There were two main ties that bound the 22 women who formed the local Artemis North contingent that tackled the Challenge the Shield Multi-Sport Adventure Race in Parry Sound last month.

For starters, the crew that generally covered an age range of 35 to 50 or so would not be considered devoted athletes by any reasonable definition of those words. While some certainly possessed a training base of some sort on which to build, many were starting at ground zero.

The second bond lies in the form of Christine Spence, the local sparkplug who somehow managed to convince a group of overwhelmingly non-athletes to put themselves to the test, with teams of two tackling a 3.5km run/trek, 2km paddle and 7km mountain bike ride, all in the backwoods of northern Ontario.

"Christine giving us the push was the biggest thing," noted 35 year-old Jessica Legault, a graduate of CVDCS (Chelmsford Valley District Composite School) who acknowledged to "having had pretty much zero athletic background since high-school".

"But being a mom of two, my health has always been pushed off to the side - and it's something I would like to bring back in focus. With this, we had a date, we had a goal. Now I was committed and had to do it."

Legault was one of three members of Artemis North who work alongside Spence at the cardio rehabilitation centre of the YMCA, pairing up with teammate Kristen Atmanski to form the "Mighty Mommas".

"I knew that I was very much out of shape and I only had a couple of months to get to my goal," Legault added. "During the race, I was very grateful that we had put in the time to prepare for it - but it was very difficult."

A 42 year-old long-time Valley East resident who played some slo-pitch / softball over the years, Colette Lapointe exemplifies very much the standard profile for a good collection of these "throw caution to the wind" women.

"I am not a runner, not a cyclist, not a paddler at all," saud said. "I hadn't ridden a bike in over ten years - so I bought a Sportchek bike just for this."

Ah yes: the mountain bike segment - fraught with the illusion of being quite easily navigable for any person who can simply pedal a bicycle.

"I went into this (the mountain bike segment) thinking: I can ride a bike; I can do this," said Legault. "First of all, we ended up on wet trails - and that made everything slippery. That added a little extra fear because no one wanted to get hurt."

"But it's 7km in the bush. It was just intense. It's not nice, smooth trails; you're going up and down all kinds of rocks. You're riding in the back country."

For her part, Colette Lapointe completely echoed the thoughts of her Artemis counterpart, singling out the bike segment as easily the most challenging leg of the triathlon.

"We had done some road biking for training - and we did a trail in Capreol," said Lapointe, partnering with Natalie Spence on team "Run Now, Wine Later".

"We had no experience with that kind of terrain."

Beyond the basics (for as much as one could refer to the standard distance as basic) of this course, participants could also collect bonus points by making their way to additional check-points that are separate from the mandatory three-part prologue - a test of the spirit that few within the Artemis family could resist.

"My goal as a 42 year old mom of two was to just get the basics done," said Lapointe. "I would have been happy with that. But I also didn't want to be last, so I did one extra thing."

As might be expected, some will complete the 2025 adventure and call it a day, while others become hooked. The Artemis North group is apparently no different.

"I am going to use this year as my stepping stone," said Jessica Legault. "I want to do better next year. We should probably start now for next year."

"I wish I could say that I'm hooked - but not yet," Lapointe suggested, now in the midst of a month long 50km walk for cancer challenge, just to keep herself "accountable", as she explained.

There is, after all, still that glimmer of hope that rises solely from the bond that ties this group together.

"If I could do it, not being in great shape, a little overweight - then anybody can do it," said Lapointe.

"Will I do it next year?," she added. "Probably - if Christine (Spence) is around."

The balance of the Artemis North representatives were: Renée Lalonde, Sydney Kay, Lindsey Quesnel, Sara Tastula, Natalie Merigioli, Kat Cameron, Michelle Faubert, Annie Diotte, Josée Robert, Gen Diotte, Rebecca Foreshew, Stephanie Montgomery, Jamie Root, Stephanie Venturi, Natalie Prashaw, Jen Verdiel and Kelley Proulx.