Details – Big M

Big M Edition

New to Adventure Racing? You Can Do This. Here’s Why…

Don’t let the duration keep you from an incredible experience. Just adjust your pace, maintain a positive attitude and make sure you know how to follow a topographic map and use a compass to find off-trail checkpoints. We can help you get ready with a free clinic and lots of online resources. If you are new to adventure racing, scroll down to the bottom of this page for a short tutorial.

Watch this short video to better understand adventure racing and why people love it so much.

Divisions

• Solo: females, males
• Two-person: mixed, females, males
• Three and four-person: mixed, females, males
• Family division for 5-hour race only (2-6 teammates)

What’s Included

See the Register page for entry fees. Entry includes long sleeved tech shirt; fruit and snacks; training program, and a chance at over $2,000 worth of top finisher and raffle prizes. Top finishers will also receive handcrafted wood team trophies and wood individual medals!

Because of the remote location, there are no vendors that can provide a meal for such a large group. We will provide fruit and snacks and decrease the entry fees to the lowest price in many years. Feel free to bring your own favorite post-race foods. Alcohol is allowed at Big M.

Course Design

You and your teammate(s) will race together to find as many checkpoints as you can in the time period. The ultimate flexible race format. The trekking and biking sections can be done in either order and all checkpoints are optional. You won’t know who is ahead of you and how many checkpoints they have so race hard to the end if you are vying for a top finish! You’ll loop back to the start/finish after finishing either the trek or the bike to refill your hydration, access gear, etc. so you can travel lighter.

The 7-hour race will have more strategy than any race we’ve done. Here’s how: 1) we’re placing many checkpoints so that you can get them by bike or on foot 2) You’ll be allowed to hike-a-bike to cut off distance… if you think the risk is worth the reward, and 3) What you decide early on for certain CPs will affect your course much later in the race. The 5-hour race will also have a couple strategic decisions to make. While many race venues don’t have “blended” trail systems and land that sets up well for this design flexibility, Big M is perfect for lots of strategery. And it’s gorgeous too.

Trek

Experience some of the finest navigation in Michigan as you hike or run on and off Big M’s great trails. Expect fairly consistent and runnable terrain, mostly dry, hardwood forest. Expect quite a few big hills! More beginner-level checkpoints on the 5-hour race; intermediate-level sprinkled in on the 7-hour race. Some will require a compass, others just good map reading. Super detailed LIDAR maps.

• 5-Hour: 5-6 miles
• 7-Hour: 8-9 miles

Bike

Bike on incredible “roller coaster” singletrack trails and some scenic gravel roads all within the Big M Recreation Area. The trails are beginner and intermediate level. Difficulty is more due to hills than rocks and roots.

• 5-Hour: 8-10 miles
• 7-Hour: 20-24 miles

Schedule

All activities will be held at the cabin, west of the parking lot.

Directions & Parking

Race HQ and parking are at Big M Recreation Area. The address is 3500 Udell Hills Rd, Wellston, MI 49689 (south off M55 on Udell Hills). Cell phone reception is poor so download the maps to your phone for offline use in advance or bring a printed map. Parking is free on race day due to September 26 being National Public Lands Day!

Lodging

We are starting the races later than usual in the morning to allow as many teams as possible to drive up on Saturday rather than have to pay for lodging Friday night. For those needing or wanting Friday night lodging, here are a couple things to be aware of. There is no camping or other lodging on site. You may camp “dispersed” for free on federal land outside of Big M. Visit USDA Camping & Cabins for dispersed camping, cabins and campgrounds on nearby federal land. Otherwise, search online for lodging options. Many options in Manistee and vacation rentals.

Required Gear

See the Required Gear page for details. Required gear will be standard adventure racing gear (bike, hydration pack/containers, compass, emergency blanket and a few other small items). Scroll down to see other suggested items, many which are smart to have, but not mandatory

Training Plan

Sponsor Stuart Coaching has provided a helpful 9-week training plan to get you ready for the race. It’s set up for a 5-7-hour race. The plan is very general. It will give you an idea of distances and intensity to train, but the exact workout is up to you. Try to include some hills or stairs into the mix. The mileage in the plans build slowly and safely, with a recovery week and taper, ensuring you are ready for race day. 

Navigation/Race Preparation Clinic

Join us on Saturday, September 19 for our free Navigation/Adventure Racing 101 clinic to get you ready for the race! At Seidman Park, just east of Grand Rapids. Includes in-field practice. 1.5 hours. If you can’t make it, check out the Navigation 101/201 clinic presentation and other sources on our Learn More page for tips. See our free training plan below as well.

Race Entry includes:

• Long sleeved poly/cotton t-shirt (or pick our stainless steel pint, or buff/headwear)
• Post-race sweets, snacks and fruit
• Chance at over $2,000 worth of top finisher prizes and dozens of raffle prizes, including gift certificates from Gazelle Sports and Bill & Paul’s Sporthaus
• 9-week training plan from Stuart Coaching
• The first place team in each division will receive a handcrafted wood team trophy. All members of the top three teams will receive a medal and pick of a prize.

Shirt

Referral Discount

Invite your friends! If you invite a separate team of two or more that has never done one of our adventure races and they register for the race as a result, let us know their names and we’ll take $10 off your team entry.

Merchandise

Shop and pre-pay online during registration and receive at packet pick-up or shop in person the day of the event.

Rules & Age Limits

Please read through our standard race rules. Special rules that apply for this race only will be listed in one of the race updates you’ll receive. Obey all traffic laws. This is an open course so you may encounter vehicles and pedestrians at any point. Racers must generally be at least 10 years old for the Big M race since there’s no biking in traffic; a parent may discuss the possibility of an exception with race organizers. For example, teams with younger bikers can skip the high traffic areas and just bike the low-traffic section or skip the bike altogether. Racers under 18 must be accompanied by an adult and have a parent or guardian sign the waiver/consent form provided during online registration.

After the Race

We encourage you to hang out after the race. We won’t be offering a meal so bring your favorite post-race food and drink (alcohol is allowed) with you. We’ll have apples, bananas, snacks and sweets. Congratulate the top finishers (and yourself!), hopefully win a raffle prize, and share stories of getting lost and found. If you can’t stay, it’s okay to grab your award and head home to family once we confirm your placement. We will have a relatively small shelter so most of you will be outside. Please bring a chair or blanket to sit on. Consider a canopy/tent for shade and protection from the rain. Bring rain gear or warm clothes if the weather requires.

Questions? www.facebook.com/miadventurerace is a great place to ask questions and get answers so others can learn from your question. For questions specific to you, email Mark VanTongeren, race director.

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For Beginners: How an Adventure Race Works

Adventure racing is like no other sport! It involves a mix of brains and brawn, individual effort and teamwork, speed and endurance. For such amazing rewards, it requires a little effort to learn how it works and get better over time.

The goal of adventure racing is for you and your teammate(s) to find as many checkpoints as you can in the time period. All checkpoints will be pre-plotted on topographic maps. The race will be broken up so that you’ll do one activity for a while, then another, etc. so your body (and brain) will get nice breaks. Usually your bike is the consistent mode of transportation from one place to another throughout the race, from start to finish. You’ll stop at various “transition areas” to leave your bike with a volunteer to paddle and to trek/orienteer on foot before returning to your bike to continue on.

Checkpoints may be out of view, tucked behind trees or a hill, but generally are not intentionally hidden (except in public areas to minimize risk of theft). Check your map to see where the point is located and consult your race instructions sheet for the description which will help you determine its more exact location. Some points will require use of your compass, topographical map and an understanding of how to read that map. Others you can find from just looking at the map. Each checkpoint will have an orange and white flag with a punch attached to it.

The goal is to maximize the number of checkpoints on your passport within the time limit. A team that gets 25 checkpoints with seconds to spare will finish ahead of a team that gets 24 checkpoints with one hour to spare.