Ketchum-based adventure and endurance athlete Rebecca Rusch, 38, had a busy month of May competing in widely different events in California, Oregon and Washington State.
"I spent the last two weekends in two very different race scenarios," said Rusch in a May 17 update on her rebeccarusch.com Website.
As a mountain biker she continued her pursuit of a NORBA National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) Marathon Championship May 5 on a dirt course outside of Fontana, Ca.
The urban atmosphere near San Bernardino was quite different from the Idaho wilderness she enjoys, but Rusch found the marathon race technically challenging and fun.
After seven laps on a seven-mile course Rusch finished seven in the Pro/Open Women class. Her time of five hours, 35:41 minutes was about 47 minutes behind the winner and series leader Jennifer Smith, 33, of Gunnison, Colo., clocked in 4.48:44.
Rusch (5.03:53) had placed 10th in the series-opening NOVA Desert Classic Marathon March 24-26 at Fountain Hill, Az. near Phoenix. So, putting the two races together, she moved into a fourth-place tie with 259 points, 105 behind Smith.
The four-race series (no dropped races) also includes events at Deer Valley, Utah near Park City July 7-9 and at Brian Head, Utah Aug. 4-6.
Rusch said, "While the NORBAs are not my forte, I'm using them to improve my cycling skills, to get used to riding in a group and as training for the 24-hour solo mountain bike events. Hopefully I'll keep improving at this short stuff."
The following weekend, May 13-14, Rusch got off the bike and onto her feet at the 24-hour Rogaining Nationals staged by the Columbia River Orienteering Club at Big Muddy Ranch near Antelope, Ore.
"Rogaining is just a long version of orienteering events. This was a team event and I entered with a fellow adventure racer, Danelle Ballangee, as Team Spyder," Rusch said.
Staged in the rolling hills near Hood River, the race featured a 40-mile square course with about 60 different checkpoints on different values scattered around the place. Each team took any route they chose and tried to accumulate as many points as possible in 24 hours.
Rusch said, "We spent the whole time running around searching for those points. We stopped just once for about 20 minutes at race headquarters to eat some hot chili and drink a couple of Red Bulls."
The determination paid off. Rusch and Ballangee found all but eight of the points—good enough to win the women's division and be declared 24-hour Rogaining National Champions. Their point total placed Team Spyder third among men as well.
Rusch took a couple of weeks off after the 2006 Rogaine Championships in preparation for her first 24 Hours Round the Clock NORBA Northwest Regional Championship May 27-28 at Spokane, Wash.
She got her bikes dialed in for Seattle, sorted out crew and talked with as many 24-hour mountain bike racers as possible to get secret hints. She said, "The hope in Spokane is to get some experience in the 24-hour solo bike events and get points toward qualifying for Worlds."
