I had the privilege of attending the Red Bull Divide and Conquer team triathlon this past weekend in Vancouver, BC. It was an unreal event that brought together some of the best mountain runners, bikers, and kayakers in the world.
I was fortunate to join forces with Asheville mountain running animal Matt Morse and Australian Super-D pinner Josh Carlson for the event, and I truly enjoyed the feeling of sharing all of the ups and downs of the event as a team. Generally speaking, athletes in all of these sports are usually all alone on competition day. We handle our own training, nutrition, preparation, and effort when it’s time to perform. Most of the strategy and planning goes on silently in our minds, and when we do succeed, it is us alone who celebrate at the top.
The team dynamic was much different, and I can’t wait to do more events like it in the future! The three of us were coming from all different walks in life, but there was such a supportive environment pervading throughout the week leading up to the event and the day of. We helped each other out with airport pickups, food, rides, and course planning. We were each deeply invested in each other, and when it was our respective turn to compete for the team, there was a much deeper motivation there than usually exists when you are competing for yourself. We all wanted to take our own games to the next level to honor our teammates’ efforts.
And that is what happened!
The runners hitting the course.
The course was a primal representation of what the North Shore of Vancouver is made of. The mountain run was 12 km long, but had two brutal descents of Mount Fromme and Grouse Mountain for a total elevation gain of 4800 vertical feet! At the top of Grouse Mountain, the runner scans the transponder and passes it off to the biker, who ran a 33 km course of single track and fire roads that featured gnarly rock drops, infinite slippery root networks, brutal hike-a-bike climbs, and 40+ mph fire road sprints. The biker then tags the kayaker, who runs to their boat, runs it to the Red Bull ramp, and launches into the Capilano River. Although only class III, the river weaves through a spectacular 6 km gorge on its way to the Pacific Ocean, where the paddlers then have to loop around a buoy, paddle against the tidal current up the coast, and run their boats a quarter of a mile to the finish line.
To top this all off, it rained all night before the event, and continued for the entire day of… the course was doused, and the runners and mountain bikers were working with the worst conditions imaginable.
Matt started us off strong with a staunch lead in the run 1/3 of the way up the mountain. He did this against Arcteryx, North Face, and Red Bull professional runners! He was so far ahead that the big guns didn’t see him get lost on the course, but that is what happened. Matt got reoriented and caught back up to the leaders, but then got lost again, this time unable to get within sight of the front of the pack again. He still finished strong in 6th position, and Josh took off down the mountain bike leg trying to close the 12 minute gap behind the leaders.
Josh and I directing Matt in the mist.
Matt was not pleased about getting lost!
Josh slayed the track and showed why he is one of the best Super-D and Enduro riders in the world. He navigated the gnarliest North Shore roots and rocks in a blistering time, and tagged me in 3rd place looking like someone who had just been to war!
I hit the Capilano River charged with energy and had good lines through the gorge. I put the power down efficiently, and came across the finish line after 40 minutes of pulling hard. Our 3rd place position put us on the podium of this amazing inaugural competition!
The Red Bull Divide and Conquer podium. Team TerraVida hurting some feelings!
Achieving that result together was different than previous paddling competitions where I have placed well. We all met up later to share stories, beers, and the cash prize that we won together. It was awesome teaming up with other people who devote their lives to their sport, and combining our efforts to achieve a team goal. While the race organizers predicted a seven hour total time for the event, all of the top three teams completed it right around four hours!
The event video can be found here:
The word on the street is that Red Bull will be rolling this event out to other places in the world to make it a circuit. Here’s hoping for an Asheville event!
Chris Gragtmans
Thank you foг ѕharing excellent іnfoгmations.
Υour website is very сοol. I’m impressed by the details that you’ѵe on this site.
It reveals hоw nicely уou perсeіѵe this ѕubject.
Βooκmarkeԁ this web pagе, wіll come back for mοre artiсles.
Υou, my friend, ROCK! I found just the infoгmatiоn I alrеаdу seаrched
everywhere and simply coulԁ not come acrοsѕ.
What a pеrfect websitе.
I was recommended this web site by my cousin.
I am not sure whether this post is written by him as
no one else know such detailed about my problem.
You’re incredible! Thanks!
I еvery tіmе ѕpent mу half аn houг to read this website’s articles or reviews every day along with a cup of coffee.
Hey! I realize this is sort of off-topic however I had to ask.
Does building a well-established blog such as yours require a lot
of work? I am brand new to writing a blog however I do write in my journal every day.
I’d like to start a blog so I will be able to share my personal experience and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any kind of suggestions or tips for new aspiring blog owners. Thankyou!
best
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say
that I’ve truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll
be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again very
soon!
I blog quite often and I seriously appreciate your content.
Your article has really peaked my interest. I will book mark your site and keep checking for
new information about once a week. I subscribed to
your Feed as well.
Oh my goodness! Impressive article dude! Thank you, However
I am encountering difficulties with your RSS.
I don’t know the reason why I cannot subscribe to it. Is there anybody having similar RSS problems? Anyone that knows the answer can you kindly respond? Thanx!!
I got this site from my friend who told me regarding this
web site and at the moment this time I am visiting this website
and reading very informative posts at this place.
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for the
Hello would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3
completely different web browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster
then most. Can you suggest a good web hosting provider at a
reasonable price? Thank you, I appreciate it!
Sweet blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
Do you have any tips on how to get listed
in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Many thanks
Keep this going please, great job!
Greate photos!
And interesting post. Thanx!
You ought to be a part of a contest for one of that the most effective website pages
via the internet. I’ll suggest this blog!
Hello! Do you knoω if theу maκe any plugins to assist
with SEO? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good гesults.
If уou knоω of any pleаѕe ѕhaгe.
Aρpreciate it!
You really should be a part of a tournament for just one of that the
best website pages via that the internet. I’m going
to suggest this web site!
great) liked everything very much) keep it up and dont stop)
I’m so glad and honoured to be featured here!
Took me time to read all the comments, but I really enjoyed the article. It proved to be Very helpful to me.It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! I’m sure you had fun writing this article.
You ought to seek out inνolveԁ in a contest personally of thе fineѕt web ѕites on
thаt thе web. I will reсommend this page!
It is such a joy to my face, when I read something like this one. Thank you for sharing this wonderful and very informative post.