Owasippe Edition
September 23, 2023
5 or 8 hours

Teams of 1-4
Bike, paddle, trek, orienteer
Owasippe Scout Reservation,
Twin Lake, MI

Gather your team and get ready to experience classic northern Michigan terrain by bike, canoe/kayak and foot, without having to drive “up north.” The race takes place just 20 minutes north of Muskegon and less than one hour from Grand Rapids. The course features a “cloverleaf” design – you can trek or bike in either order and you’ll return to a central transition area after each discipline, allowing you to race light – carry just what’s required! The paddle will be accessible via the bike section so you’ll have a nice break for your legs – and a chance to take a refreshing dip! The 5-hour race is perfect for beginners and families – short, not too difficult singletrack, and the entire race stays on the scout reservation so no road traffic.

Mountain bike miles and miles of top-rated singletrack on Owasippe’s bike trails. 5-hour racers will bike on the easier trails, accessible just meters from the home base. 8-hour racers will face the more challenging sections with quite a few climbs but so much fun. Some of the best mountain biking in the state in a gorgeous setting with numerous views of the area’s lakes and marshes. You can ride (or hike) the trails starting Aug. 7 (once scout camping season is complete).

• 5 hour: 4-5 miles
• 8 hour: 13-14 miles

Trek and orienteer through scenic Michigan forests with numerous views of marshes, lakes and valleys. It’s “Goldilocks” terrain – not too steep or too flat, not too thick or too open. Defined, often runnable terrain. Bushwhacking is not thick for the most part. Check out this topographic map of the land! Bonus – there are lots of trails and a few roads to help you know where you are at and to hike or run at faster speeds! All checkpoints optional! Super detailed LIDAR maps too. Thanks to Southern Michigan Orienteering Club for help with the LIDAR base map development.

• 5 hour: 3-5 miles
• 8 hour: 8-10 miles

Paddle scenic flat waters with a bit of navigation to keep you on your toes. The lakes within the reservation are beautiful! Calm water and lots of scenery to enjoy. No portaging required. Bring your own canoe or kayak to save money or rent affordably and stress-free from Owasippe Scout Reservation. (Please clean your boat with bleach to make sure you don’t bring in invasive species.) Rental comes with paddles and personal flotation devices. Limited to 50 rental canoes and 38 rental solo kayaks.

• 5 hour: 3-4 miles
• 8 hour: 5-6 miles

Fastest Team Projections 
Unlike some of our races, this course design allows for the majority of the teams to get the majority of the checkpoints. Here’s our projections of when we think the fastest teams might finish the course having found all the checkpoints.

• 5-hour: 3-3.5 hours
• 8-hour: 5 hours

Celebrate after the race with a post-race meal, awards and raffle, sharing epic stories of success and what you’d do differently next time.

You Can Do This. Here’s Why…
You and your teammate(s) will race together to find as many checkpoints as you can in the time period – or come in early if you’ve had enough and rest up for the post-race feast and awards. 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.

Video of race experience
Video of racer testimonials

Divisions

• Solo: females, males
• 2-person: mixed, females, males
• 3-4 person: mixed, females, males

What’s Included
See the Register page in the drop-down menu above for entry fees and youth or military discounts. Entry includes:

• Tech shirt (or pick our stainless steel pint, or buff/headwear)
• Post-race meal (chicken lettuce wraps, salad bar, choice of rice or beans, mac & cheese, cookies)
• Chance at over $2,000 worth of top finisher prizes and dozens of raffle prizes, including shoes from Salomon and gift certificates from Gazelle Sports, Bill & Paul’s Sporthaus, Central Cycles and West Michigan Bike & Fitness.
• The first place team in each division will receive handcrafted wood team trophies and a prize (gift card or gear). All top finishing teams will receive wood individual medals and a prize (depth of placements determined by number of teams in each division).

Timeline

Friday check-in/maps for racers staying overnight: 4:00-9:00 pm (time may change), administrative center

8-HOUR
Maps emailed out: Friday evening
Friday lodging and race check-in: Friday, 4:00-8:00 pm
Canoe/kayak drop-off (if bring your own): Saturday, 7:00-8:30 am
Check-in: 7:00-8:30 am, Admin building
Race briefing: 8:45-9:15 am, tent
Start: 9:30/35/40 am (waves), bike corral
Race cut-off: 5:30/35/40 pm (waves), Admin building
Food: 5:00-6:30 pm, tent
Award ceremony and raffle: 6:00 or 6:30 pm, tent

5-HOUR
Maps emailed out: Friday evening
Friday lodging and race check-in: Friday, 4:00-8:00 pm
Canoe/kayak drop-off (if bring your own): Saturday, 7:30-9:30 am
Check-in: 8:30-10:00 am, Admin building
Race briefing: 10:00-10:30 am, tent
Start: 10:45/50/55 am (waves), bike corral
Race cut-off: 3:45/50/55 pm (waves), Admin building
Food: 3:00-4:45 pm, tent
Award ceremony & raffle: 4:30 pm (approx.), tent

Directions
Owasippe Scout Reservation, 9900 Russell Rd, Twin Lake, MI 49457, north of Muskegon, less than one hour from Grand Rapids.

Lodging

• Cabin and tent site rentals are available on site through the Owasippe Scout Reservation.
• Check out the Visit Muskegon website for additional lodging options, restaurants and things to do. 

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.

Canoes & Kayaks – Own or Rental
You may bring your own canoe(s), tandem kayak(s), or solo kayak(s), in any combination depending on your team size and stage it along with your paddles, PFDs at the start of the paddle before the race (near the race start). Your watercraft will be in a secure position at the venue after you finish your paddle.

If you will be renting watercraft, you can rent any combination of kayaks or canoes for your team. Life vests and canoe or kayak paddles included. If you are a 3-person team, you can rent a canoe with a person in the middle, a canoe and two kayaks, or three kayaks (no tandem kayaks available). They will be ready for you along with paddles and PDFs at the start of the paddle and you’ll leave all paddle gear there when you’re done.

Transition/Aid Station Areas
We will have water and Gatorade at the “hub” where you will return each time so you can race light and refill fluids and change gear after each section.

Navigation/Race Preparation Clinic
Join us on Saturday, Sept. 16, 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.
RSVP here 

Shirt
Long sleeved tech shirt, pint or buff comes with early or regular entry through Sept. 10 (late entrants get pint or buff; can swap for shirt if desired at the end of check-in). Men’s/adult crew or women’s v-neck, same shirt style as our other races.
Women’s shirt specifications
Men’s shirt specifications

Merchandise
Shop and pre-pay online during registration and receive at packet pick-up or shop in person the day of the event. We may also have skull caps and tech shirts available at the race (but not online).
Hoodie – $35
Multi-functional headwear/buff (green or gray), $12
Stainless steel pint, $12
Sticker (classic oval or compass-cut), $2

Rules & Age Limits
Please read through our standard race rules. Special rules that apply for certain races 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 14 years old (12 years for the Owasippe race) due to biking in traffic; a parent may discuss the possibility of an exception with race organizers. 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. Your entry includes a post-race meal of a chicken lettuce wrap, salad bar, potato salad, and cookie along with lemonade and ice tea. Guests can pay for the meal under the Purchase Event Items on the registration site.

We’ll have top finisher and fun awards, a raffle, and share stories of the day.

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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.

• Check-in. We recommend arriving to check-in early as we will hand out maps then and you can get most or all of your route complete before the pre-race meeting.
• Pre-race meeting. We’ll go over rules, safety issues, answer any questions.
• Race instructions/clues. The race instructions lists key rules, describes the course and the activities, and provides hints about where checkpoints are located along with the numbers of each checkpoint corresponding to the map, passport and punch.
• Passport. The passport is the piece of waterproof paper you’ll punch at each checkpoint to prove you found it. You must not lose it! You will turn this in as your scorecard when you finish racing.
• Checkpoint flag (aka “control”) and punch. You are looking for orange and white 3-sided orienteering flags (technically called control markers). You must punch the correct box in the passport so we can verify you were indeed there. The punch will have a number on it corresponding to your passport. Check it to confirm you got the right one. Each punch has a unique barb pattern to prove teams made it to that flag.
• Maps. The map(s) are topographic, showing the shape of the land and terrain details. Sometimes the map is lower resolution USGS. Other times it will be high-detail LIDAR. They are pre-plotted with the checkpoints on them. While not every trail in the area will be on the map, the vast majority usually are. You can waterproof your map with packing tape or contact paper and/or keep it in a waterproof map case or zip lock baggie.
• Map reading will be critical. You should also know how to use a compass (baseplate or sighting – with a straightedge), although you may be able to manage without if you can navigate well with your map. Attend our free clinic (see details earlier on this page) or learn online here.
• Order. Checkpoints are usually optional and often times can be found in any order within a section.
• The goal. Maximize the number of checkpoints on your passport within the time limit. If you arrive after the time limit, you will either receive a severe checkpoint penalty or not be counted in the final standings, depending on whether the race is beginner level or not.

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.