2021 Winter

Race Recap
It’s been a challenging 12 months for pretty much everyone. Hopefully today was a happy day, with hope of a better 12 months ahead. Your navigation skills, speed and mental sharpness were impressive but your effort, courage, smiles, teamwork and appreciation made the day. A special congratulations to the first-time racers for rocking it out there and overcoming fears of getting lost… or getting cold. And thanks to all of you who keep coming back race after race. We need both fresh faces and veterans to keep this good thing going. It was also great to see mommas-to-be, really young racers and “experienced” racers too. Thanks to those of you who traveled far for this race. We also love the team that each year randomly scrambles all the CP numbers and then finds them in that order – they covered 12.25 miles but did not get every CP. LOL. Crazies.

Results
Here are the preliminary results. Congrats to all the top finishers (several of them shown below – sorry we didn’t catch everyone) and everyone who had the courage to do this! Keep in mind that you beat everyone on the couch today (and over the past year practically)! 21 out of 109 teams found every checkpoint and completed every challenge! Please email me by Monday if you think there’s a significant error and I’ll dive into the passport pile to check it out.

Overall
Solo Females
Solo Males
Two-Person Females
Two-Person Males
Two-Person Co-eds
3-4 Person Females
3-4 Person Males
3-4 Person Co-eds

Feedback
Feel free to reach out with any thoughts on ways to make the race better or things you liked about the race. Hopefully COVID will be completely behind us soon and we can get back to large group awards and raffle and breaking bread (or tacos on June 12) together.

Thanks to:

If you struggled out there, start with reviewing your route and noting areas where you made mistakes. Brainstorm with your teammate where you went wrong. Ask other teams you know or on our group facebook page (or me) what they did different. Here’s a copy of the race map and instructions if yours is shredded.

Check out our Tips page online. Also make sure you review our Navigation 101/201 clinic presentation if you haven’t. It includes compass and topo map tips, but also lists way you can practice those in real life.  

Bonus Long-Shot Target Contest.
Congrats to those of you who hit the coronavirus target that was twice as far up the hill! So far just two of you have emailed me to let me know. Please email me by tomorrow and then we will raffle off a Gazelle Sports certficate.

Race Photos
Thanks to Jamie Geysbeek Photography for the race photos. The first batch is now on our Facebook page and more will come via Flickr down the road, where you’ll be able to download free hi-res versions right from the Flickr feed! Thanks Jamie for providing this at no charge.

Lost & Found
Email me if any of these are yours or if you are missing something not shown here.

What’s Next?
The Michigan Adventure Race: Cannonsburg is June 12! Adventure and wilderness in a slightly more urban setting. Explore the wilds near Grand Rapids by canoe, bike and on foot, navigating by map and compass. Totally different course from last year. Choose from the easily doable 5 hour beginner/intermediate race or the more challenging 10 hour race. Teams of 1-4. We’ll celebrate with a tasty taco bar, awards, and raffle.

Get some great navigation practice for our adventure races at Lost Arrow Sports navigation-based events, held at various venues between Lansing and Detroit.

Such a fun day with a truly classy group of people. Hope to see you at one of our other races!

Mark, for Greg

2021 Races