Tuesday, April 10 9:00 PM
Teams converged on Claytor Lake State Park today under blue skis and budding trees. It was one of those warm early Spring days that typically make one want to lounge about in a hammock. Tensions ran a bit higher than that with the BEAST racers as they registered and had their gear checked. Race director, Don Mann did little to allay their tensions. He told them during the race brief that in order to make the BEAST course unique from previous races, it was now "longer, hillier and more difficult." Athletes familiar with Odyssey races expected nothing else.

After receiving their passports and maps, racers huddled together at campsites and local hotel rooms to plot their courses. Those at the campground were treated to a surprise lightning storm to make things just a little more interesting. Tensions continued to heighten as teams counted down the hours and minutes to the midnight start of the race.

Wednesday, April 11 6:00 AM
Racers gathered at the beach shortly before midnight and hurriedly adjusted gear and tethered their packs into canoes. Don Mann started the 3rd edition BEAST of the East at midnight with a LeMans-style start, athletes raced to the water to begin the 20-mile lake paddle. With glow sticks lighting bow and stern, the boats quickly disappeared into the night. At the mid-point, the first teams Eastern Outdoors.com, Subaru Outback, Boundary Quest, Navy and Jeff Westerfield arrived almost simultaneously at 2:15 AM. Over the next hour, the rest would follow with soloists Dale Blankenship and Keith Peterson bringing up the rear in a single canoe and towing another. Under a damp, full sky, the racers turned back to finish the lake paddle and move on to the canoe portage and 36-mile river paddle.

Wednesday, April 11 8:00 PM
All teams finished the 20-mile lake paddle and navigated the 1-mile portage/bushwhack, mostly in the dark. Next was the river paddle on the New River, which was slower than expected due to low water levels. Slow water didn't keep the two lead teams, Santa Fe and Peak.com from making good time to the finish of the river paddle. Both teams are reported to have cut off more than 15 miles of river travel by finding a creative 5-mile portage option, which although allowed, surprised race organizers. "We're from the desert. We don't paddle," said Don Moden from Santa Fe explaining their decision to portage. This team was also heard shouting "Risk Management!!" as they portaged around McCoy Falls. The Falls were raging, despite the water levels, and many teams opted to go around rather than run them.

Boundary Quest was next out of the water at this checkpoint, which lies directly below the awe-inspiring 200' fixed-rope ascent. The team who opted to also portage around McCoy Falls "swam three times" anyway. "No advance-level portage" for this team according to Chris Scott from Boundary Quest referring to the 5-mile option they decided not to take. The assisted checkpoint at the river takeout was bustling with activity as more teams began to arrive. Santa Fe's support area was particularly hectic, as their support crew arrived the same time as the team. Peak.com's assistance crew was seen not only providing food and coordinating gear, but also tying shoes, rubbing sore shoulders and hurrying the team out of the ACP. This was one very smoothly operating machine.

By 6:00 PM, all teams had finished the river paddle, with soloist Keith Peterson arriving with just 3 minutes left before the cut-off time.

After leaving the ACP, teams hiked directly to the bottom of the ascent. Peak.com and Santa Fe jockeyed for lead on the ropes with "Mighty Mo" Monaghan from Peak.com swiftly arriving at the "peak" of the ascent in the lead. The team obtained a 30-minute lead after hiking to and descending the magnificent rappel. Boundary Quest was on the ropes soon after, despite a minor sidetrack for Chris Scott during the hike to the rock quarry. Chris pulled a 4-inch crawdad from his pants to the amusement of his teammates. He had wondered what that strange feeling was as he ascended the ropes.

Teams left the climb site and proceeded on to the 60-mile bike leg. Boundary Quest and Peak.com arrived on their bikes at CP 6 at the same time after taking turns in the lead. It's looking like it's going to be true competition at the front of the pack, which is not surprising given the quality of racers in this race. Never before has such a strong field of athletes competed in the BEAST. All of this factors into the heightened intensity surrounding the race for victory for the 4-person coed category. At stake is not only a win and the BEAST prize money, but also the opportunity to win $5000 from Discovery Channel and a paid entry in their Adventure Racing World Championship Race in the Swiss Alps in September. Additionally, the 4-person coed teams are vying for free entry in the AR World Series "EMA" race in Brazil and a chance to compete in the USARA Nationals for 2001. With so much riding on a victory for this category, it will be an exciting journey to the finish line back at Claytor Lake.

At last call, Peak.com was reported to have arrived at CP7, the bike/hike transition at 8:20PM. No other teams in sight at this time.

Thursday, April 12 9:00 AM
Wednesday night saw the BEAST's first and only casualty so far. Audacity dropped from the race on the first bike leg between CP5 and CP6 when captain Bob O'Donnell called it quits after suffering the effects of nausea, dehydration and vomiting. Odyssey's staff doctor, George Wortley, suggested to Bob that he may have suffered from an overdose of testosterone and just went out too hard. Bob received international exposure in the recent television showing of the Borneo Eco-Challenge, when he was seen vomiting while on camera after several days in the event. BEAST director Don Mann, although sympathizing with Bob, noted that it only took 1 day to achieve the same effect in the BEAST.

At this point we have all but soloist Keith Peterson through the bike-to-hike transition at CP7/ACP3 at Bear Creek's Lutheran Church of Atonement. After Peak.com arrived at 8:20 Wednesday night, Cal-Eco showed up at 9:15 after advancing in the rankings by several places. Boundary Quest bounded in just after 11:00, followed by Norm and Tracyn from RacingAhead.com.

Friday, April 13 1:00 PM
Things have gotten really interesting at the front. At this writing, all teams have arrived at CP8/ACP at Bear Creek, ending their 55-mile hike. The 5 lead teams have all climbed the quad-burning bike leg to the summit of Whitetop Mountain and passed through CP11/ACP5 at Elk Garden. At Elk Garden, teams raced an 8-mile time trial on foot with a tempting carrot dangling in front of them. The team with the fastest time, wins an hour credit at the end of the race. The first teams faced heavy fog, and cold rain as they attempted to navigate the muddy, rocky trail and avoid knee-high water. Subaru's David Zietsma concisely summed up his team's thoughts on this little excursion saying, "It was hard." After leaving Elk Garden, teams continued on their 95-mile bike. As of this writing, team Boundary Quest has the fastest time at 2:08.

On a humorous note, Boundary Quest described a group hallucination they experienced while climbing to Whitetop. At one point, these exceptional riders had to stop - not because of fatigue or burnt-out legs, but because they all thought they were no longer moving forward, but the trees that lined the road were moving TOWARD THEM. Experienced racer Cammy Ronchetto, who has won much praise from her Boundary Quest teammates, said this second day of the BEAST was the "hardest day" of her life. Teammate and expert mountain biker David Haag agreed saying "This is some hard core racing!"

Summing Up the General Standings
Flatlanders and accompanying soloist, Pat O'Hara chose to drop at CP8. The official's notes at this CP cite "team dynamics" as the attributing factor, but Pat and the team were not available for comment.

The intense competition between 4-person coed teams has suffered some blows. Team Cal-Eco has dropped from the race after being informed of penalties related to not following the proscribed course. According to Cal-Eco teammate, Ben Stefanski, the team decided to quit to maintain the integrity of the team and the race. Team Peak.com, who are currently in the front of the pack, also has similar pending penalties for not following the specified course in two cases. Those penalties will be assessed by the Odyssey jury and deducted from the team's race time at the end of the competition. Teammate Joe Desena jokingly said the team had been "all over the place" trying to get back on track and were chased by "every dog in the state except for the one they saw on a leash."

Assessing penalties is one of the most difficult responsibilities of any race director, and can have a demoralizing effect on teams and the atmosphere of the entire race. From a racer's perspective, Mike Point from Team Fluid said as they left CP8, "When you sign up for a race, you're given a course to follow and that's what the race is about. If you just want to go out for your own ride, why sign up for a race?" He also commented that they were the 2nd to the last team out of Bear Creek because they're "just out there following the spirit of the race and following all the rules."

Latest News
Subaru, RacingAhead.com and Peak.com have arrived at CP13/ACP6 at Comer's Rock at 3:10 PM. Here they will drop their bikes with their support crews and begin a 27-mile hike over Hussy Mountain.