Posted on 02/02/08 7:32 PM| by team-admin
 Team MAAR (Dan and Chris) won the 2 person team division and took 2nd overall at the 2008 Frozen Otter Ultra Trek. Melaine joined Dan and Chris as a solo competitor but had to withdraw at the 16 mile mark due to a work emergency (BIG FIRE!) back in Davenport. Dan and Chris trekked 42 miles in 16:19:00 in brutal weather conditions. The temperature dipped to -15F with windchills in the -30F range. The winner of the solo division lost 2 toes to frostbite during the race!Â
Melaine, Dan and Chris as they prepare for the 2008 Frozen Otter Ultra Trek.
 Here is a local newspaper article covering the teams success!
16-hour hike is just a starter for these guys
Posted: Jan. 28, 2008
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It’s a question, I suspect, they get often.
Are you crazy?
A 16-hour hike in the woods 10 days ago, when the mercury touched minus 12 to minus 15 and the wind chill was about triple that, was simply a training run for Dan DeBehnke and Chris Decker.
DeBehnke, 47, of Hartland, and Decker, 43, of Brookfield, are emergency room physicians at Froedtert Hospital - which suggests they’re certainly not dummies. They are also self-described “middle-aged adventure racers” - which suggests, well, I’ll let you decide.
Adventure or expedition racing involves a day or multiple days on little or no sleep and getting from one point to another using a variety of skills - orienteering, running or hiking, mountain biking, canoe or kayak paddling, rock climbing, and rappelling or traversing with ropes.
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Photo courtesy/ Dan DeBehnke (left) and Chris Decker prepare to rappel down a cliff during a 2006 24-hour race in northern Wisconsin. They also raced in Kettle Moraine State Forest this month - 16 hours in subzero weather. They were OK, but the winner lost toes to frostbite. |
Walker
DeBehnke and Decker, operating as a team, were the only competitors - other than the solo “winner,” a 27-year-old Iowa man who lost some toes to frostbite - to finish the Frozen Otter Ultra Trek in the Northern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest Jan. 19 and 20. They hiked 42 miles; Andrew Wells of Davenport went 49.
As cold as it was, it was only a warm-up to their big goal this summer, a 10-day expedition race in Montana called Primal Quest 2008. They’ll go without sleep for up to two days, then sleep about three hours a day, all the while trying to get between designated points over a 500-mile course that will go up and down the equivalent of Mount Everest three times.
The Frozen Otter gave the pair a chance to work out in the extreme.
How cold was it?
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich DeBehnke was saving in his backpack for the 16-mile mark was frozen like a rock by the time they got there. He said he had to stuff it into his layered shirt so it would thaw. His drinking supply in a camel-back bladder froze in 15 minutes, so that, too, had to go into his shirt.
“We never felt cold,” DeBehnke said, though before the race, “I was a little worried about my feet.” He wore layered clothing and trail running shoes with strapped-on cleats and a new pair of wool hiking socks. They did just fine, he said.
The key, both he and Decker said, was to eat and drink regularly, since dehydration is one of the things that can lead to frostbite.
“We were pretty vigilant of how our fingers and feet felt,” he said. They came through unscathed, only a little tired and a little sore at the end.
“You’re mentally tired because you’ve been up for so many hours, but it’s a rewarding feeling,” DeBehnke said. “Really, it’s not that hard to walk 42 miles.”
Decker said that while they were prepared to go the distance, “we started that race saying we were willing to quit if it didn’t go well.”
It went well enough, because the two are looking forward to what they say is an epic backcountry adventure, the crown jewel of expedition racing, this summer. They’re hoping to find sponsors to help cover some of the cost of Primal Quest. The entry fee alone is $12,500 - not including gear, transportation, food and a support crew.
The two are part of a four-person team, including a 49-year-old firefighter from Iowa and a 44-year-old massage therapist. They call themselves MAAR (you know - middle-aged adventure racers).
The two local physicians met on the job at a time when both were doing triathlons, but they gravitated to expedition adventure racing.
The older you get, the harder it is to compete in triathlons, DeBehnke said. But he sees the challenge of expedition racing as much mental as it is physical.
“People who are older maybe have more mental maturity and can deal with it,” he said. “We’re better navigators,” too. Someone who’s more athletic, for example, but with no navigational acumen won’t win.
Both men enjoy the variety in these adventures, a chance to train by bike one day, by foot the next, by rope another. They usually train about seven to 10 hours a week, but as a big expedition race approaches, they have to build up to much longer spans, perhaps as much as a 20-hour non-stop workout.
“We’re middle-aged,” Decker said. “We’re balancing professional lives with what we really like to do. This is unique. There are lots of people in the region who enjoy parts of this. We’re doing them all.”
Both men, who are married with children at home, said their families understand.
So back to that question I started with.
“They think I’m crazy in a good way,” said DeBehnke.
Call Laurel Walker at (262) 650-3183 or e-mail lwalker@journalsentinel.com
