Athletes taste ‘Adventure’ at fundraising race in Aurora

Theresa Rogers had her first “adventure racing” experience on what turned out to be a scorchingly hot and humid day Sunday.

Her verdict: “I’d definitely do it again.”

Rogers, a Carol Stream resident, was one of about 130 people who signed up for the Amped Adventure Race held in downtown Aurora Sunday. The event, a first for the city, raised money for a redesigned canoe chute on the Fox River.

Rogers participated in the race with her husband, Tim, and their friends Bob and Katie Hitchcock of Batavia. Tim Rogers and Bob Hitchcock had competed in adventure races before, but the event was a first for Theresa.

“I liked it a lot, actually,” she said. “I had fun and I feel really good right now.”

The race comprised multiple elements — roughly eight miles of biking, six miles of running, four miles of canoeing/kayaking and, at the very end, an obstacle course. Rogers said the running component was the most difficult for her because it was broken into two sections.

“You started with a run of about five miles, then later you had another run of a mile or a mile-and-a-half,” she said. “Going back to running for that second stretch was very ... unpleasant.”

Bob Hitchcock said another challenge was the shallowness of the river at certain points during the paddle section.

“Some of those boats nearly scraped the bottom,” he said.

The race ended in a parking lot on Spruce Street. Several food and drink vendors were on hand. A local chiropractor offered post-race massages to the participants. And live music played throughout the afternoon.

“It’s a nice, festive atmosphere out here,” said Richard Malloy of Aurora, who was waiting for his wife, Karen, to get to the finish line.

One of the key organizers of the Amped Up Adventure Race was Paddle and Trail, an outdoor and athletic store with locations in Aurora, Loves Park near Rockford and Beloit, Wis. Similar races will be held in Rockford and Beloit in the near future.

Paddle and Trail’s Therese Oldenburg said the response to the first race was encouraging.

“This event had a great community feel, with at least 100 volunteers working hard to put it together along with about 130 people who signed up for the race itself.”

Proceeds from the race will be used to support the redesign of a canoe chute located on the Fox River at New York Street. The chute is designed to let canoe and kayak riders pass safely across a dam, but design flaws make passage tricky and even dangerous for nonexperts, Oldenburg said.

“The river is a great asset to this community, and letting people canoe to this part of town would really help all the redevelopment efforts around here,” she said.

For more information on future Amped Up races and the Aurora canoe chute project, go to ampedupadventurerace.com.