Mehi (māˈhī): The couple composed of Chris and Emily.
Adventure: (1) An exciting or remarkable experience, (2) An undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risk, (3) A bold undertaking, (4) The lives of the Mehi
Adventure Racing (AR): A lot of people ask, "what is adventure racing?" AR is a multi-disciplinary sport involving mountain biking, trekking (hiking and trail running), paddling (canoe or kayak), and orienteering. Almost invariably the next question is: "So is it like a triathalon?" No, it is not like a triathlon. In a triathlon there is a set course that needs to be completed and it is usually individual. An adventure race involves using a map and a compass to find checkpoints and there is usually not a set route that one has to take. ARs are usually completed in teams of 2 or 4 and the whole team has to do the whole race and stay within eyesight of one another. The shortest ARs are usually around 6 hours, a standard length might be between 12 and 24 hours, and long races may be up to a week long. If you do a multi-day race the clock is always ticking so the team has to decide how much they want to sleep. In the 3-day race my team did (full write-up) we slept for 2 hours total during the 3 days.
Backcountry: We use this term to refer to areas that are not maintained or not well maintained. There may be trails but they may be hard to follow, and there are certainly not any outhouses or luxuries. These are areas that are generally the farthest away from other people.This is rather subjective but we call it backcountry if it is off the beaten trail and requires the ability to read a map.
Li Fraumeni Syndrome: This is a genetic disorder that predisposes a person to any type of soft tissue cancer. It is a mutation on the p53 protein, which results in a decreased likelihood that the body will naturally suppress tumors by causing cells that copy incorrectly to self-destruct. This runs in Em's family.
