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The MVP Healthcare Bitter Pill 2009 - all : The 2009 MVP Health Care Bitter Pill adventure race went off without a hitch! Beautiful weather, 50 teams from all across the US and Canada, and a gorgeous and challenging course gave everyone lots of great memories of the day. Here are all the photos we collected, mostly from organizers and volunteers, but a few from teams mixed in. Race results here: http://www.gmara.org/bitterpill/results09.shtml More info here: http://www.gmara.org/bitterpill See everyone at our next race, The Frigid Infliction, first weekend in March, 2010! (As usual, you are free to use these photos as you wish, but please give us credit, and if possible link back here or to the race website. Thanks!)

The MVP Healthcare Bitter Pill 2009 -...

gmara

The 2009 MVP Health Care Bitter Pill adventure race went off without a ...

Updated: Aug 04, 2009 7:38am PST

The MVP Health Care Bitter Pill 2008 - all : (Full results can be found <a href="http://www.gmara.org/bitterpill/results08.shtml">here</a>.) This year's Bitter Pill was our most grueling yet - the three top teams needed almost 11 hours to complete it all, but every team was finished within 13 hours. Some of the best racers in North America showed up for the challenge! 34 teams competed, including racers from 8 states and 2 Canadian provinces. <P> The race started just before dawn with racers sprinting to a line of canoes on a slippery muddy beach. After paddling down the Waterbury Reservoir for about 45 minutes, they set off on a short trek to their bikes. Riding up the cotton brook road took them to the start of the first trek. 4 points spread across area peaks and streams took from 3 to 5 hours to find before returning for between 3 and 7 hours of biking. Another trek back to the boats, and teams that made the cutoff were treated to a refreshing swim across the reservoir to pick up a point. Lastly, a paddle-rogaine took teams up and down the reservoir in search of 8 points scattered in the woods. Some were harder to find than others, with a few on the water's edge while others were up hills and defended by legions of prickly green defenders. A thunderstorm held up quite a few teams for safety reasons, but in the end almost every team was able to paddle to the finish line on the muddy beach where the race started, 12 hours earlier! Last but not least, a terrific dinner in true southern BBQ style at The Cider House BBQ in Waterbury. Everyone traded stories, ate, drank, got massages, watched the slideshow, and cheered for the winners. <P> There were lots of exhausted, grinning faces this year - it was great to see everyone have so much fun! There's no better feeling as a race director than hearing from the same person that they've never been so beaten, and yet had the time of their life. We couldn't ask for anything more! <P> Many thanks to all our sponsors - title sponsor <a href="http://www.mvphealthcare.com/">MVP Health Care</a>, prize sponsors <a href="http://www.ems.com/">Eastern Mountain Sports</a>, <a href="http://point6.com">Point6 socks</a>, <a href="http://www.ibex.com/">ibex</a>, <a href="http://www.trailrunnermag.com/">TrailRunner</a>, <a href="http://www.eddiesenergy.com/">Eddies Energy Bars</a>, <a href="http://www.zanfel.com/">Zanfel</a>, <a href="http://www.northstarsports.net/">North Star Sports</a>, <a href="http://www.madhousemunchies.com/">Madhouse Munchies</a>, <a href="http://www.catamountoutdoor.com">Catamount Outdoor Family Center</a>, <a href="http://www.popsodavt.com/">Pop Soda</a>, and a huge thanks to our massage therapist Ginger Kipp. And of course, without our amazing volunteers, this never would have been possible. They gave up sleep, waded through the mud and braved a thunderstorm all while managing chaos - "thank you" could never be strong enough! <P> If you have photos you'd like included, contact photos at gmara.org. If you write a review, article, or blog about the race (please do!), send a link to tim at gmara.org and I'll add it to the results page - great free publicity, and I can guarantee at least a hundred eager page-views for your site. <P> See everyone at <a href="http://www.gmara.org/frigid">The Frigid Infliction</a> next March! You know you wanna...

The MVP Health Care Bitter Pill 2008 ...

gmara

(Full results can be found here.) This year's Bitter Pill was our mos ...

Updated: Aug 04, 2008 8:25pm PST

The MVP Health Care Frigid Infliction 2008 - all but awards : Yet again, Mother Nature gave us a perfect day for racing with temps reaching the upper 20s and fresh falling snow. Teams came from all over the US and Canada to race, including some from as far away as Kentucky, Ontario, Quebec, DC, and a huge contingent from Princeton. After getting maps at ~4:30am and having some time for questions and plotting, teams walked along a dark trail to starting line lit by luminaries. At 5:18, the racers were off - three snowshoe points in any order had the first teams back in just over an hour. From there, 4 cross-country ski points brought them to a crackling fire and smiling Jim who had them start candles for gear-check. One more CP and TA 2 meant a new map and leaving skis behind for an hour or so of post-holing toward the tyrollean traverse. With four ropes there weren't many bottlenecks, and most teams got past the challenge without needing assistance. Last but not least, 7 snowshoe points in any order, including a small cave (!) and a smiling family. Finally, the finishline! After trading the lead back and forth all day with Berlin Bike, teams Eastern Mountain Sports and EnduranceAventure.com pulled ahead to cross together in 1st place with a time on course of 7:49. Nipping close on their heels, teams Sunrise Cafe and Team Vermont crossed together to tie for 2nd with a time on course of 8:08. 10 teams finished the entire course, which is a huge accomplishment - this race was anything but easy, and as always there were quite a few teams brand new to the sport. (Including the Princeton folks - they loved the race. Other colleges - represent!) All teams were more than happy to shower, grab some Madhouse Munchies, and wait for dinner and prizes. A few even took advantage of the hot-tub and the ever-popular massage therapist. <P> Lots of stories told, lots of fun (and sweat) had, and a great experience overall. Many thanks to all our sponsors - title sponsor <a href="http://www.mvphealthcare.com/">MVP Health Care</a>, prize sponsors <a href="http://www.ems.com/">Eastern Mountain Sports</a>, <a href="http://www.ibex.com/">ibex</a>, <a href="http://www.trailrunnermag.com/">TrailRunner</a>, <a href="http://www.eddiesenergy.com/">Eddies Energy Bars</a>, <a href="http://www.zanfel.com/">Zanfel</a>, <a href="http://www.northstarsports.net/">North Star Sports</a>, <a href="http://www.madhousemunchies.com/">Madhouse Munchies</a>, <a href="http://www.catamountoutdoor.com">Catamount Outdoor Family Center</a>, <a href="http://www.enduranceaventure.com/">EnduranceAventure</a>, <a href="http://www.popsodavt.com/">Pop Soda</a>, and a huge thanks to our massage therapist Ginger Kipp. <P> If you have photos you'd like included, contact photos at gmara.org. If you write a review, article, or blog about the race (please do!), send a link to tim at gmara.org and I'll add it to the results page - great free publicity, and I can guarantee at least a hundred eager page-views for your site. <P> Results and blogs available here: http://www.gmara.org/frigid/results08.shtml <P> See everyone at <a href="http://www.gmara.org/bitterpill">The Bitter Pill</a> this August 2nd! You know you wanna...<p />

The MVP Health Care Frigid Infliction...

gmara

Yet again, Mother Nature gave us a perfect day for racing with temps r ...

Updated: Mar 02, 2008 10:34pm PST

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