Rising to the challenge

Racers gasped for breath as they approached the finish line Saturday splattered with mud and dotted with sweat beads at the region’s first outdoor adventure race.

A 10-foot up-and-down climb was all that stood in their way at the end of the NIChallenge race route held in Idaho’s Farragut State Park.

But conquering the wall wasn’t much for the two- and four-person teams who had already mountain-biked for 14.8 miles, run nearly 5 miles and paddled in Lake Pend Oreille for 2 miles.

Two veteran adventure racers, Brenda Christiansen and Bill Hinkley, finished first with a time of 3 hours, 23 minutes and 16 seconds.

Was the duo exhausted?

“You don’t get exhausted when you win,” said Christiansen, who made up half of team Two Wheeler Dealer.

Paul Chivvis, a coordinator of the NIChallenge and outdoor pursuits at North Idaho College, said he wanted to put on the race because it can inspire lifelong fitness and is fun to do with friends.

“The real fun about this race is participants don’t know what they are going to do until they get a packet (instructions and a map),” he said.

The 70 participants knew that they would have to paddle a kayak, run and bike, but that’s it.

Hinkley said his partners’ eagle eyes spotted the challengingly placed checkpoints.

“I would have been looking forever for that,” he said of one that was 8 feet up a tree.

Racers had to use a tool at several checkpoints to punch a hole in their “passport” as proof they’d been there.

Another checkpoint forced participants to wade out into the lake.

Christiansen’s husband said it also helped that “she knows the park like the back of her hand,” because the couple live just 4 miles away, in Athol.

Two Wheeler Dealer’s finish wasn’t surprising to Chivvis, because he knew the coed team was experienced.

The second finishers were novices to adventure racing.

“Holy cow,” said Erin Greenley, as she and teammate Greg Smith finished the race with a time of 3 hours, 33 minutes and 34 seconds. The Sandpoint couple were team Snapdragon Go Getters.

“It was challenging, but I had a great coach,” Greenley said, pointing to Smith. “We’re done,” she said hugging him.

The last team finished in 7 hours and 10 minutes. The novice four-woman team, which called itself Hell Bent, wore headbands with devil horns.

It took the women 10 minutes to get over the wall because they were laughing hysterically, but they were all doing well.

The two- and four-person teams were made up of all males, all females or were coed.

They ranged in age from 18 to 58 years old, and their experience levels varied from beginners to experts.

The teams’ adventurous spirit and athletic abilities carried them through the race.

Their beaming smiles revealed their satisfaction for completing the challenge.

The turnout for the first-time event was “huge,” Chivvis said.

He hopes the NIChallenge grows into a large event, but doesn’t expect it to have the same draw as the annual Coeur d’Alene Triathlon.

But that doesn’t matter, he said. “We’ll do this again and again until no one comes.”