We have epic right under our noses
Passionate volunteers are a lifeline to not just racers but for the entire IRONBULL experience. Photo credit: Gary Barden Photography
I’ll be honest, I had doubts about the IRONBULL Red Granite Grinder. What can we do that won’t be the same as everyone else? How can we make an epic course out of the straight roads along farm fields in Central Wisconsin? These questions weighed on me the past several months along with wondering where I’d drop the ball in coordinating these complex events we claimed we’d pull off. What permit would I forget to file, would the police allow us to even start the race on the roads, and did we have enough volunteers?
These are all erased. Because of the awesome team I am surrounded by (there are too many to mention) we were able to put on not just an epic race course, but an epic event from start to finish. I had the pleasure to greet each rider to award finisher medals, and I was blown away by the compliments.
I had the pleasure of greeting each rider at the finish line including our very last finisher who was out on the course literally all day - dawn to past dusk! Photo credit: Tina Lechner
Now, with a little experience, I feel the sky is the limit (so in the gravel world Dirty Kanza!) In my past career, we often joked that once you had a little experience in an area, you were now an expert. So I guess that makes IRONBULL an expert at putting on epic races!
Just a few months ago, I had never heard of a gravel bike race. In fact, shortly after starting to plan this race, I did an adventure race that had a section of the race on gravel roads. It was a complete grind all the way and simply a means to an end. I couldn’t help wondering who would ever sign up to do a gravel bike race, much less pay to do ours (many gravel bike races are free)!
On top of that, it was the blind leading the blind to create this “epic” event. Not only had I never heard of a gravel bike race before, I also had never organized a race before. In fact, nor did our race director or volunteer coordinator. So we didn’t have that going for us either…but it DID all come together.
Over these months course designer and race director Shane Hitz and assistant race director Shane Stuard scouted the countryside and incorporated several hidden gems. I made a few suggestions of places I had explored, some more than 15 years ago when I grew up in Marathon, as well as places I had more recently discovered.
Racers shared their stories with me, including Dang Yang, who stopped at the Wausau School Forest for an interview. Yang just started racing in 2018 finished the 80 mile race. Photo credit: Gary Barden Photography
Some things nearly didn’t work out - we didn’t receive our special events permit to allow Rib Mountain State Park as part of the race course until just weeks prior to the race. And some fell through, such as using snowmobile trail that was too wet or a private landowner that would not grant access. In the later case, this required Shane to rework the route just weeks from race day.
But we did have the support of Marathon County Parks, Recreation, and Forestry allowing us to route the course through Nine Mile Forest after the close of bike season and to use the Fenwood-Edgar ATV trail for the race. The Wausau Police Department and Marathon County Sheriff’s Department worked with us over months to ensure the safety of our riders. (And the police escort from the start in downtown Wausau to Rib Mountain was pretty cool too!)
Fast forward to race day. Once the riders were out on the course, the day was epic - the volunteers were passionate, the course was challenging, and every thing came together.
It was great to see a few familiar faces, including IRONBULL Ultra Trail race directors, Ellen Humberston and Jake Daul on the race course. But more importantly, it was amazing to see all the smiling faces. It was a privilege to award finisher medals to the riders as they arrived back on the 400 Block. Over the course of the day, I didn’t hear a single negative comment about the race! Please pinch me!
It was awesome that even though both the 80 and 140-mile champions won by about a 1/2 hour each, even they were challenged on the race course. Riders raved about not just Rib Mountain State Park, but the Fenwood-Edgar ATV trail and the Wausau School Forest. (Of course we knew how cool Rib Mountain State Park was), but prior to the event, I wondered if riders would consider these other featured sections special.
I feel I’ve heard the ultimate compliment many times - people stating that they are going to tell everyone they know about how great this event was. So if you joined us at the Red Granite Grinder, tell everyone you know! And if you haven’t consider joining us as a spectator, volunteer, or racer at a future IRONBULL event.