Appalachian Adventure Racing Camp
Copyright© 2025 by Canairs90s
Scene 1 — Cal
Cal admired the beautiful scenery with excitement as he cruised into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Technically it would have been faster to drive up I-75 before cutting over, but the scenery was much better on the state highways he was driving on. It was a beautiful mid-May day with few clouds in the sky and seasonable temps. He had his windows down and imagined if he had a convertible this would be ideal weather to take the top down. He’d woken a bit earlier this morning than he typically did, around 7 AM, to make the drive up to Northeast Tennessee from his home in Chattanooga. The instructions from the camp had been to arrive by 3:00 PM, but he figured being slightly early was ok. If he was being honest with himself, some of the early wake up certainly had to do with his anticipation of the weekend to come; sleep had not come easy last night and he woke up excited to go.
Cal was 31, very single, not entirely by choice, and feeling a bit stuck in life. He liked his job, he liked his hobbies. He owned a nice home and was in a good financial position, but he felt like something was missing. The easy answer was he didn’t have a significant other, but he felt it was a bit more complex than that. He lacked something that truly pushed his limits, something that got him out of his comfort zone.
He had stumbled across the Appalachian Adventure Racing Camp a few months ago while searching around for an event to break up the monotony of the weekend bike rides in his hometown in southeast Tennessee. The camp’s promotional materials were quite limited, with a registration link and a basic website that he probably could have set up when he was in high school. However the reviews were glowing, the top rated one stuck in his mind: ‘a combination of a sprint tri, a tough mudder, and the toughest escape room you’ve ever tried with some cool Amazing Race vibes mixed in - all spread over 48 hours ... and the grand prize is pretty amazing.’
It certainly sounded like an interesting proposition, although once he started the registration process the $750 entry fee certainly gave him second thoughts. Although he was wavering on following through, the confirmation screen also included details on the prize for winning the weekend: A one week stay at a lakeside house (based on the pictures, mansion might actually have been a better description) with all food and drink included. The confirmation screen did warn that the maximum chance of success was 25%, but by his calculation that seemed worth it for the opportunity to win a week’s luxury vacation. Plus, even if he didn’t win, it was a chance to compete in what appeared to be an intense and fun competition - basically what he felt like he needed in his life.
Cal turned right off the rural highway he’d been following, following the maps app on his phone, onto a narrow two lane side road. He soon approached where the map indicated should be the address he’d entered - there was a small dirt road with no markings. He immediately felt apprehensive that he was in the wrong the spot and intruding, but 50 yards down the seemingly abandoned path he spotted a white woman and a black man seated at a card table with a laptop in front of them.
Cal approached the makeshift registration table slowly and greeted the pair cordially.
“Hi, nice to meet you Mr. Jefferson, welcome to Appalachian Adventure Racing!” called the woman. She was an attractive blonde, late 30s or early 40s, Cal guessed.
“How did you know who I am?” Cal asked in confusion.
“You’re the only competitor from Hamilton County this weekend, so your license plate gave us a pretty strong clue,” she replied with a smile. That made sense, Cal thought; Tennessee was one of the few states that put the county of the resident on their license plate.
“We promise, we’re not that creepy, you can pull into the lot to your right and I’ll take you down to the base camp,” The lady said, still smiling.
“Thanks” replied Cal, feeling a little better that the camp owners seemed down to earth and relieved that he hadn’t wandered into some random hunting lodge. He pulled his car into the lot alongside the other vehicles parked there.
The woman followed him and greeted him as he got out of his car, “Hi, I’m Laurie Jackson, co-owner of the camp along with my husband Pierre,” she nodded at the guy still seated at the table. “How was your trip?”
“It was good”, replied Cal, “lovely scenery up here, I’m excited for this weekend.”
“Fantastic,” Laurie replied, “I think this weekend should be a really good competition, I’m excited to see how each team performs, we have quite a mix.”
“Great, can I ask how many teams?” Cal replied.
“Certainly, we have a small group this week, the minimum number we need to run a camp week and have it make sense, actually. There will be four teams, with each having just two players as you know from our chat a few weeks ago.”
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.