As he entered his 50s, Vernon Winter felt he needed a rite of passage that was more strenuous than blowing out birthday candles. He signed up for a four-day, 150-mile adventure race called the "Beast of the East" and found himself bushwhacking along a 17-mile ridge with a compass, desperately trying to get down before dark.

Photo: Rich Addicks / Staff Adventure racing coach Jono Senk works with student Misty Stallo on rappelling techniques on a cliff along the river.

"I'd always wanted to do an adventure race since I saw it on TV," said Winter, of Smyrna, who was the oldest person in the Virginia race and one of only three soloists. "You're out in the woods, rappelling, riding bikes and kayaking. Everything about it brought out the kid in me."

Adventure racing bills itself as the fastest-growing sport in the country as runners, cyclists and triathletes seek new challenges. Adventure races, usually done in coed teams that must finish together, range from a few hours to more than a week. For some athletes, just completing a race is considered a victory.

"This actually pushes you to your limits," said Misty Stallo, 44, of Smyrna, who competed in her first adventure race, "The Raging Russell Team Adventure Race," last weekend in Cornelia. "I've done triathlons, but in this, you have to use your mind and your body because there's also orienteering in it. They don't tell you where the checkpoints are; they tell you compass points, and you have to find them."

Photo: Rich Addicks / Staff Jono Senk and student Misty Stallo kayak the Chattahoochee River.

The first thing aspiring adventure racers usually find is an instructor. Jono Senk runs Hairy Scary Evolutions, a name that means "If it's not hairy and it's not scary, then it's not worth doing."

"You have to make a decision that this is really, really, really what you want to do, because it is a very committed decision," said Senk, a former Army Ranger. "It's all about tremendous mental tenacity, tremendous intestinal fortitude not to quit when your feet are hamburger, your joints hurt, your hands are swollen, you're totally tired and hungry and you might be a little sick because you didn't purify the water correctly."

And yet, Senk said, "When you finish, you feel immortal, and you can handle anything in the regular world."

He recommends that new racers volunteer at an overnight race so they can see what sleep deprivation is all about on the trail. "They see that adventure racing is not necessarily about the race," he said. "It's about learning about yourself and seeing where your strengths and weaknesses are and how you work together as a team."

Although most people know how to run and ride a bicycle, Senk teaches them how to ride a mountain bike at night, sometimes without lights and on very technical trails. He also teaches them how to climb ropes and paddle, as well as teamwork dynamics, wilderness first aid and trauma management.

Senk calls training sessions "evolutions" because "you become somebody completely different." he said. "If we do whitewater paddling or ascending, we go through the whole range of fear, adrenaline and excitement, and you come through the other side going, 'Wow, I can't believe I just did that stuff.'"

Not only is training very time intensive, it's cost intensive, too. Senk estimates that racers can spend $1,500-$2,500 on gear, such as a mountain bike, pack, hydration system, climbing gear, sea kayak and food. A three- to five-hour evolution costs about $180.

Winter, who had run nine marathons and hiked the Appalachian Trail from start to finish, began training in November for the "Beast of the East" seven months later.

"Team the Vern" finished in four days, four hours and nine minutes with his wife, Kim, and 12-year-old daughter, Anna, providing support from their 1986 Caprice Classic. Will Anna one day follow in her father's footsteps?

"She saw me come into some of those checkpoints completely disoriented and wasted," Winter said. "But she did see an all-women team do this, and that was inspiring to her."

Copyright 2002 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution