4 Gals run their first-ever Adventure Race in Karelia, Russia


Kathy and Jimi finish up one leg of the kayak portion of the 14th Red Fox Adventure Race
“I’d do it again!”

Kathy Wickum and Jimi Alida are sitting in the backroom of Red Fox North America in Lyons, Colorado, with huge grins on their faces.

“Oh it was amazing,” said Kathy.

“I’d do it again in a second,” added Jimi.

The two are remembering the 72-hour long course of the 14th Red Fox Adventure Race in Russia, which they had completed a few weeks before.

The women on the Red Fox Polartec North American team didn’t sleep at all. They had participated in 24-hour races before, but three days without sleep was an entirely different ballgame. The U.S. team, four women, finished the three-day race which is no small accomplishment.

Teams from Russia and Belarus were the fastest in the 72-hour long course.

The American team, Jimi, Kathy, Shawnie Mulligan of Colorado and Amy Caldwell of Vermont all had two things in common: None had ever done a race like this and none had never been to Russia. Jimi, Kathy, Shawnie, Amy front to back

Jimi, Kathy, Shawnie, Amy front to back

“What a cool experience. What an amazing experience,” Kathy said. “It was a total adventure from leaving the house here in Lyons … to getting back home to Lyons.”

“For me personally I didn’t know what to expect, which almost made it better,” Jimi pointed out. “I didn’t have expectations. I had no idea what it was going to be like. I tried to prepare but not knowing what it would be like, well, it was perfect!”

It has been five years since the last American team attended Red Fox’s international adventure race.

This year’s race was held in the scenic Karelian region of Russia, on the shores of Onega Lake, 300 miles north St. Petersburg. The Red Fox Adventure race consisted of three loops that had teams running, biking, kayaking, rock climbing, swimming, hiking through deep mud, the woods, brush, water, just about anything imaginable. All to be completed within 72 hours. Besides willpower and stamina, many of the routes require technical proficiency in each of the core disciplines.


Climbing trees required for added value.
“Parts of it were way harder than anything I could have imagined,” Jimi said. “But I think we laughed and had more fun than we ever imagined we would have!”

Besides resting for two hours one night when a team member felt sick, there was no sleeping for the team during the 72 hours.

Jimi and Kathy agreed that the longevity of the race was the biggest challenge both mentally and physically.

“We got lost the first night, about four hours off course, and just knowing that was the first night, and it could happen again, and there would be no sleep, and this would just keep going and going,” Jimi said.


Course map of the 14th Red Fox Adv. Race.
The team had basic maps, but no GPS or electronics are allowed. “It was pretty intense orienteering,” Jimi explained.

For Kathy, the mosquitos became a bit of an issue. “Yeah I had a hard time with the mosquitos. I’m not used to that. Also the climbing was hard for me. I tried to prepare as best I could. I had been practicing and rappelling but the climbing that they had us doing was difficult.”

Then there was the language barrier. Everything was in Russian, with limited translations available to the team. This made for the occasional moment of confusion for the Americans.

“It was really hard to get information,” Jimi said. “I don’t think we were ever, even afterward, fully aware of the rules and how exactly it worked.”

“So we had to make some of our decisions and strategy based on what we think, were the rules.”

Despite the confusion, it was fun. A lot of fun.

The most fun took place in the mud, a river of thick goo. More on that in part two.