On a crisp, cold day with the temperatures dropping as low as 47°, Team Epinephrine flew through the first of the six "heat waves" of the Desert Dash adventure race series to take 1st place overall and the mixed (coed) division. The team, consisting of Karen Lundgren, Paul Romero, and Dan Barger set a blistering pace and led from start to finish.

Saturday's event began at 6:45am with the 33 teams assembling their gear in the transition area. Among the gear was the "pet brick" that each team received the night before at the pre-race meeting and dinner at GameWorks. The teams were told to color, paint, or otherwise identify their brick, each having to transport their "pets" during the race.

The race began, not so promptly at 8:14am. The teams quickly spread out over the 6.1-mile trail run. At mile two, the teams encountered the first of 15 "mystery challenges" — an obstacle called "over the top." It consisted of a pile of 4x4s and a rope six feet off the ground. The teams had to get one of its members up and over the rope using the 4x4s.

During the running section, Amy Travis from Team All In The Family rolled her ankle and had to drop from the race, the first (and only) injury of the day.

The mountain biking section was a 12.1-mile loop with great scenic views, a brutal climbing section, and some of the best singletrack downhill found in an adventure race. Karen Lundgren of Team Epinephrine said, "The mountain biking section was great! That downhill especially — that was awesome!"

The last section of the race was a 3.5-mile "ride and tie." The three-person teams were instructed to bring one bike, one bike tire, and, of course, the pet brick, along with them. While many of the rookie teams brought the entire wheel of another bike with them, the more experienced teams used the instructions to their advantage. The veteran adventure racers took the tire off of the wheel and wrapped it around one of the teammates, keeping that person's hands free.

At the end of the ride and tie, teams had to crawl under ropes and over tarps covered with 100 gallons of cooking oil and then through a section of dirt. At one point, one team member looked up and said, "I hate you guys (race officials), but this is great!"

In the mixed division, Team Epinephrine took 1st with a time of 2 hours 46 minutes, followed by Team HotJobs.com (3:18:02), Team WTF (3:34:12), Team Outdoor Extreme (4:06:38), with Team Circus Freaks rounding out the top-5 with a time of 4:11:35.

In the men's division, Team Block Alternative finished 1st with a time of 3:18:00. Second place went to team Vertigo (3:39:57), followed by Team Jolly Green (4:06:15) — a team of Air Force Para-Rescuers who also won the military division. Fourth place went to Team Oxygen Debt (4:48:08), and rounding out the top-5 in the men's division was Crew Dawgs, another team representing the Air Force. The US Air Force won the military cup for heat wave one, putting two teams in front of the Army team (Rolling Thunder). The Marines and the Navy didn't have any representatives.

Differing from most adventure races, the Desert Dash also had a solo division. The top-5, in order, were: Algirdas Leskys (3:31:40), Mark Johnson (winner of the virtual adventure race Friday night, sponsored by KOMP 92.3) with a time of 3:39:57, Michael Ratner in 4:08:44, Shannon Shilling (4:32:26), sponsored by Athlete's Foot of Las Vegas, and Findlay Toyota's entrant, Belinda Caldwell in 4:34:33.

It should be mentioned that during the awards ceremony all three teams in the mixed division (the only paid division in Heat Wave One) donated their prize money, totaling $900, to a family in Las Vegas in which the father had just passed away leaving his wife and two small children. The caring gesture by Team Epinephrine, Team HotJobs.com, and Team WTF deserves a big thanks.

A last-minute addition to the post-race award festivities at GameWorks on the famous Las Vegas strip was given to Team Gator Dashers. It was the last team to finish the race, over two-and-a-half hours behind the leaders, but was given "the spirit of adventure racing" award. Nearing the finish of the race, Team Gator Dashers yelled, "We may be slow, but we never, ever give up!" Spoken like true adventure racers.

For more information on the six-race series call (702) 431-4858 or email race organizers at aenigma@lvcm.com.