East Coast Competitors Reign on Home Turf in 2018!

2018 proved to be a banner year for East Coast competitors in the Ryan Petitte Adventure Challenge. They captured four of the five top spots and the individual title on the Challenge's return to Virginia after two years on the West Coast.

RPCA East - October 27-29, 2018

See Final Standings and Stage-by-StaGe Results.

The Adventure Challenge Cup will stay local as Ben Milder captured his third consecutive title (after a preceding eleven year drought). Ben (170 points overall) leveraged a strong day one, which included stage victories in the Shot Put, Speed Ball and the Punt & Pass, to hold off a charging crowd of competitors on Day Two.

Brian Compagnone (141.5 pts) secured the second spot in just his second Challenge, edging out Tom Milder (136 pts) by just five points. Brian's previous finish had been a fifth in 2015 when the Challenge was last on the East Coast. He secured a dramatic razor-thin victory in the signature Shenandoah Trail run stage, edging out Paul Tibbits, Jr. (125 pts) by less than an arm's length at the treacherous downhill finish. Brian also scored second place finishes in the first-ever Rowing Machine 2000M stage and Football Accuracy, and a third in the Speed Ball.

In an RPAC first, two competitors -- Kevin Forster and Graham Henshaw -- rounded out the top five with identical scores of 123 (just two points shy of Paul's fourth place finish). Kevin, a record 17-time competitor (every year), had his hands-down best Challenge performance to-date. He notched stage victories in the coveted Javelin Throw and in Bowling, where he just missed scoring over 200. He also scored fourth place finishes in the Shot Put, Speed Ball and Football Accuracy Stages.

Graham, 2018 Comeback Competitor of the Year after recovering from torn ligaments in his ankle courtesy of the 2017 trail run, locked in a stage victory in the Free Throw event (in a tie with Houston Bigelow) and a second place finish in the Javelin. Amazingly, given his past injury, he powered to third place finishes in both the Mountain Bike and Trail Run! It was his highest finish in five years of competing.

Tom, a three-time challenge winner, locked in the third spot -- riding a victory in the Field Goal stage, a second in the Speed Ball, and thirds in the Free Throw, Shot Put and Punt & Pass stages.

Paul scored his best finish in his second year competing, securing the fourth place spot after taking seventh in his inaugural challenge in 2017 in Bend. Along the way, he scored impressive stage victories in the inaugural Rowing Machine and Mountain Bike events, combined with his photo-finish in the trail run. With a first-first-second in the Challenge's three endurance events, he easily secured his first RPAC Iron Man title.

Bill Forster, Jr. (112.5 pts) locked in the seventh slot with runner-up finish in Bowling to his younger brother a second in the Punt & Pass, and fifth place finishes in the Shot Put and Free Throws. Theron Stout (109) cruised in at the eighth spot with a second place showing in the Mountain Bike and multi-way runner-up in the Field Goal stages, to go with a fourth in the Javelin.

Justin Stout (99 pts) and Bob Ruby (87.5 pts) rounded out the top ten. Justin was a half-step away from a runaway victory in the Shot Put after a massive heave that cleared all other competitors by about ten yards... but his momentum carried him into a foul. He came back on his second and final throw to lock in the runner-up finish in the stage. Tenth in position but first in generosity of spirit was Bob Ruby, global adventurer and second member of the Challenge's 65+ club, who notched an impressive third place in the football accuracy as part of an overall strong showing.

Houston Bigelow (75.5 pts) was next, locking in a stage victory in the Free Throw in the very first event of day one in his first-ever Challenge, and a third in Bowling (as the favorite, he was upset in an amazing showing by the Forster Brothers duo).

Perennial fan and competitor favorite Alan Petitte (56 pts) closed it out in the final spot, locking in his best finish in the final Football Accuracy stage and giving the rest of us an ambitious goal to shoot for when we hit the 75 years young mark.

Special shout out to Shannon Clune and Tai Milder for making the trek to the East Coast despite their injuries, which kept both from competing this year (and a nod to Shannon taking on the role of official Challenge photographer).

In the team challenge, Team Coastal Plain -- with Houston, Bill, Paul and Ben -- narrowly edged out Team Appalachia (Theron, Alan, Graham, Tom) with 531 points to their 520.5. Team Blueridge Mountains (Brian, Kevin, Justin, Bob) wasn't far behind in third at 505.5 total points. The winner of the team event receives points for each of its competitors individual finish in every stage as well as specific team points for designated team stages (Bowling, Anchorman, Corn Hole and Soccer Penalty Kick).

Congratulations to the now back-to-back winner of the Pick 'Em Contest -- Kip Hyde! Kip edged out Kingsley Penland and Jon Berezay in the tiebreak to secure his second win and $100 Visa gift card.

And, last -- but far and away not least -- thank you all for your overwhelming support. You make it all go.

See you back on the West Coast in 2019!