What a night!! A grand total of 39 hard charging dudes, or crazy MFers, depending on who you ask, saddled up for some or all of the Century 2.0. 3 teams of varying regionalities filled their vans up with supplies before 6pm on Friday night. Don Draper rolled in with a brand new Mercedes Sprinter van that inspired a new team name, Team Diesel. Van 4 carrying Team Boberry and the New Day (BND) rolled in hot with the crisp sounds of Yacht Rock as the instructions were given and the first runners, Focker, Gecko, Wet Bandit, and Heist, were sent off into the West End heat.
Team Westhoe had the advantage of home turf for the first stretch with every other team getting lost somewhere along one of the routes. The mood was set early when Purple Rain, FNG Jason, and Faceplant all ruck/ran the majority of leg #2. After Buddy pushed ahead of him on leg #4- Faceplant provided his team updates along his journey in the Taint. Charging into the depths of the West End, Chaplain found a way to add mileage to his route, combo that with a migraine and he had to take an early leave. A week of sleepless nights from Broadway did him and and left Boberry heading to DaVille alone in his van. Heist thought he might cruise into the pickleball courts at Pouncey Tract Park with an easy 2nd place finish but the vision of his tron ahead kept YHC focused on an extra push to put Team Diesel into 2nd place in the West End.
After grabbing Woodsman for Team BND it was off to DaVille for a 3 leg sprint led by Team Alamo aka team Silent but Deadly. Beat It (err Brownie?) was the lone Davillian to come support the effort, after waking him up from his car he was able to hang out and watch the festivities as the other teams scrambled to provide support for Boberry and his crew.
Next up – Team Challenges. Beaver, Choo Choo, and Yukon Cornelius met us at the Lumberyard for Team Challenge #1. Team Tug of War with a fire hose – Team Westhoe left their strength at home and, despite being the only team with gloves, failed to win a match while Team SBD took the round robin and got their first choice of exercises. Team BND won round 1 but fell in the championship, even with the help of the locals. Team Diesel and Westhoe had an epic back and forth battle for 3rd that felt like hours but was likely closer to 30 seconds with Team Diesel prevailing. A quick half mile out and back and we were on our way to the next challenge.
An open bathroom was a popular sight at Bermuda where BND picked up Mudslide. Heist had a map with 9, or was it 10, spots for team selfies, with a team total of 100 pullups at the final spot. Not sure how to judge who won this one besides maybe best selfie? The teams all agreed to a quick stop at Rock N Roll since that was the only other AO left off the route – start with some savasana, some quick Mary, and a group photo under the security camera before heading out.
The final legs began at Green Mile. After the runners took off the teams enjoyed some easy going times in the parking lot until an unnamed PAX cleared the parking lot with a stink like he was in an enclosed van. On the way to the clean bathrooms of the Alamo, Team Diesel spotted a bonking Focker a few miles in. A quick support stop for some GU, water, and salt and he was back to normal. The next couple legs featured a battle between Westhoe and SBD while Diesel and BND took on the legs together with Rosetta running back to back legs. All was well until team Westhoe brought in fresh legs and a City Ringer as a pacer. Marv and Sippy Cup overtook The Duke and watched him make a wrong turn. Either way, at that point the lead was Westhoe’s to lose, not even Offshore running a leg for team BND was able to catch them on the way to Dogpile. 23 men stuck around for the final COT where FNG Jason was not named – Colgate, 4 out of 5, Prentist, Root Canal, Early Bird, and other names are up for grabs – until he posts again.
Phenomenal work and a big Tclap thank you to the organizers – Routemaster – EF Hutton; Idea man – Don Draper; Challenge coordinator – Heist; Team Captains – Boberry and Swoop; Lumberyard Tug-o-war Refs and Teammates – Beaver, Choo Choo, Yukon. Could not have done it without support from everyone. Heist kept noting how different this was from last year’s CSAUP a year ago this weekend, some of that night is fuzzy but I recall it included some yelling, rain, dirty water, rucks, rain, logs, trails, sandbags yelling, carrying, dragging, and more rain. No rain, no logs, and only fun yelling this time around.
The Winner – well that is up for debate. Westhoe and Alamo/SBD each won 2 sections. The 5th – Bermuda may be decided by best team selfie – biceps vs binder. Controversy will swirl for years with accusations of the use of a City Pacer, fresh legs never touching a van, lending of runners to other teams, and flatulent sabotage until the next Century. One thing is certain, no one loses when the HIMs of F3 get together to solidify bonds in the shared suffering of a CSAUP.
Way to go men! Until next time, see you in the gloom.
