SEVENTY48:

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News

View the SEVENTY48 cancellation policy here.

Update October 2022

We bring you the news that our own Daniel Evans is shuffling off his R2AK coil. This is his R2AK/SEVENTY48 epitaph.

No, he’s not dead, just dead to us.

Daniel is chucking the stable employment of adventure races for bright lights and Kardashian glamor of public education. We can neither confirm nor deny his forthcoming butt lift, but Daniel is becoming a school teacher, and not just any teacher, a shop teacher, the most glamorous and respected school teacher there is.

How could we compete with that?

As of next week, Daniel will be teaching shop to the vocationally minded students of Chimacum High School, just down the road from Port Townsend. In a testament to both Daniel’s R2AK-level confidence and the desperation of the public school system, Daniel is neither a certified teacher nor a practicing tradesperson. “How hard could it be?” He didn’t have to say that quote, Daniel is that quote.

Daniel is survived by Race Marshal Jesse Wiegel, R2AK co-founder Jake Beattie, hundreds of past racers, and tens of thousand race fans worldwide.

“It’s going to be a lot quieter around here without Daniel,” Beattie said in a recent interview. “No literally, that guy is really loud. Has no inside voice. It’s like he thinks everyone speaks a foreign language or something. I’m sure we’ll miss him, just not that part.”

Born on the wild tundra of Anchorage, Alaska, one can only assume that Daniel’s borderline violent vocal levels were developed for communicating over long distances or just to remove the need for “replying all” to office emails. “We already know,” said the guy down the hall.

How will his years of compelling people into hypothermic danger prepare him for playing defense in the never-ending game of Power Tools vs Fingers? “I’ve driven a nail through money,” Daniel commented defensively.

Are the students of Chimacum High School excited to have the illustrious Race Boss as a teacher? “What’s the Race to Alaska?” asked a sophomore without looking up from her phone. Her disinterest aside, prior to the Race to Alaska, and after an alleged stint making fake IDs for baby carrots who just wanted to live, Daniel spent a career as an experiential educator. While we hate to admit it, he’s a damned good teacher. Schools and future generations are better because of his change of roles. Baby carrots and adventure races, not so much.

Who will replace him? Hopefully someone quieter. Stay tuned.

The Race Boss is dead, long live the Race Boss!

Because he’s actually not dead, we let him say a few words:

A letter from the Race Boss:

After eight years as Race Boss for the Northwest Maritime Center’s adventure races— Race to Alaska and SEVENTY48—Friday will be the last day I claim that fame. There are truckloads of loss in that statement, wells of excitement, and a wrenching realization that I will no longer share in these eye-rolling stories unfolding every summer. In all but two years of my daughter’s life, she has known me as Race Boss and has been proud. “You’re famous!” was a classic 4-year-old line. It’s been long enough that the Coast Guard cannot even remember a year they didn’t have to block out time to yell at me.

The truth is my job has been to create a canvas for adventure and point people to where we keep the paint. And it’s damn good paint. I have witnessed some of the most incredible stories I ever will. I have stood among legends and legends to be. Formed friendships that redefined who I would pick to be in my lifeboat. I have been amazed, humbled, and disappointed so severely a couple times I had to wag a finger. I am so honored to fill the role of Race Boss.

But that daughter I mentioned is calling to me louder each month, and it’s time to be more available to create adventure for her. I have no idea what that really means. Still, I’ve found myself remembering that I was part of a first ascent on Mt. Fairweather, not because of impeccable planning and flawless execution, but because we forgot to bring the route description. After sailing from Washington to the Gulf of Alaska and spending 15 days getting to the base of the mountain, we weren’t going to let details stop us now. Whatever her Fairweather will be, I want to be there to take pictures and wave her onto the next path. Someone has to come up with the metaphoric writing, and she’ll be busy.

Sometimes you think a good thing and just have to go forward. Sound familiar?

I’m becoming a high school teacher, rewriting history (now called Social Studies), and teaching woodworking. It’s all kind of the same, actually, doing a thing hoping it will change people’s lives for the better. But I’m pretty sure Outside Magazine isn’t going to write an article this time. And CBS isn’t going to fly a helicopter recklessly close to the woodshop for the perfect shot. And that’s best. Hoopla is best reserved for the marginally insane. That’s adventure racing, not PTA meetings.

Thank you all. For letting these race ideas happen. For being open to rewriting your personal narrative and telling us the story. Though I have yet to compete in the races, I believe they have saved my life. You can’t stand this close to intense heat and not become annealed some yourself. I am eight years of refracted light, redirected, magnified, and diffused by being with all of you. I can’t tell you how grateful I am. I have loved sharing this journey with each of you.

Daniel Evans, Race Boss


 

Update from the Race Boss, April 24, 2020

There are two ways to say this:

  1. R2AK and SEVENTY48 are canceled in 2020.
  2. R2AK and SEVENTY 2020 aren’t canceled, but you can’t cross the starting line until 2021. 

Either way, Race to Alaska and SEVENTY48 are not running this year. Beyond the barrage of fan/hate mail for putting off the decision until now, we’ve been working behind the scenes weighing ethical and practical issues and holding hope in a chaotic environment. These days, finding answers is like reading tea leaves while skydiving. Foregoing the near impossibility of getting leaves to stay in the bottom of a cup, when we did, we were left with answers like, “bird, Aries, purification, wheel”—oddly on par for this virus. In the end, we switched back to coffee and chose to answer the same questions we ask of racers when racing:

Can we do this? Yes or No. 

Is it worth the risk? Yes or No. 

Can we survive this? Yes or No. 

If you haven’t guessed, you need a triple affirmative before pushing away from your last success. The first error leading to any great debacle is often a simple decision compounding into a chain of errors leading to a free-fall, tea-leaf dive reading, “spiral, anchor, knots, stop.” (Which is apparently bad.)

Race heroics are often race jeopardy, and we refuse to gamble with others’ lives without their consent. We could race; there is a route around all the closures, but, like driving with your feet, could isn’t should, and it’s not worth the risk for racers or communities along the way. 

Out of all the scenarios, pandemic was not a culprit calculated to close our races. It’s the correct and painful decision whose wake leaves us formulating our next steps.  Dates are already set for next year (June 4, 2021) and barring, I don’t know, gigantic dinosaur extinguishing comets, we will be on the water in 2021 taking pictures like tourists and high fiving finishers. We hope to see you all there, and stay tuned for next steps.

In the meantime, we still plan on honoring the humans who registered for 2020 and delighting/angering our fans by completing R2AK bios and announcing SEVENTY48 teams for this year. Sure, there’s no race, but you are still awesome, and people should know about you. We’re also working on some other content to keep ourselves busy and the Race nation remotely together.

It’s an ironic/dated phrase at this point, but we’ll be in touch.

Daniel Evans, Race Boss

 


April 10, 2020

Over here at Races High Command we turn on every computer monitor and radio, set them all to news stations and spin in circles until we find a station that is not reporting on COVID-19; we are still spinning.

It’s because this virus is no joke. The total of fatalities in New York has now exceeded the terrorist bombing of the Twin Towers on September 11. Canadian borders remain closed to visitors. The Washington Governor has extended the statewide Shelter In-place order. State Parks, like our SEVENTY48 race site, Blake Island, remains closed. The Heiltsuk Nation, which includes the R2AK waypoint of Bella Bella, issued a bylaw closing their territory to non-Heiltsuk populations.

No corner or map edge is safe from the virus.

So, why are we holding out against all this evidence?

We’re not really ‘holding out.’ We are paying attention. We are measuring the distance between the do’s and don’t, can’t and won’t, want to and why risk it. Words like miraculous exist because events happen that can only be described as extraordinary, astounding, incredible and, well, miraculous. We are waiting because, despite the obvious, we can wait.

We love the waters these races traverse and have spent many years upon them. We wouldn’t run the races if they endangered communities. The fact that we haven’t made our decision has no bearing on our sensitivities to rural communities along the route or local and federal laws; it is tied to the fact that this pandemic changes every day and if we can wait to make a more informed decision, we will. And we can wait, a little while longer. On April 24th we’ll be announcing the final and permanent decision on R2AK and SEVENTY48 for 2020. Until April 24th all application and registration processes will be suspended.

A few weeks ago I said to cross the start line is to win, and this race is personal. Those sentiments have not changed—the theater, the context, and the reference all have. COVID-19 has demoted the individual triumph and elevated the collective. Where once a person found strength from deep within has now been replaced with the community stronghold we find around us—its ability to painfully contort to new norms and sacrifice comfort for the safety of the group, be it town, state, or country. What is noble, what is hero, is, for now, defined more wholly in the collective of our communities. The gambling, judgment, and risk of our races are real, but we draw the line if our risk threatens those who have not signed up for such treatment.

Until the 24th, we keep spinning through the media cycles. We do everything we can to protect ourselves and those around us. We honor our communities, small and large. We look for hope in every cranny, and seek, in the end, to keep it real.

Race Boss
Daniel Evans

March 20, 2020

To our SEVENTY48 community,

I imagine in this day and age our news feed looks very similar and is awash in COVID updates. The answer you won’t find there is, “What about the races, R2AK and SEVENTY48?” They are still on.

The Northwest Maritime Center, proud non-profit of both races, has made some strategic and dramatic shifts to stay ahead of the pitfalls other companies who, if they deny the impact of COVID-19, may succumb to in the ensuing weeks. While restricting other Maritime Center activities, we have decided to focus on our magazine, 48º North, and three events: Race to Alaska, SEVENTY48, and our fall event, The Wooden Boat Festival.

Our races were created to celebrate the improbable hero in us all and recognize the power of togetherness in overcoming adversity. The Northwest Maritime Center has chosen to reflect that culture and those precepts. Even now, as Canada and the US agreed to further restrict travel across our shared border, we adapt. Can we run R2AK around Canada? Could we have separate starts? Better yet, can we bring in our more economical American cheese to Canada, exchange it for toilet paper, and reclassify R2AK as a trade partner? Year one of Race to Alaska was a success against all odds, so why not year six? Hurdles involving SEVENTY48, for now, appear less dramatic. We will continue.

We choose not to be held hostage by this global fear and are proceeding full steam ahead with pre-race social media campaigns, racer bios, features, and exploring a video blog or podcast to enhance the storytelling. The reality is that, by far, the largest viewing numbers we experience for both races are online. Ironically, the viewing of our races is made for this pandemic and people will be starving for something reflecting the human determination, hope, and courage we all seek to lead us out of this plight. I plan to offer just that. A successful year must mean success for us all. The aphorism, “A rising tide lifts all boats,” has never been more true or important. I will strive for our races to continue to be a beacon of innovation, hope and strength.

I ask you to continue posting on your own social feeds and sites. Train, help, and unite. Tell us and the world about it. Let’s be that rising tide together. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. I will be putting out more information as we learn more. I am glad you are along for the ride.

Cheers,
Daniel Evans, Race Boss