Blog
27 posts.
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Bending the Map: Shenandoah Epic Race Report
I took on the 24 hour Shenandoah Epic adventure race solo. Yep, all by myself. Pretty proud of that. I hadn’t done a 24 hour solo race for at least a few…
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Dignity of Risk: Andrea's MAGNIficent 2 Race Report
It’s hard to know where to start… This isn’t a typical race report. Part recap, part therapy session. And, at over 4,000 words, I didn’t actually include everything . In fact, with…
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USARA Nationals 2022 Race Report
Written by Brent Russell The thisABILITY Nationals team: Brent Russell, Mary Foster, Matt Wilson. Brent was on the 2021 thisABILITY national’s team in Wisconsin and earned the entry for the 2022 Nationals…
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Expedition Guarani Adventure Racing World Championship 2022 Race Report
10/5/2022 We did it! Bucket list item achieved! After 167 hours, team thisABILITY finished our first Adventure Racing World Championship! This is what it was like from my (Andrea’s) wordy perspective. Like…
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Let's Talk Motivation
Expedition Oregon 2022 Commentary 5/13/22 Let’s talk motivation. Why, why, why?!? Every adventure racer has been asked why? Why do you do it? Why do you put yourself through so much pain…
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You Decide What You Can Handle
Expedition Oregon 2022 Commentary 5/11/22 Whoa! Anyone else at home wondering if they’d tackle these rapids? Stage 3 of the race is a great example of what Bend Racing is all about.…
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ARWS is Relentless
Expedition Oregon 2022 Commentary 5/10/22 We learned in an earlier post that America’s Toughest Race is even tougher than RD, Jason Magness, meant for it to be. Incredible! After the 6 pm…
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Chicken or the Egg?
2022 Expedition Oregon Commentary 5/9/22 Hi, race fans! This is Andrea Anderson from Team Thisability Adventure Racing . I’m here to provide my perspective for anyone trying to understand a bit more…
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Volunteers – The Lifeblood of Adventure Racing
As the last teams approach the ARWC finish line, it is a perfect time to thank those who make these races possible. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about an 8-hour…
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“The world breaks everyone and afterward, many are strong at the broken places. “- Ernest Hemingway
Whether you are a top team, a chase-pack team, a short course team or a team that didn’t quite make it to the finish this year, you can bet that no team…
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What Day is it?
Believe it or not, I bet many racers are wondering what day it is right now. Seriously. They have entered the "middle day". In my experience, as the days go on, day…
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What the Heck are Sleepmonsters?
I imagine this question comes up from friends and families reading these blogs and watching their loved one's dot slowly move across the map of the Gallaecia course. Officially, Sleepmonsters are the…
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Let’s Talk About Sleep Strategy
I have recently decided that managing sleep is the most dangerous game we play as adventure racers. Unlike most other bodily needs, often there’s no obvious signal that sleep is needed until…
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How do you Eat an Elephant?
There comes a time in the race when dot watchers and racers alike wonder how the top teams can be so far ahead. Teams coming into the TAs usually figure out their…
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Feet – Without them, your Team will Fail
The unsung heroes of monster trek legs are the feet. In adventure racing we say, “A team can only go as fast as it can get its slowest member to go.” On…
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Traumatic Night Navigation
Chip Dodd of Team ThisABILITY Adventure Racing reflects on the first, traumatic night of ARWC from the perspective of a team navigator. Night set in and navigation got infinitely more complicated. Teams…
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Mental Toughness is the True Differentiator
There are a lot of ways to train for a long expedition race like Raid Gallaecia. Most think you need to spend a lot of time running, biking, paddling, navigating, etc. You…
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Shenandoah Epic 24 Hour Adventure Race Report
The short of it: Despite a HUGE setback, Team thisABILITY came in 2nd place in our 2 person coed division and 7th overall in the Adventure Enablers' Shenandoah Epic 24 hour adventure…
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Two Rivers 36 Hour Adventure Race Report
The 2021 Two Rivers 36 Hour Adventure Race did not disappoint. The following is our race brief. Be forewarned, it is long. We suggest grabbing an oversized adult beverage, finding a comfy…
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Expedition Africa 2019 Rodrigues: Team thisABILITY Race Report
Team Members: Chip Dodd, Team Captain Jenni Soutar Henk Van Aarde Andrea Anderson Race Dates: 9/1/19 - 9/6/19 “Attention! Attention!” yells our skipper in French just when we think we can relax…
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Expedition Africa Team is Complete
Andrea and Chip have teamed up with two South African teammates to compete in the 2019 Expedition Africa 6 Day World Series Adventure Race. Jenni Soutar is a super experienced racer whose…
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2019 Sea to Sea 72 Hour Expedition Adventure Race... Done!
Like the people we know and love who are living with physical and mental disabilities, the best way to view the world is by focusing on what we can do and not…
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2018 Race the Ridge 26 Hour AR was a huge success.
The weather was perfect and fall colors were at their peak so beauty was all around us as the team traversed over 100 miles of waterways and forests. This was the first…
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Woohoo! Team thisABILITY finishes the 2018 USARA National Championships in 16th place:)
Wow. What an amazing event. Dense fog added some adventure to the first paddle section resulting in sub 30 meter visibility. Teams had to stay on their game to avoid paddling in…
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Team ThisABILITY is headed to the 2018 Adventure Racing National Championships!
Team ThisABILITY won 1st overall in the Adrenaline Rush qualifying them to race in the US Adventure Racing National Championships! The 30 hour championship race starts September 28th at 7 am in…
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Team ThisABILITY wins 1st place in the Adreneline Rush!
Kathery Hoverman, Chip Dodd and Sam Prestige win the Adrenaline Rush National Qualifier “If we swim across the river with our bikes, it will save us a ton of time”. Welcome to…
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Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge 2018
Introduction and Race Prep Andrea Anderson and Chip Dodd made up Team thisABILITY for MMAC. Both of us prefer to race solo but after joining forces on a 15 hour AR in…