By Kelline Linton, Staff Writer
Alex Wann watched struggling bikers and exhausted runners pass him with smiles on their faces. He felt a real genuine connection as he shouted encouraging words at the tired racers: “Keep it up!,” “Good job!” and “You can do it!”
“It was one of the highlights of my semester,” said Alex Wann, sophomore environmental science major from Torrington, Wyo.
Participants who enter RDAC, a triathlon sponsored by the ACU Outdoor Club and Hardin Simmons University Outdoor Adventures Program, run two miles, canoe two miles and bike six miles in a challenging race.
The race has two competition divisions: H-core division for competitive racers and JFF (Just for Fun) division for recreational racers. First-and second-place finishers from each category win prizes.
RDAC will start 8 a.m. and conclude 3 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at Lake Abilene across from Abilene State Park, about 30 miles south of Abilene.
This year’s RDAC is the third annual race since the founding of the ACU Outdoor Club three years ago and is the first to be sponsored by both ACU and HSU students.
The race can be completed in teams of two or six. Couple teams run the events together, but the teams of six divide the events with two people performing each leg of the race.
Teams face challenges throughout the race that they must successfully finish to continue the events. The RDAC directors keep the challenges secret until the actual race. One challenge from last year involved a locked box that teams had to open using a list of four potential combinations; the timed test
required patience amid trial and error.
This year’s RDAC is open to people from all over the West Texas region. ACU students were the main contestants in last year’s race, but the ACU Outdoor Club is seeking more outside participation.
“Our race is a real grassroots, community event,” said Wann, ACU Outdoor Club vice president of events and RDAC director.
Seventy-five people raced last year’s RDAC, but this year’s goal is to find more than 100 participants, said Wann.
Registration for RDAC can be found online at acuoutdoorclub.org and also will be in the Campus Center the week of the race.
Any participant who registers by April 18 will pay an early $20 entry fee; all other racers must pay $30. The registration fee includes the race, a T-shirt and lunch. Dusty Vaughn (’06), original founder of the Outdoor Club and current Webmaster, designed the T-shirts.
A portion of the entry fee pays for the course and the renting of canoes and Port-A-Potties, but the rest of the proceeds benefit ACU Outdoor Club. RDAC is the Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Profits are used to purchase rock-climbing gear, backpacking supplies or tents.
ACU Outdoor Club wants the future of RDAC to be community-oriented, Wann said.
“We might make it into an Outdoors Day where local businesses could sponsor booths, and we could teach outdoor education,” Wann said.
The race itself is the Saturday before finals’ week and can be seen as a celebration, he said.
“This is going to be a joy; racers will make special memories while wrapping up the end of the school year in a neat way,” Wann said.
ACU Outdoor Club is recruiting volunteers to manage the race, help with parking and registration and set up the barbeque lunch. All volunteers receive a free Tshirt and lunch. Anyone interested in helping can contact Bryce Eaton, the RDAC volunteer coordinator, at bbe07a@acu.edu.
Timber Barkley is volunteering at the race to support competitors and have fun.
“I think it’s really great to be involved, even if you’re not crazy about being athletic,” said Barkley, ACU Outdoor Club vice president and sophomore environmental science major from Gruver.
The ACU Outdoor Club has sponsored several events this semester, including a camping and climbing trip to Lake Mineral Wells State Park this Friday and Saturday for ACU international students.
“It will be awesome to provide an opportunity for international students specifically to experience God’s creation,” Wann said.
