Adventure racing returning to Spring Valley

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SPRING VALLEY — This Saturday and Sunday Spring Valley will be hosting the 2nd Annual Chicago Adventure Racing Association clinic. There will be two days of adventure racing clinics, activities and racing.

Team Poler Adventure Racing is co-hosting the event, made up of Chad and Cortny Hannon of Spring Valley and John Morris of Princeton.

“We were sitting around one day thinking, what can we do?” said Chad Hannon, known as “QDawg” from 97.7 and 103.3 radio. John Morris said, ‘What about the Eco-Challenge that you see on ESPN?’ So we started looking things up and found not only the adventure racing, but we found that a lot of people around here are into the racing.”

The sport brings people not only from across the country, but from all over the world.

“It’s amazing how many people are into this,” Hannon said. “Some are hardcore into adventure racing. This weekend we are running a non-sanctioned event. It’s going to be more along the lines of a beginners and information event. We will have people come in and teach about the gear you need such as shoes, bikes and canoes.”

Hannon says that people ask questions about the racing series and how to get started, and he hopes that this weekend will help answer those questions.

“That’s part of the reason this is a beginner’s event,” Hannon said. “We’ll have people ask about what they should buy and what not to buy. With everything we do at the adventure races it’s a good thing to find out what equipment to bring. We’ll also have things such as a one hour paddling clinic (3:30 to 4:30 p.m.) and things like that.”

Check in time is 9 a.m. at Kirby Park in Spring Valley. From 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. there will be voluntary events scheduled.

Some of those events include a bike ride to Starved Rock (14 miles each way), then a hike at the park (up to 10 miles available) and a white water trip down the Vermillion river (takes 2-5 hours).

“Our area offers a multitude of options,” Hannon said. “You can bike off into the country or along the Hennepin or I &M canals. I would be more than happy to help people set the course for the day.”

From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Morris will have a clinic on maintenance for all of your gear, and from 5:30 to 6 p.m., Brian and Rob Salomon will give advice on proper fit for shoes and other essentials.

From 6 to 7 p.m., there will be the first part of a two-part clinic on how to navigate during the daylight hours, and at 1 a.m., part two will be on how to navigate during the night-time hours.

“The best way to describe adventure racing is, it’s a triathlon through the woods,” Hannon said. “Each race is different. You can’t tell someone, OK, we’re going to do this first and then another event. I like the fact that we don’t know what is next until we finish the current event.”

At 7 p.m. participants will take a one-hour break for dinner and then have an hour-long talk from Gerry Voelliger from Team Tunder Rolls and what type of equipment he uses.

From 9 to 10 p.m., it is about Racing Green. Racers will teach everyone how to race green and leave no trace.

“That means don’t litter, don’t rip through trees, don’t make trails that are not trails, and don’t scare or injure animals,” Hannon said. “Basically, it means we want to preserve the woods in which we race.”

Fire Time is from 10 to 11 p.m. and racers will hear stories about Primal Quest and Eco-Challenge and some racers may even talk about some of their adventures.

At midnight, race maps for the next day will be made available for those who would like to see what lies ahead.

All that sums up day one of adventure racing with day two soon to follow. At 9 a.m. Sunday there will breakfast and at 10 a.m. the race begins, which should take about 3 to 4 hours.

“This, again, will be a beginner race,” Hannon said. “Advanced racers will rock this course.”

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