We want to hear your feedback. Tell us what you thought of the Shag in 2008

- Richard Brounstein, nyara

Excellent set-up. Denise was perfect (as always) Jim saved our butt by making sure that we focused on the 2am TA (huge thanks!!!) and Sam designed one kick ass course. Jungle Habitat was just perfect. Great to see Ben back. Fun, new, adventurous with a few twists. Only design comment, maybe an easier way to get out of Harriman Treking if desired.

- anonymous,

We expected something ridiculous. It's what we signed up for. Wow. You easily, EASILY pulled it off. Watching Eco-Challenge in high school fueled the motivation to set a date to Shag. Unfortunately, after 12 hours we had enough. Too bad it took us another 12 hours to get back to the cars. The first half was a good, clean, consensual Shag. The second half was a Shag comprised of pain, emptiness, and a lot of going through the motions. There was chafing. Blisters. The relenting pace nearly threw out my back. I thought we were experienced enough and well versed to get through the courtship. But halfway we knew this wasn't going to last. We were so hungry and sleepy the next day. We're sticking to shorter adventure races from now on. You're all nuts in an awe inspiring way. I've never been around a more badass group of athletes in my life. Can't wait for the 2008 Shag video. A big thanks to Denise, Sam, and the other race organizers (I don't remember your names but you get equal thanks). I share the same design criticism for the entering and exiting Harriman. But that's coming from a guy who couldn't hack it in the dark. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

- Michael LaRocco, Team Ramrod

My first 24 (ok, 26) hour and I cannot WAIT for my next! I am officially hooked. Thankfully I signed up with a very experienced team so I cannot comment on the nav part but this race motivated me to sign up for some o-courses. Very well organized race and I give tons of credit to anyone who raced this thing solo! Elevation gains were awesome and paddling the hudson (and drinking the hudson!)was a first and what a beautiful area!! Can't wait for 09! (if anyone is looking for a female teammate..clc113@yahoo.com)

- Courtney, Calleva

hey guys and gal, thanks for a spectacular race. far more than the average elite team can handle. thanks to the weather man as well. I was thinking that it would be nice to scan the maps and post them on your website for people to browse. they not only are a great training tool, but a model for others to follow. now time for some much needed rest. Joe

- Joe B., EMS

SHAG-a-licious! I fell asleep yesterday @ 12:00 PM with visions of contour lines dancing in my head and feet that looked like they had been through a war...I awoke @ 4:00 PM with a huge smile on my face reminiscing about the 26 hours that was the SHAG! What a race! I really enjoyed the flow of the course - 5 parks and a Hudson paddle tied up in a rogaine format was about as good as it gets. you really maximized the use of the terrain available - it felt as if we saw every square inch of every park we visited! What a challenge - first time as race directors? I don't believe it for a second! Thanks to Ben, La-Presidente Denise and everyone else who helped out - absent the weather the race went off with out a hitch!

- Ed Harrington,

Awesome Job! The course rocked! Jim and Sam, you out did Dr Evil! Rocks, boulders, slippery rocks, elevation and did I say more rocks. What's up with the Jungle Habitat, felt like we were lost in time. Many thanks to all. It was a fantastic event. Bruce Team Goals ARA

- Bruce, Team Goals ARA

Thanks to Jim and Sam for designing such a great course!! We had a ton of fun and it was great to see new places/trails. The only thing would be the weather, wish it wasn't so foggy so as to enjoy the views during the trek, could you please fix that for next year :-) Thanks to Denise, Ben and all the other volunteers, it is always nice to see you guys in transition. NYARA really stepped up the game this year with Longest Day and Shag race, both excellent races and we will be looking forward to next year's races!!!

- Tricia Pandolfo, Pain Syndicate

What a great race and well organized! Big thanks to El Presidente, Jim, the Godfather, and the Scaturros (who provided not only course design but trucks, boats, Apache helicopters, night vision goggles, F-16 support, etc). Luckily the weather wasn't quite as bad as predicted (although my feet still turned into mush). The linear format is great and really gives you the feeling of traveling rather than looping back to the same TA over and over. Also, it was great that the course design was doable for beginners yet challenging to experts by having mandatory points and many, many optional points. Finally, the solo category was a nice option for those of us who smell or can't play nicely with others.

- Chris O\'Bara,

Just a huge thank you and acknowledgement to everyone involved in The Shag--NYARA once again put on an awesome race! From Jim and Sam's awesome Race Directing, to Denise's awesome President-ing,to all the volunteers (Jim Mertz, Scatturo family, Dr. Evil, the guy who helped me carry my kayak up from the river, anyone I might have missed) being cheerful and supportive, to the kayak companies, plus all the parks/town/state police being out there checking on us and allowing us to do our crazy thing on such an amazing course (yay Hudson Valley region!) that I got to see from a new perspective (all those times riding my bike OVER the Bear Mountain Bridge who knew there was a waterfall UNDER it!)--thank you so much for giving the AR community a great race. I know what an undertaking planning and putting on this race was--and the fact that NYARA is a volunteer-run group makes it all the more impressive and meaningful. Thanks also to all the teams out there who were sharing in our collective misery and joy--I'm so lucky to be part of such a cool and unique community of like-minded individuals; I know now I was able to have such a positive first-time solo attempt because it was in the good company of other NYARA folks who I've gotten to know through the years--your smiling, familiar faces always give me such a boost, plus all the new teams encountered along the way who made me laugh, shared their stories or joined forces during the tough sections made it a great experience. :)

- Catherine C-S, CC-S

sent comments yesterday, didn't check box. go ahead and post.

- Scott Pleban,

You guys rocked it again. I enjoyed The Shag immensely. In my opinion, you are truly setting the standard for interesting nav races. Race directors should be taking notes. Thank you so much for making it interesting, and keeping the nav element in there wire-to-wire. Please do not change and ever feel obligated to reduce the nav in order to get the triathlon people/numbers. This is what the sport is supposed to be all about. Personally, I didn't mind having a bunch of maps. The benefits far outweigh the cons when you have good information, even if it means a little more bookkeeping along the way. Accurate placement. Interesting sites (waterfall, boulder field at base of cliffs, etc, lookout way up over the Hudson, paddling past West Point). Don't know if you are aware either, how having all the maps is important when Rogaine style. I was at another event recently which almost had the concept, but they didn't let you know how much of the race remained after that foot-o/rogaine section, so you didn't know how much time to spend out there. You guys had cut-offs all figured in to keep people getting to the finish. The map paper was a little troublesome for me, got moist, stayed damp, easy to tear, but some of that is my own fault. The info was there, that was most important. A numerical scale helps as well (1:30,000 etc.....), even if there is a bar on the bottom of the map. Keep considering Nationals. Teams would be blown away. Congrats on a super event. Thanks for a really interesting and fun weekend, Scott P, Team ATP

- Scott Pleban, ATP

I told Sam and Jim on the course and I want to reiterate it now. That was one cool race. NYARA puts on races for real adventure racers. Challenging navigation-lots of options-interesting topography--what more could you want? Let's hope that Rodney/Amy and Jim/Sam are planning on doing races again next year. If so NYARA will continue to be the preeminent race sponsor in the country. Maybe this is not the proper forum for this but did anybody get B12. That damn point haunts me. I looked at the map last night in bed. I'm looking at it now at work. I'm sure Jim or Sam placed it properly. But as I run the replay of that rainy/foggy night over in my head-I can see everything looking exactly like the map--except there's no flag where I was. I need closure. It's haunting me and I can not be satisfied with this race until I find out how I screwed up. Please contact me at gungho@gungho.net if you can help. Thanks, Jay Team Hype/Team Gung Ho

- jay zech, Hype/Gung Ho

Ramrod's reloading for '09. We decided the Thursday after we wallowed to the finish. WE WILL CONQUOR THE NIGHT!

- Michael LaRocco, Ramrod