Rudders Revenge - Adventure Racing 101

I have to reduce the time between posts. Forgive me, I had a rough week.

Anyway, so two Saturdays ago ,22nd March 2014, I competed in an adventure race called Rudders Revenge. The race which is in its 5th year is a 3-5 hour adventure that includes orienteering, kayaking, hiking, running, riding and even swimming. Before this, I had never done an adventure race, so was excited by what it might bring.

Each team consisted of two persons. A total of six of us from the company competed. (Someone is missing in the photo above..yes I can count) The rules for the race were simple. You were given a list of instructions on where to find markers in different parts of the terrain. Each marker would have points allotted, the overall value determined by the level of difficulty of the route to get the marker. Objective, get the most points! We started at 7am and had until Noon to complete. GO!!

The first part of the race involved kayaking to some small islands off of the coast of Chaguaramas called "Five Islands" This was officially the second time I kayaked, in 31 years aka my life. To add to the excitement, it was the first time Marc (the other guy in the Kayak) had kayaked ever. It was funny getting the kayak moving in a forward motion and learning the rhythm, but we got it after a while.

After we got back to shore, we were given instructions and a map showing us where all of the markers were located. We took this time to strategize and plot the which markers we were getting and the sequence.

We started into Chaguaramas on our course, going through different trails on our mountain bikes searching for these coveted markers. Some of the trails were more difficult than others. Some allowed us to ride up the entire trail while others required us to hike/run/hash. I will be lying if I said that I wasn't exhausted at different points. Added to which it was about 94 F/ 34C so yeah...pretty hot...

The highlight of the event for me was the jump off the cliff in Macqueripe Bay. After trekking through the hills, we met up with the race marshalls at the top of the cliff who gave us our life jackets and safety instructions. For me, I loved the excitement and was ready to go. For others, it was a chance to face their fears of heights and even swimming because..yes..you guessed it...some persons couldn't swim. It surely made some of them ask..."What am I doing ?!?!?!?!"

This was THE BEST PART of the race. After we dived into the water, we had to wade more or less 400 meters to the shore to return the jackets and then continue the event.

In the end, we completed the event as a team and were a proud bunch. We had our medals to show for our efforts and generally looking forward to the next challenge.

Photo Credits

• Michael Richardson
• Trinidad & Tobago Canoe/Kayak Federation - Merril See Tai
• Rudders Revenge 2014 Facebook Album  - Jump Off Point

Taking the plunge....

Hi Everyone


First off let me welcome you to my Blog, Trini 'Try' Athlete. So right away you may say, wow Kairon, that name is pretty corny, and you would be right. Lol. I still though, felt it appropriate for what I intend to talk about here.

I am from Trinidad & Tobago (hence the Trini) and have always been a fan of sport and physical activity. Growing up I would have played football aka soccer, cricket and even ran a little bit of track. Not with any great distinction, never made a national team or anything, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

As I have gotten older, I have looked for alternative activities to keep myself fit and active as the day to day pounding of organised sport tends to take a toll on the body. I do like the gym but find that I need to do things outdoors to stay engaged. In the last year or so, I have taken up yoga and must say that I am enjoying it. I will leave talk about favorite yoga postures for another post.

Recently, some colleagues from work, (I work at the Sports Company of Trinidad & Tobago or SPORTT) decided to take things to another level and started participating in Marathons and Half-Marathons. I would like to state that at this time I have ZERO ambition to do a marathon. But then again, I am a 'try' athlete, so there is still hope. Since I didn't want to seem against the ideas of competing as a group with my colleagues , I decided to throw my hat in the ring, and begin training for Triathlons. Triathlons have always interested me and I figured that this will be a great challenge for me as I am not really a swimmer per se and before 2 weeks ago, haven't ridden a bike in close to 14 years. So..why not.

And here begins my journey. I have set myself the target of competing at the Rainbow Cup Triathlon in Tobago which takes place on Saturday 28th June 2014. The Blog is going to chronicle my training and experiences up to that point and then hopefully any and everything sport I do post the event. I would be taking part in different events in the lead up and would also talk a bit about my training sessions and challenges I face as I try to enter a whole new sporting sub-culture.

In addition to all of this, I hope to showcase different aspects of my country Trinidad & Tobago; the sights, sounds, beaches, environment and culture so you can get a glimpse of where I am from and how great it is..

Should be fun :)