the great coast to coast multisport race across ohio

July 9-10, 2005

What an amazing race!

The winning relay team (Out of Control) finished before dark, crossing the state in less than 15 hours. John "Sawbones" Wyrick, racing as a solo made it in20:07. Maybe one of the most amazing stories is that of Charlie's Angels - this team of three 18 & 19 year old girls, one of whose longest race to date was a 5k "fun run" made it in on Sunday afternoon at 3:15, well before the deadline. Even though they missed the cutoff for the paddling leg, their support crew begged the RD to let them at least complete the first half of the canoeing if for no other reason than they could no longer bear to sit on their bikes. This put them into the "rec" class, but in no way diminishes their accomplishment - they crossed the entire state of Ohio on their own power in less than 36 hours!

The race started at 06:00 Saturday morning with a bike ride from Huron on the shores of Lake Erie, through Norwalk and down to the Richland B&O railtrail in Mansfield. From there teams skated or scootered 16 miles to the ski town of Butler and then set off again on bikes through the Amish countryside to the hamlet of Danville and eventually the Mohawk Dam.

Recent heavy rains provided just the right water levels for the 16 mile paddle to Coshocton and many commented that this was their favorite part of the race.

From Coshocton it was back on the bikes for a ride to the quaint village of Dresden and then down route 666 to Zanesville. At Zanesville a short 5 mile hike along the bike path and across the famed "Y" bridge was just enough to stretch tired legs before another longish bike ride along the banks of the mighty Muskingum River to Stockport. From Stockport, racers walked along the river road for about 6 miles and then climbed up and over several ridges and through farmlands to Rt 339 near Waterford.

20 miles of rolling hills later and teams rolled into Belpre, looking for the Civitan Park boat launch and the Ohio River.

Many thanks to all of the racers, support crews and volunteer staff who helped make this a memorable event.