After years without an expedition length adventure race in northern California, the Primal Quest Adventure Race returned this past August. Even though there were openings for 20 four-person teams, only 11 teams toed the starting line in South Lake Tahoe.
For those unfamiliar with adventure racing, races generally consist of a mix of disciplines: trekking, mountain biking, orienteering, white waters, rafting, kayaking, and ascending and rappelling. Some events have caving and other exotic disciplines.
This year’s race stated with a downhill run to kayaks on the shore of Lake Tahoe, after which they paddled north, and then took off on mountain bikes for a long ride. Unfortunately, much of the 80+ miles turned into a hike-a-bike. Then at Kirkwood, they took off on foot for a long trek / orienteering section. For some teams, this section took hours longer then expected.
I was at TA3 (transition area) and we expected the first team early Friday morning, but in fact they arrived almost 24 hours behind schedule. The rest of the teams were spacer further and further apart as time progressed.
My point is that many of the racers had been on their feet for more than two and three days by the time they reached us. Then teams went back on their bikes, into kayaks, and into another long trek. Some teams were short-coursed – taken ahead on the course
Fast forward to TA6, a day and a half later and teams are still racing. Some of the racer who have done the full course to this point have had little time to rest and their feet are extremely sore to the point of being very painful. They may also have some degree of maceration going on too.
One such racer, Thomas, asked me to look at his feet. There were no blisters on the balls of his feet, just very soft and tender skin – very sore with some maceration. I told him I could help.
I cleaned his feet and allowed them to air dry. I applied Tincture of Benzoin Compound to the skin from mid-foot upwards to the base of the toes. Over this I place a piece of soft, 1/8 inch thick Hapla Fleecy Web (adhesive felt), cut to follow the shape of foot at the base of the toes, square at the bottom, and curving up a bit on each side of the foot. At the base of the felt, mid-foot, I placed a strip of Leukotape to help hold down the bottom edge of the felt. Benzoin was used under the tape and edges were rounded. The last touch was two figure 8’s, cut from HypaFix cotton tape, placed between the 1st and 2nd toes and the 3rd and 4th toes, with the bottom of the 8 under the foot and the top of the 8 on top of the foot. This anchors the forward edge of the felt against the skin and keeps it from rolling, especially on downhills. Each figure 8 is about three to four inches in length and the tape is two inches in width.
I received a report later in the race that the patch job had held. After the race ended, Thomas let me know the patch had helped his race.
The adhesive felt helps pad the forefoot and provide cushioning to the sensitive tissues, and can help relieve pain and discomfort from maceration. This is not moleskin, or a version of moleskin. It’s a thicker product and much softer. The felt can be found in 1/8 and 1/4 inch thicknesses. In the Amazon we used fleecy web that is 1/8 inches thick. In the Amazon Jungle Marathon I used the patch job many times on macerated feet – after drying the skin as much as possible.
Medco Athletics sells adhesive felt in a variety if thickness and lengths. You can search on “adhesive felt” or for a specific product I have used, “Fleecy Web.” To give you an estimate on pricing, four Hapla Fleecy Web 9” x 16”, x 1/8 thick sheets sells at Medco for about $26.00. The Hapla Feecy Web is 100% cotton and is latex free.
It also works well for padding around blisters, bunions, heel bumps, and more. Because it is thicker than tape, I would use Benzoin to help it stick better and consider adding extra tape as I described above.
