Don’t Be Sorry, Be Better wins 2024 Teton Ogre Adventure Race

June 24, 2024

The 10th edition of the Teton Ogre Adventure Race saw the race’s closest finish ever

/ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – With several fast teams battling for the win amongst the 180 racers on several dozen teams, dot-watchers at home using the live-tracking system were on the edge of their seats until the final minutes of the race.

This year’s 24-hour course, in Swan Valley, Idaho, on Saturday, June 8 and 9, featured just two expedition-style legs which were both brutal and committing. Racers started with huge backpacks full of all their packrafting gear, as they hiked 3,600 feet up and over a 9,000-foot peak, with lingering spring snow still covering the final 500 feet of the climb. Then it was down and into Bear Creek, where six miles of incredible class II rapids awaited. Bear Creek is pack rafting paradise, with narrow, tight turns, beaver dam drops, and constant splashy rapids.

Four miles of flat-water paddling on the Palisades Reservoir followed, bringing racers to their take-out point, where they packed up their paddling gear and hiked a few more miles back to the transition area to hop on their bikes.

The second and final leg of the 24-hour race took teams on yet another huge climb, this time on bikes, with a few optional checkpoints thrown in to keep things interesting for teams that wanted to go for the win. A small cluster of trekking points during this leg offered teams some interesting navigation, and dot-watchers at home enjoyed seeing the top teams make completely different choices yet end up in the same spot at the same time.

One of the last checkpoints on the course, before a 10-mile gravel grind to the finish, was in an alcove behind an incredible waterfall plunging into the Snake River below.

The race remained tight until the final mile, when Team Don’t Be Sorry, Be Better pulled ahead to finish in 18 hours, 35 minutes, just under three minutes ahead of Team 4-Hour Fuel. Teams continued to trickle across the finish line over the next several hours, exhausted but generally in great spirits. More excitement came when Team “No Ragrets” came flying into the finish with six seconds to spare before the 24-hour cutoff.

The 9-hour course also featured endless punchy climbs, committing route choices, and incredible views of the Snake River. It started with a short but spicy trekking prologue up a steep, trail-less peak to collect four checkpoints. Then it was onto a big bike leg, which gave racers various route choices and some optional trekking points, depending on how big of an adventure they wanted to cram into nine hours. Quite a few teams bit off more than they could chew, unable to resist taking the long way back in order to grab those last few optional points. Despite the late arrivals to the finish, all teams crossed the line extra tired but with smiles on their faces.

Two-person co-ed Team Ornery Bear cleared the course, obtaining all checkpoints in 7 hours, 23 minutes to take first place overall. Due to a time penalty of 10 minutes per mis-punch, two-person male Team The Streublewskis ended up in third place, while solo racer Chris Valiente finished in second.