Checkpoint Tracker National Championship Results Update

Last week I posted several stories about the recent Checkpoint Tracker National Championship adventure race that took place in Moab, Utah at the end of October. First, I reported on the results of the race, then linked to a race report that came to us courtesy of the Gear Junkie. In that report, GJ noted that there was a bit of controversy at the event involving two teams that crossed the finish line nearly two hours in front of everyone else, but then ended up being assessed time penalties that sent them spiraling down the leader board. Late last week, the Checkpoint Tracker Advisory Board posted a note to their blog explaining the situation in a bit more detail and offering some insights into the penalties.

The two teams that were effected by the ruling of the advisory board were Osprey Packs and YogaSlackers. Both teams reportedly took an unauthorized route to reach three of the checkpoints on the course, and as a result, they were given six hour penalties – two hours for each checkpoint. The blog post states that the rules clearly give indications of when it is okay to acquire checkpoints out of order and the penalty for not adhering to those rules.

As I mentioned in the follow-up post on the race last week, I've sat in on some of these juries, and it is a difficult task to administer these time penalties. No one wants to see them impact the race in any real, meaningful way, but then again, the teams have to race fairly and adhere to the rules. It sounds like this was an honest mistake by everyone involved, it just happened to have a big impact on the final results. Also, as I wrote last week, it doesn't seem to have had a negative effect on the race either, as most of the athletes reported having a great time and enjoying the event immensely. That speaks volumes about the competitors and the race itself.