Hybrid Adventure Games: Race Recap Published: Thursday, October 06, 2011, 9:55 AM   By Marianne Jones, community blogger OregonLive.com   The Hybrid Adventure Games took place this past Saturday, October 1st at the Mount Hood Ski Bowl.   Who can think of a better way to spend a Saturday then battling a 5-mile adventure run, leaping and crawling through an obstacle course, throwing kegs, flipping tires and shooting arrows? ... well, I did everything but the archery. Teams were riled up with crazy uniforms, incredible spirit and may have already had a beer or two in their system.  My two teammates, Chris and Nick, and I started at 10a; there were two start times, 10a and 1p.  Here is a recap of the four events I did partake in: Five Mile Adventure Run: [caption id=\attachment_2777\ align=\alignright\ width=\380\ caption=\Team Superhero Underpants\][/caption] It's a good thing I like to run because this would've been hell if I were out of shape.  The Mt. Hood Ski Bowl Adventure Run meandered up 2.5 miles amassing 3200 feet of elevation before turning around at the top and going back down.  For the first one to one-and-a-half miles, the trail could not have been wider than a foot or two.  Trying to pass people was difficult. Except for the occasional holler or cheer, the trek up was fairly quiet, which would've been unusual for 500 rowdy 20 and 30somethings at an adventure race had we not all been using every ounce of energy to put one foot in front of the other.  Nick, Chris and I talked about staying together for the whole run, but it was just too difficult.  I lost Nick about half way up and I found that trying to turn my head around required too much energy.  Sorry, Nick!  There was certainly some shared misery trudging up the Ski Bowl. As I passed or people passed me, there was always the \nice job\ grunt, about all anyone was capable of mustering.  I hung behind Chris until the turnaround at the top. Ah, the turnaround.  We stopped for a few seconds to enjoy the gorgeous view and then back down we went.   No water at the top though which was a bummer.   Chris, with his long legs, galloped in front of me.  I like running downhill, but I imagine if you had any knee or back issues, escalating down 3200 feet would be tough.   [caption id=\attachment_2778\ align=\alignleft\ width=\380\ caption=\Brooke LandonTeam Run Oregon after the Adventure Run and Obstacle Course\][/caption] If you've ever run downhill at a good clip on a trail, looking up is a rarity.  This caused a few (two, to be exact) problems for me on my descent.   About half way down, our running path turned from a more major trail onto a smaller trail.  Yes, there was an arrow pointing that way, but I was paying attention to my feet and following the person in front of me.  No volunteer directing (I will address this later). If it had not been for some nice runner behind me yelling \you're going the wrong way!\, I would've continued on said wrong path. Unfortunately, it happened to me again... Like before, I somehow missed a sign and kept following the person in front of me.  Just so I don't sound like a total A-hole, I am not at all blaming the person in front of me; it just goes to show how easy it was to miss a turn.  I ran down the final twists and turns and ended back up at the start ... but there was no one there?  Oops, had to run over about 50 yards adjacent to the start to where the finish was supposed to be.   And await my turn for the obstacle course ... Obstacle Course, Keg Toss, Tire Flip and Archery:   [caption id=\attachment_2780\ align=\alignright\ width=\380\ caption=\Nick on the Obstacle Course\][/caption] Soon after I finished the 5k adventure run, I was lined up for the obstacle course.   I had a few seconds of rest. There had to be five competitors to tackle the obstacle course before you could take off and luckily I wasn't number five.  I was the only female in our group of five, which gave me a little competitive boost.  Off we went, first navigating through 30 feet of tires (I almost fell ... twice), up and over steeples, down a water slide, running over planks and hurling your body over walls.  I totally hit the wall - not literally, but physically - during the obstacle course and have no idea how I did because the timing company somehow didn't get my time.  I really enjoyed the obstacle course, but wish I had had a little more energy and not felt like I had to throw up the whole time.  After my teammates and I all finished the obstacle course, we joined the keg toss line.  Unfortunately, many of the lines were 45 minutes or more to get to the event, but gave me time to run to the car and put on some warmer layers.   Men threw a full size empty keg and women threw an empty pony keg.  Volunteers mark where the keg lands, a change from the initial where the keg stops after rolling.  I ended up hurling the keg 24+ feet, which was way farther than I thought myself capable.   We headed over to the tire flip soon after finishing. The line for the tire flip seemed even longer than the keg toss line.  The HAG organizers started to pump some music while we were waiting which made the long wait more tolerable.   The tire flip involved flipping a 200-pound tractor tire about 30 feet up and back.   I finished in 55 seconds and it pooped me out!  It was so much fun, but a lot more cardiovascular than I thought it was going to be. My teammate, Chris, informed me that you only lift about ¼ of the weight of the tire when you're flipping it so although a 200-pound tire sounds like a lot, it really only requires you to lift 50 pounds.   He is so smart!  We quickly jumped into the archery line, only having about half a hour to get to the beginning of the line.   The HAG organizers set a three hour time limit to finish all the events. We all got tired ... and hungry ... and frustrated with all the waiting.  We waited about 20 minutes and bagged the line.  We had not made it very far anyhow. My stomach took precedence over aiming arrows at targets.   Overall, the event was a ton of fun and I've been talking about it positively all week.  The HAG organizers recently sent out a fantastic email identifying and coming up with a solution for the many problems they had with the race including more volunteers, better marked trails, a more reliable timing company, and congestion at the five events.  I firmly believe major changes will be made and I look forward to 2012's HAG.  HAG raised nearly $10,000 for charity which was the main reason most people were out there. My only other suggestion would to ditch the PBR for beer!  Lets get a local brew out there!