Peaks and Valleys ... a unique Adventure Race

Written by Cyril Jay-Rayon
Created Date: Saturday, 19 March 2011 00:00

My girlfriend and I were looking for a fun training sprint distance race to do in March and not too far from Los Angeles. We found it in our friend's Barrie unique format Peaks and Valleys.
Typically, adventure race courses change from year to year but not the Peaks to Valleys. The Check Points (CP) are always in the same position each year but the code at each CPs you need to look for changes (to ensure you actually go to each CPs). 5 are on top of Peaks and 5 are in Valleys.

You can either run the entire course or do it as a team where one rides to some CPs and the other runs to the other CPs. The order in which you get the CPs is entirely up to you. So, route choice is key. Of course, since the course is the same year to year, those that do it often have an advantage. We're not used to this in adventure racing but we found the event immensely fun as people try every year to beat their previous time either by using a better route or being fitter. It's enjoyable and insightful to be able to compare your time not only to others but also to your previous times. This is something you rarely get to do in adventure racing.

Sylvie and I decided to run the entire course as we needed more training time on our feet. We took the most obvious route (at least to us) and were able to clear the course in 4 hours and 27mins, a new run course record. Despite breaking the record, we realized that there is probably a faster route than the one we did. I guess we'll have to be back to find out.