Sports & Outdoors News

Unearthing a challenging Eco Challenge

By Tina Shute
VillageSoup/Waldo County Citizen Photographer

UNITY (April 22): The Unity College Outing Club hosted an Eco Challenge adventure race Saturday, April 21, that featured mountain biking, canoeing and orienteering. Each event required a two-person team.

At the start, Jared Erskine and Ryan Howes pretend to be riding

bicycles. (Photo by Tina Shute)

The race began at 9 a.m. at the soccer field on campus with a staggered start between teams. Participants ran a short distance to their mountain bikes and proceeded through a six-mile course ending in Thorndike. Teams had the option of using a mountain bike or running the first leg of the course.

'The Lost Boys,' Dave Curtis and Clayton Kern, tie their bikes

together to make it easier to carry them over rough terrain. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Ben Turati bikes while teammate Kayla Lynn runs the

first portion of the race. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Unity College athletic trainer Casey Holmes, front, and his

teammate, Brian McCallion encounter their first mud hole. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Chris Kein and his daughter, Hayleigh Kein, 11, begin

the 11-mile challenge. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Hayleigh Kein walks her bike through snow. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Jay Avis watches the trail while Amanda Burns plows through

snow. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Sean Herlhey maneuvers through mud. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Beth Arnold loads bikes onto a trailer. (Photo by Tina Shute)

In Thorndike, participants canoed down Half Moon Stream to Sandy Stream, ending at the bottom of Quaker Hill in Unity.

Organizer Zach Schmesser and 'time bandit' Beth Arnold keep

track of teams as they finish the bike/running portion of the challenge. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Casey Holmes chooses a canoe. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Hayleigh Kein and her father Chris Kein put on wet suits. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Chris and Hayleigh Kein empty water out of the kayak. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Jason Avis, right, and Amanda Burns enter Half Moon Stream. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Sean Herlhey pulls his canoe into the water while Jason Avis and

Amanda Burns paddle down stream. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Abbey Gordon and Megan Phillips tip over. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Unity College student Tom Frezza, with Unity Search and Rescue,

is pulled into the river trying to assist Abbey Gordon and Megan Philips. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Sean Herlhey and Evan Memoli paddle through rapids. Unity College

student Tom Frezza is ready to assist paddlers in trouble. (Photo by Tina Shute)

The final leg of the race required participants to use a map and compass to navigate an orienteering course through the woods around the Unity College campus. Enthusiasts finished at the soccer field adjacent to the Student Activities Building, where the race began.

Kayla Lynn and Ben Turati finish the second leg of the challenge. (Photo by Tina Shute)

Jason Avis and Amanda Burns look over a map for the final

challenge — orienteering. (Photo by Tina Shute)

T-shirts were awarded to each entrant. A variety of outdoor personal equipment was presented as prizes to top finishers.