Adventure Race V speeds through Laughlin again

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sara Csurilla
  • 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORECE BASE, Texas -- --  Making it the fifth year in a row, Laughlin hosted Adventure Race V to challenge nearly 400 people to take on a physically demanding 35-mile course.

More than 50 teams hurried off in heats at the beginning of the race with a 26-mile bike ride that started on base and dared participants to peddle through rough trails, alongside a highway and rocky, dirt roads to finally end up at Laughlin's Southwinds Marina on Lake Amistad.

Once the participants reached the marina, they ditched their bikes and started on foot.

Team members ran a 7-mile path that demanded them to take on a steep hill, carrying sand bags during one portion, and endure the Texas heat on their way to another part of Lake Amistad's Governor's Landing.

Once the teams finished the run, two to four members of each team jumped in a small, blown-up raft and paddled more than two miles through the cold waters of Lake Amistad to the shore that was only strides away from the finish line.

This year Laughlin had more than 35 relay teams, composed of five to eight team members, and thirteen extreme teams, composed of four team members. Throughout the race, all teams were required to have at least four members of their team remain in the course at all times and stay within 100 feet of each other.

"Throughout the course, there were strategically placed checkpoints for relay teams to switch out members of their team if they needed a break," said 2nd Lt. Nick Burton, Adventure Race V director.

For the third year in a row, a relay team from the 86th Flying Training Squadron came in first place finishing the race in 3:38:43.

"The first ten seconds are free, you're running on pure adrenaline" said 1st Lt. Travis Patterson, 86th FTS, who was also a winner in the Air Force Marathon at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio this year. "The other 3 hours, 38 minutes and 33 seconds I can contribute to keeping up on training and having such an awesome team." 

The 86th FTS was truly impressive but there were other teams that came pretty close to claiming first place, said Justin Kippenberger, Adventure Race V director.

Second place for the relay teams went to the Red Bulls from the 87th FTS with a time of 3:39:17 and third place went to the Desert Jack Rabbits from the 96th FTS with a time of 3:54:22.

"I admire every person that puts themselves to the test and competes in this race," said Lt. Burton. "But members of the extreme teams have always stood out to me, they bike, run and paddle all 36-miles of the race with only four team members and still manage to finish in impressive times."

Coming in first place for the extreme teams was Continuous Motion, a team from Randolph Air Force Base, with a time of 3:55:02. Second place went to the Big Cats from the 85th FTS, finishing with a time of 4:14:47 and third place went to Mothers Finest from the 87th FTS with a time of 4:24:10.

"Thanks to all the race participants for competing and the volunteers that helped keep the race organized and safe, Adventure Race V was the best one yet," said Kippenberger. "I can't wait to see everyone out there competing next year."