In January of this year, the paddling community lost a wonderful friend and paddler in Bob Norr (Full account of his passing on AW). He put his all into every aspect of his life and his enthusiasm for life was evident to everyone who met him. He was a genuine friend and was someone who always had a smile on his face and something good to say. To honor his memory, we wanted to create an event that would represent the love of adventure and challenge that made up Bob’s life. The Harpers Ferry Outdoor Festival was adding a trail run to their list of events for 2012. They already have a downriver race and an attainment race on the schedule. The idea for the Bob Norr Challenge was to combine all three events into a triathlon of sorts and make one extreme event! The coordinators of the Harpers Ferry Outdoor Festival were excited about the idea and agreed to make a donation to the Bob Norr Scholarship Fund at Frostburg State University for each competitor that completed the Challenge. As the event approached, the excitement was building and there was high anticipation!
The Bob Norr Challenge began early in the morning with a 3.5 mile trail run through the difficult mountainous trails of Blue Ridge Environmental Center. Immediately, at the start, we raced up a steep hill. The trail was mostly single track with lots of branches and logs down that you had to hop over. After a log bridge over a creek, the trail went up another steep hill before settling into a rolling pattern. Around mile 2, we emptied out onto a power line with another steep climb. We then turned into the woods for the last mile of single track. As we neared the finish line, the route took us up one last steep climb, making the racers work hard until the very end. Chuck Middlestetter was the first of the group to cross the finish line with a super fast time of 28 minutes and 11 seconds, holding a 1 second lead on Matt Sloan heading into the second event.
The second event was the Tim Gavin Downriver race down the Shenandoah River. The Shenandoah River is a nice beginner run with lots of Class 1-2 rapids. The crux of the run is a two mile stretch of continuous ledges called the Staircase. Here the Shenandoah gets very wide and, at the low summer levels, you could easily run aground if you chose the wrong line. The race began with a mass start and, immediately, the paddlers in wildwater boats took an early lead. With two miles of flatwater in the beginning, it is a challenge to keep a good pace but not wear yourself out. Coming out too hard like a middle schooler in a foot race will wear you down and make your arms feel like putty by the time you get to the Staircase. The final mile of the race is on the Potomac River and features a new obstacle, tubers. The tubers come out in masses on weekends and literally block up the river. It can be tricky maneuvering through the groups of tubers. Once making it through all of these obstacles, the finish line appeared in sight, ending this grueling 6 mile race. All of the racers crossed the finish line with speedy times and smiles on their face. Seth Chapelle came in with a lightning fast time of 47 minutes and 48 seconds to take the lead in the Bob Norr Challenge.
The third and final event was the attainment race. It is grueling 1.5 mile upriver paddle through rocky Class 1-2 rapids with lots of different routes. Figuring out the fastest line up through the many moves is key to maintaining speed and not wearing yourself out. Every section has multiple routes, some which are easy and others that are very difficult. It isn’t alway obvious where to go. On top of complex routes, avoiding the tubers adds to the difficulty. Everyone was able to make it upstream to the finish line, tired but with a strong feeling of accomplishment. In the end, my attainment race time of 19 minutes and 21 seconds allowed me to take the first place overall title in the Bob Norr Challenge. Seth Chapelle was not far behind to finish second overall. Chuck Middlestetter and Sean Chapelle rocked the Topo Duo up the river to take 3rd and 4th in final rankings. Matt Sloan and Hannah Crosby completed the two paddling races in an open canoe moving at super fast pace. Matt finished 5th overall, just ahead of Adam Rettig and Hannah won the women’s overall title, in front of Sarah Hammond and Heather Niederberger. The junior division was also extremely competitive with only two minutes separating first place from third. Jamey Moore was able to power his way to the win, followed by Bailey Masters and Ocoee Chapelle.
Congratulations to all 12 of the competitors who completed the Bob Norr Challenge! You all did a fantastic job! It was nice to have the friendship and camaraderie of such a wonderful group of people. It was great that we could be together and remember our good friend with this most challenging event. I hope that next year will bring out even more competitors. Thank you to the Harpers Ferry Outdoor Festival for your support and for the generous donation to the Bob Norr Scholarship Fund! I challenge you to come out take the Bob Norr Challenge for 2013! -Bobby “The Dogg” Miller
Full Results: Bob Norr Challenge 2012
