Rebelle Rally Day 3: Storms Cut the Course, Team 131 Leads 4x4

The plan was 384 km (238.6 miles) and a 10 hour 30 minute clock. The weather had other ideas. Extreme conditions closed the Rebelle Rally course after checkpoint 5 on October 11, and the day was scored on those first five checkpoints alone.

A Dakar-style photo hunt, then a lot of mud

Day 3 closed out the marathon stage, starting at the marathon camp in Eureka, Nevada, at 6,500 feet and aiming for Base Camp 1 near Caliente. Course director Jimmy Lewis built the day around a Dakar-style visual roadbook, handed out 30 minutes before the start. Navigators had to match photos to real terrain and click the tracker when they saw each spot from the photographed angle. Think scavenger hunt, but with a tracker and a very large playground.

Then came the rain. Overnight storms turned the early sections to mud, according to the event. Founder and director Emily Miller routed teams around Section 2, which she called impassable for X-Cross and likely impassable for 4x4. By late morning, the extreme weather shut down the rest of the course. Penalties from the first five checkpoints still stand, and all teams returned safely to Base Camp 1.

4x4 standings: Team 131 up by seven

With only five checkpoints counting, 13 4x4 teams collected the full 45 points. That kept the field tight and left penalties and earlier scores to sort out the order. Team 131, Karisa Haydon and Trista Smith, sits on top with 492 points.

• 1st: Team 131, Karisa Haydon and Trista Smith, 492 points
• 2nd: Team 188, Laura Wanlass and Teralin Petereit, 485
• 3rd: Team 110, Serena Pruett and Heather Eich, 475
• 4th: Team 155, Jenna Fribley and Liza Beres
• 5th: Team 170, Andrea Werle and Joanna Chen

X-Cross standings: Team 200 leads

In X-Cross, Teams 200, 216 and 206 scored the full 45 points on the shortened day. Team 200, Carey Lando and Andrea Shaffer, leads with 472 points. Team 216, Kendra Miller and Tasha Krug, is seven back at 465.

Team 208, Amy Hein and Abby Connolly, scored 30 for the day and holds third with 338 overall. The release says that puts them seven points ahead of Team 206, Erika Ferrer Lozano and Felicia Killman.

One caution: these results are unofficial and can change until they're final.

What this means if you wheel

A cut-short stage is a reminder that the best-laid route is a suggestion once the sky weighs in. Organizers called an audible, rerouted around Section 2, and ended the day with everyone back in camp. That's the right order of priorities. If you run trails, the takeaway is simple: build a plan that can bend, and respect a closed road. Mud is a great story, but only if you're around to tell it.

The mud dried up. The standings didn't, and seven points is a thin cushion in both classes.

Source: Rebelle Rally. Photos: Regine Trias, Paolo Baraldi, Richard Giordano.