Long before the sun thinks about rising over the Virginia sky somewhere along the New River a group of racers will assemble to embark on an expedition competition of a lifetime. The event is the toughest of it’s kind in the United States. It’s name; "Beast of the East" a 300 (+) mile competition designed to bring teams from the world over and pit them against the beautiful Virginia countryside. The Beast will assuredly earn it’s name this year as it pushes its competitors over 300 plus miles of terrain and throwing in over 60,000 vertical feet gained and loss over the course that weaves through the Allegheny Mountains. Sounds easy? The vertical elevation alone is equivalent to two Mt. Everest ascents. To cover the course over a two or three week period would be great yet competitors are given no more than six days to complete the course. The Beast offers what few other races offer – a racing category for solo racers. Most competitors will compete as teams but there will be those few that believe they can conquer the course individually. I just happen to be one of those nuts!

This I believe will be one of the highlights of my life win, lose, or draw as long as I survive. I’ve always and will always be a team player. There’s always something to be said for being able to work on a team. I’ve been on good teams and not so good teams. There are good things to be said about operating as a member of a team. There is always someone around to help comfort you when you are down or push you when you need it. There is someone to help distribute some of the mandatory race equipment to when it gets too heavy. There’s someone to assist you in waking up after an hour’s nap when you’ve only had two hours sleep in the last three days. Someone to pick up the slack when your arms become tired and you just can’t paddle anymore. When you’ve flipped over the handlebars of your mountain bike for the second time in one night there’s someone to ride back and ask if you’re OK. When you continue to try to put money into trees trying to get a can of soda out on the second night of racing with no sleep, it’s your teammate who tells you there’s a better soda machine down the road that works. It’s your teammate who laughs when you find the logs with your shins hidden in the grass in the middle of the night. It’s your teammate who helps you navigate when you can’t even hold the map in the right direction. It’s your teammate who has the last Imodium AD tablet that you very much need. It’s your teammate who reminds you of how bad you really smell when you get under the space blanket for the first rest in the race. It’s also that same teammate who sucks the body heat right out of you and lets you shiver for the remaining 45 minutes of authorized sleep. It’s your teammate who knows what to do for certain medical situations when you’re injured. It’s your teammate who can lend a helping shoulder during the two or three mile portages with the canoe. It’s also the same teammate that almost causes the canoe to flip out in the middle of the lake at three o’clock in the morning because he’s falling asleep while paddling. It’s your teammate who you tell time and time again not to look at you with their headlamp on while riding your bike. It’s also your teammate who will always let you know you’ve made a navigational error once it’s discovered. It’s also your teammate you can outrun should you encounter the bears you were told about during the pre-race briefings. It’s your teammate who will pull you through when you need it; and give you that bit of motivation when your body quits.

Teams are great! But there’s only once person to cheer or to blame on a solo team. Why go solo? For the challenge of pushing the body and mind beyond its perceived limitations. To go where few have been. To achieve total victory or total defeat with no one to blame. I anticipate many physical and mental challenges during the course of the race. As the physical challenges increase it will require an even stronger mental challenge as the race wears on. The body will want to quit and the only thing to keep it moving is the desire and heart of the competitor. To conquer the course as a solo competitor; skill, physical ability, and mental fortitude will be required to complete the course and a little luck never hurts.

Over the past six years I’ve been involved with extreme sports and adventure racing and teams have always played an integral role. Having competed in the first three Eco-Challenges, two Best Ranger Competitions, and the Beast of the East to name a few; all have required teams. With my extensive time in the military it has trained me to function as a member of a team or individually if necessary. My time as a Ranger Instructor and in Special Forces schools should pay off big dividends when the going gets tough as I know it will. That’s what I’m counting on. If it was easy anybody could do it. Now it’s my turn to push myself to the limits and see the end results.

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Adventure Magazine
May 1999
Article written by Blain Reeves