hell between the rapids. There were several class five rapids along the way," explained Roberts.

At one point, he said a competitor from each team had to swim one-half-mile down the river and climb back onboard the raft before they could resume paddling.

"We were paired with a team of chiefs from Norfolk who were all smokers. Our swimmer, Carriker, swam down and back to the raft quickly, while the other team's swimmer took longer and slowed our progress. Our guide tried to take some chances and cut different ways on rapids, but every choice he made proved to be not so wise. We got stuck on a rock once but quickly got moving again.

At the end of day one, we were in 31st place - but only 13 minutes behind the first-place team," said Roberts.

Photos courtesy MWR NAS Jax Mighty Ducks' Wilderness Challenge 2008 official photo, from left, AW2 Ashley George, HMC Joshua Davidson, Lt. Cmdr. Shawn Roberts and ET1 Jeremy Carriker.

Day Two: "We woke up a little sore and tired before boarding a bus at 6:30 a.m. for the 14-mile mountain bike stage. Davidson was concerned that our bikes would be all scratched up, but upon arrival, everything looked okay. We started at one-minute intervals on a bike trail with steep inclines and as many fast downs. One part of the course was paved and our teammate George hit 42 mph according to her speedometer. It was a very fast and curvy descent before we picked up the trail portion again. We crossed the finish line in 1 hour 46 minutes - but thought we should have been faster." said Roberts.

After turning in their bikes and locating their team bag, the Mighty Ducks changed into wetsuits for the aptly named "Ducky" stage where two teammates navigate an inflatable Kayak. Carriker and Roberts, followed Davidson and George, paddled down the fast-flowing river, encountering several sets of rapids.

Roberts said, "The person in the rear steers and the person in the front is the power. If you are out of sync, the current quickly pushes you where you don't want to go or spins you out of control."

"As Carriker and I traversed a huge rapid, we suddenly dropped and were hit by a wall of water. I heard Carriker yell something - and then realized we had been thrown from our ducky. At this inglorious moment, we looked up and saw a large number of photographers recording our ordeal. We finally came to the end point and dragged our ducky across the finish line," said Roberts.

They changed into running gear and took a few moments to eat their power bar lunch in preparation for the 15-mile "hike" that is really a cross-country run for the most competitive teams. The teams were grouped in heats of five, starting with the slowest, at one-minute intervals.

"Discouraged by our performance on the mountain bike stage, we thought we may be dead last by now," said Roberts. "However, we soon discovered we had moved up 10 spots to 21st place. We started the run as the leading team in our heat and soon began to pass other competitors along the rail. After the first mile, the trail climbed steeply. At times, we linked arms to help each other up the most treacherous inclines. At another point, we stopped so HMC Davidson could wrap the ankle of another competitor who had fallen and suffered a sprain. We lost six minutes at this point - but we couldn't leave someone who needed medical attention. We found out later she was unable to finish and was transported to the hospital."

"A little over halfway, Carriker suffered severe abdominal cramping. He could run for short distances - but then had to stop. He was determined not to be a DNF (did not finish), so we used a length of rope to tie Carriker behind Davidson. The last two miles of the race was almost straight up and was tough even if you were not suffering from stomach cramps. We were the 18th team to finish the hike with a time of 3 hours 22 minutes," said Roberts.

At the evening awards dinner, the weary Mighty Ducks of NAS Jax were recognized for finishing 21st among 58 entrants.

From left: NAS Jax Fitness Director Tim McKinney helped Jeremy Carriker, Ashley George, Shawn Roberts and Joshua Davidson pack their Mighty Ducks team transport Oct. 1 for an early morning start to the MWR Wilderness Challenge 2008 in the mountains of West Virginia. Photo courtesy MWR

"Unfortunately, Carriker was unable to attend because he left everything on the trail and crashed out hard at the hotel room," said Davidson. "We brought him some food and the new Octane Camel Back won by his raffle ticket."

Overall, the NAS Jax Mighty Ducks were satisfied with their performance, crediting their training and team unity.

"It was perfect weather and phenomenal terrain. We did well in running, biking and the ducky - but need more experience in white-water racing," said Davidson.

Roberts concluded, "It was great to match our team against top adventure racing athletes from all branches of America's military. It was great fun and we learned a lot that will help improve our performance in future competitions."