Chelsey here:
Well the time has come again- we are yet again packing for a big adventure race in a far away place! Sorting, packing, organizing, checking the list twice, three times and then another just to be sure is beginning to feel all to familiar. Jason and I just got off the phone with Daniel and Stephen- it was the last of our many conference calls. The next time we talk, we will all be in Patagonia, Chile.... just days away from the toughest, most beautiful and craziest races ever. The Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race is said to be the "Last Wild Race". And after experiencing it first hand last year.... I am a firm believer of it's extremeness- in both physicalness and beauty. As I said in a previous post, all we know about it is that we are going to be kayaking by the 3rd largest ice field in the entire world.... other than that we have no idea. Stephen has been google mapping it and has his guesses as to where we will be going, either way, we are expecting to see and experience some amazing things. Our goal this year is to find and cross the finish line happy and healthy. We have the same line up as last year, which is beneficial because we are VERY familiar with eachother. You can't get much closer to one another than cramming 4 people into a tiny two person tent and racing across the Patagonian wilderness for 10 straight days.... In case you don't know our alter racing egos-here is what we will turn into once the starting gun goes off.
Jason Magness aka "The Epic Machine"- Known for his impeccable navigation, ability to get us into (and sometimes out of) epics, and his good looks- even 6 days into a grueling expedition race ;)
Stephen Regenold aka "THE Gear Junkie" - Known for his uncanny dead pan Minnesotan demeanor, his closet romantism, and ability to be strong as a bull (carrying all 4 packs in a 20 mile run) and weak as a baby (weeping in exhaustion half-way up a long climb on the bike) - all in the same day.
Daniel Staudigal aka "Hill Boy" Or "The Mule" (his carrying capacity is amazing) - He is one of the youngest adventure racers out there, in a ten day he can consume or eat more than most humans consume in a year and he has an opinion about everything- if we ever need to be kept awake, we ask what he thinks about xxxxx..... and from there he can go on for ever.
Chelsey Gribbon aka "Sita" - Known for her unbelievable tenacity (see heartbreaking story of last year's race), loyalty (she's had countless offers to race with other teams), racing fashion sense (she often races in a sequined skirt, and her obsession with handstands.
We have been preparing by training hard, eating as often as possible, practicing plenty of yoga (in all forms) and trying to stay on task with everything else that we do. I for one am simultaneously preparing for this race, planning my wedding and working on our upcoming events!
This time around we have three talented photographers going down there with us- Sam and Paul got hired on to be apart of the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Media Team (Super exciting!!!) and T.C. Worley of Gear Junkie will be going down once again to be our main photographer. T.C. will be writing blog updates on www.gearjunkie.com.
Check out Stephen's most recent update before he heads off- it has some great pictures and a more in-depth description of the race. In addition to the Gear Junkie site, Sam and Paul will hopefully be updating our website and facebook page whenever they can. It looks like we won't be getting much sleep! Send us your good energetic vibes and get outside and play for us!
With love and gratitude-
The YogaSlackers
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