https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/12/magazine/adventure-race-hurricane.html The Extreme Voyages Issue * Diving in Siberia * Trail of a Lost Folk Hero * Adventure Racing * Survival Crash Course * Facing My Agoraphobia You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. All the photographs in this article are black-and-white. This image shows two of the racers in the woods. The writer during the 2024 adventure-racing national championships at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia.Credit...Ashley Gilbertson/VII, for The New York Times Skip to contentSkip to site index 30 Hours in a Hurricane, on a Race With No Course Why would hundreds of people trek overnight through the wilderness with nothing but a compass? Because it's the best feeling in the world. The writer during the 2024 adventure-racing national championships at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia.Credit...Ashley Gilbertson/VII, for The New York Times Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT * Share full article * * * 186 186 By Doug Bock Clark * Published March 12, 2025Updated March 14, 2025 9 a.m., Day 1 As the remnants of Hurricane Helene swept over me, I huddled on a mountain ridge in West Virginia. The 2024 United States Adventure Racing Association National Championships hadn't even begun yet, and I was already getting chilled. About 200 other competitors and I were using one another for shelter and doing jumping jacks, while the frigid gale bowled metal chairs across the plaza of Snowshoe Mountain resort. This was actually the best weather we were supposed to have all day, because the storm was in a lull; rain would soon begin pouring again. Listen to this article, read by Eric Jason Martin Finally, the race directors shouted go, and the runners broke toward every point of the compass. We were all headed toward the same finish line. But in between here and there -- some 120 miles on the most efficient and complete route -- we would take countless different paths. That's because adventure racing is a mash-up of an Ironman triathlon and a wilderness treasure hunt, with teams of three tracking down hidden checkpoints over vast distances in rough terrain. For this national championship contest, we had to seek 50 checkpoints secreted throughout the Monongahela National Forest over the course of 30 hours -- during which time few teams would sleep. To reach the checkpoints, we could use only our feet, mountain bikes and canoes, and for navigation we had to rely on maps and compasses. Whichever team found the most checkpoints (and crossed the finish line) by the deadline would win. ImageA group of racers grabbing maps. Racers being given maps at the beginning of the championship race. Credit...Ashley Gilbertson/VII, for The New York Times I received topographic maps of the course before dawn, in the bunkerlike basement of the resort's convention center, along with my two teammates: MacRae Linton and Jedediah Britton-Purdy. Despite the early hour and horrid weather, MacRae was literally bouncing with excitement, as he had for all our annual expeditions since college 15 years before. Jed, however, was questioning the wisdom of racing in the storm. Jed is about a decade older than I am, and he reminded me gently that our wives and young children would be in the path of the storm -- was it wise to make ourselves totally unavailable for 30 hours? I shared Jed's unease at being away from my family -- and also MacRae's excitement at the impending challenge. Ultimately, I figured we were already hundreds of miles away from our homes, so the only practical option was to forge ahead. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT Site Index Site Information Navigation * (c) 2025 The New York Times Company * NYTCo * Contact Us * Accessibility * Work with us * Advertise * T Brand Studio * Your Ad Choices * Privacy Policy * Terms of Service * Terms of Sale * Site Map * Canada * International * Help * Subscriptions * Manage Privacy Preferences