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Pittsburgh Shows Steely Resolve to Finish as Three-Person Team

June 28, 2006

By Andrew Griffith

When most people think of sports in Pittsburgh, adventure racing isn’t what leaps to mind. In fact, it probably doesn’t make the Steel City top ten. But the AR scene in and around Pittsburgh is a force to be reckoned when the city’s eponymous team is racing.

Team Pittsburgh is composed of captain Suz Falvey, Toby Angrove, Frank Eyth, and Scott Murrell. As is often the case, the members of Team Pittsburgh first met as opponents, but they have been racing together since the late 90s. Murrell is the newest member of the team, joining as an alternate after David Egbert was injured shortly before the race. They have been looking forward to Primal Quest since last September.

Falvey, 38, and Eyth, 45, both live and work in Pittsburg. Falvey works as a personal trainer and Eyth owns an exterior painting company. Angrove, 33, is a member of Army guard. He is assigned to the ROTC program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Murrell, 31, is the only member of the team not living in Pennsylvania. He is working towards his Registered Nurse certification in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The team came out strong, crossing the first checkpoint in tenth place. It soon became clear, however, that Murrell was in trouble. By TA 2 he was having difficulty digesting food. The team took a rest, to give him a chance to recuperate before continuing. By CP 9, Murrell had become dizzy and nauseous. While the situation was not a medical emergency, it was clear that he would be unable to continue.

When a racer can’t continue, his team must decide whether to withdraw or continue unranked. Deciding to leave a team member behind is difficult, but giving up the dream of finishing the world’s toughest race can be just as hard. Eventually, the team decided to continue.

“Its always hard to lose a teammate,” said Angrove. “Now going forward, our priorities are different.” Before the loss of Murrell, the team had hoped to remain competitive throughout the race. Now they would be satisfied just finishing. “We are just going to try to enjoy it,” Angrove continued. “We’re trying to learn as much as we can from the experience, about ourselves and each other. And we want to get as much experience as we can about doing races of this length.”

As the team disassembled their bikes, some late afternoon cloud cover provided welcome relief from the heat. Despite losing one of their number, his team is fired up and seemed in good spirits. Everyone seemed eager for the coolness of the whitewater swim, and excited for the rest of the course. They especially looked forward to the course’s eight miles of rope work, which is the largest ropes section ever attempted in adventure racing.

Asked about the course thus far, the team had high praise for Don Mann’s work, particularly the horse section. “Kudos to Don Mann for that first section,” said Angrove. The team decided to have the horse carry most of their gear and water, leaving them free to maintain a steady jog. As an added bonus Team Pittsburgh found a horseshoe that had been lost by another team’s horse. Let’s hope that brings them the luck they need to finish the rest of the race.