Vail Rec District KEEN Kids' Adventure Race Summary
The Vail Recreation District’s (VRD) second annual KEEN Vail Kids’ Adventure Race pitted 100 successful teams of two, ages six to 12, on an obstacle course in Vail Village and Vail Mountain Saturday (8-13). The race kicked off at 9am at the base of Vail Mountain and had children working together to navigate an adventure course that included hiking, biking, ziplining, tubing, archery, rock climbing, balancing on a slack line over a mud pit and sliding down a giant Slope-n-Slide at the base of Vail Mountain.
Team Fast and Furious Fireballs, from the Vail Valley, took top honors in the six- to seven-year-old category with Alexander Kostick and Brody Nielson beating the rest of the field with a time of one hour and two seconds. In second place, the Monkey Brothers, Sullivan and Porter Middaugh, of Vail, were followed by less than a minute by Cole Pattison and Jovian Borek of team Velocity, which took third. For the eight- to nine-year-olds, Team M + M, from the Vail Valley, flew across the mud pit into first place with teammates Liam Mattison and Tucker Morrow working strong throughout the competition. Second and third place teams in the eight- to nine-year-old category were Alex Parliament and Andrew Rogers with Speedy Leopards and Ryan Moore and Ari Dennis of the aptly named team Lightning. Finishing up the competition, team Daddy Strong Legs, of Vail, crushed the 10- to 12-year-old category with teammates Finn Anderson and Robbie Gruber making their way through the race the fastest out of the nearly 100 teams who raced on Saturday. Gus Leblanc and Chad Mulligan of Greenwood Village and Edwards, Colo. with team Fast Twitch and Eli Smith and Charlie Morrow with team Redneck Rascals followed closely behind in second and third for the 10- to 12-year-old category.
An awards ceremony was held in Mountain Plaza at the base of the Vista Bahn where participants and their families enjoyed a pizza party hosted by Vendetta’s Pizza in Vail Village. Trophies and KEEN shoes were awarded to the top three teams in each of the categories, and all racers received a certificate for their participation. A complete list of results is available by clicking here.
Additionally, Samantha Gish and Camille Chicoine, of team Gingji, received the special KEEN Environmental Stewards Award for picking up 64 pieces of trash during the race. Special recognition was also given to Ethan Pope and Xander Misci, of team E-Z, for demonstrating exceptional teamwork.
This was the second kids’ adventure race held in Vail, and VRD Race Director Beth Pappas says this year continued to illustrate how successful the event is and could become in the future. About one-third of the 100 teams registered came from outside the Vail Valley area, according to Pappas. “We had kids racing from all over Colorado, as well as from Texas, New Jersey and Mexico City,” said Pappas.”Yesterday’s race was a fantastic chance for kids to use problem-solving skills, learn teamwork and challenge themselves physically throughout the course,” said Pappas. “With 50 more teams than last year’s event and racers from across the country, plus Mexico, we’ll continue to look at how we can make this event bigger and better each and every year. We’d like to thank our sponsors, especially KEEN, Kidsport, Vail and the Town of Vail for their support in this annual event.”
The Vail Kids’ Adventure Race was inspired by Billy Mattison, top international adventure racer, who designed the course to imitate adult adventure races, which can include everything from orienteering to rock climbing to white-water rafting and can last as long as 10 days, often in remote or third-world locations. “Saturday was once again a special day for our local and visiting youth who participated in the adventure race,” said Mattison. Information for 2012 Vail Kids’ Adventure Race will be posted at www.vailrec.com early next year. For more information, call the VRD Sports Department at 970-479-2880.
Photos of the race were taken by Scott McClarrinon and will be available within the next week, as well as on the the VRD’s Facebook page.
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