Adam van Koeverden Raids the Hammer

Adam van Koeverden was a double medallist in the Athens Olympics in 2004 winning a gold and bronze in kayaking. A McMaster student in kinesiology, van Koeverden has done some adventure racing before and last autumn took part in a few GHO sprint orienteering training nights. He teamed up with fellow McMaster students and top adventure racers, Simon Donato and Liza Pye, to race the Raid the Hammer Adventure Run in November.

We finally caught up with Adam and his busy training schedule and asked him about his Raid the Hammer experience.

GHO: Is this the first time you have raced in the Raid the Hammer and have you done any adventure racing or orienteering before?

AvK: It's the first time I've run this race, but I've done a little bit of Adventure racing in the past... but I've never been the one reading the map!

GHO: How do you find out about this race and what was it that got you
interested in doing it?

AvK: I did a couple of the short warm up orienteering races with some friends, Scott Ford and Liza Pye, and they seemed like fun, so when Liza asked me if I was interested in trying a longer one I thought I'd give it a go.

GHO: What did you think of the race? What was your favourite part? What
did like the least?

AvK: I thought it was awesome! My favourite parts were the matrices, splitting up for a little while was cool because it was a learning thing for me, I had to rely a little on my limited map reading skills, and I enjoyed that challenge. However, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy the team aspect of the event, I love the camaraderie of team events. My kayak races are short, and individual, so it was exciting to do something on a team, and of this length. What did I like the least? hmm. I don't think I have any complaints! My shoes got kind of dirty...

GHO: In preparation for your international kayak races do you ever do long endurance running?

AvK: Not really long running, no. My events take 1:40 and 3:30, similar to a 200 and 400m in the pool, or 800m and 1500m on the track. We do a lot of intervals, runs over an hour are quite rare, but I sneak a few in over the off season to make sure I can still do it. I've run a few half marathons, my best time was 1hr18min and change.

GHO: Orienteering is a physical and mentally demanding sport. Are there
any similarities with international kayaking?

AvK: Absolutely. I think every sport demands physical and mental strength. The kind of determination that one requires to finish a race like Raid the Hammer would probably come out more in the hours and hours of training that we do every week in preparation for our races, more than the actual event, since it is so brief. I could compare the last couple hundred metres of a kayak race to the type of grind you experience when running or mountain biking up a pretty long, steep hill. When the last few strides are all about how one mentally deals with the pain.

GHO: After Athens in 2004. What is your next big goal?

AvK: My goal never changes. Every time I line up, I want to have my best
possible race.

GHO: Any last comments about the Raid the Hammer?

AvK: Just a big thanks to the organisers, my team and everyone who raced for making it such a memorable experience. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm anxious to go out on the bike and find a few of those waterfalls and views that we had to so hastily take in as we ran/walked/hobbled past... one of my favourite things about adventure racing is the atmosphere, being outside and so close to nature is really a pleasure, and we'd all be remiss not to recognize how lucky we are as Canadians to have such a kick assbackyard to play around in!

GHO: Thanks for your time and good luck in your training and racing.

AvK: Take it easy Mike.

Photo credit: http://www.cyberus.ca/~turbo/images/AdamVankoeverdenAthens.gif