Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I just got back from the last trip to the airport, camp is mostly  
empty. The John and Ann Crandell and Ann's folks (now living in  
Boise) are still here, they'll pull out around midnight. John and Ann  
arrived early and helped out tremendously (even finishing building  
the fence - and they're still out there helping with cleanup - these  
are great folks) - we'll treat them to an Idaho steak dinner out back  
this evening.

We'll get full (vetgate detail) results up this evening. John  
(Teeter) is still out closing up vet gate camps, taking porta-potties  
back to town, doing a few more time critical things. Our internet  
service was up and down (mostly down) all weekend, but Mike Maul  
managed to get a few posts out - and Mike Tomlinson got some photos  
up. The rest will come.

As far as the event went. WOW!! A fantastic group of riders - smart,  
focused, capable - in my opinion this was as good as it gets. Temps  
were in the upper 90's by late afternoon, about the time the riders  
hit the desert 'furnace' - it was a challenging course, and yet the  
completion rate was high for a championship event (63% for the 100, I  
don't know the rate for the 55 at this moment) and only 1 metabolic  
pull out of all of the starters (both distances)!, and that one was  
very minor - an elevated heart rate that resolved quickly with a few  
liters of fluid. Really impressive. The vets were amazed - Mike Foss  
said he primarily attributed the absence of problems to high level of  
horsemanship - quality horses, quality riders. Plus Mike Tomlinson's  
comment was that the 'can do' supportive attitude of the vets and  
staff set the right tone for the event. Even though it was a  
championship competition, the tone was relaxed and low key - the vets  
did what they could to help the riders and horses, and the riders did  
what they could to stay open and receptive to the input from the  
vets. Good support, good dialog.

The vets and officials and staff and volunteers - another wow! Great  
attitude, hard working, competent, well organized - these folks dove  
in and did their 'job' and then went the extra mile to handle any  
issues that arose, or just generally make things better with creative  
thinking and cooperation. A fantastic group from South Africa came  
and helped and definitely raised the party atmosphere level (Owyhee  
county will never be the same...). The Malaysia 2008 WEC OC was here  
and fit right in.  The local riders and volunteers made me very very  
proud. And the band was amazing! A local group - two members from  
Oreana, fourth generation cattle ranchers, plus 2 from the city  
(Boise) - they were really really good - some country and some rock  
'n roll.  When we built the deck out back we were wondering what sort  
of weight load it could manage... now we know :)

I'll try to do a full story write up - it was such an intense week,  
and after 2 months of non stop work and preparation it was very  
satisfying to see it all come together, everybody seemed to be  
enjoying themselves, and the horses and riders were awesome!!!

more later -

Steph
(tired and happy)

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