2017 Ludington Results & Recap

Race Recap
Great job yesterday! Yes, your navigation prowess, speed and skill were impressive but your effort, courage, smiles, teamwork and appreciation were what we found to be great. A special congratulations to the 209 first-time racers who we will now refer to as “seasoned veterans” (and hopefully expert salespeople too!).

Apologies to the 6-hour racers for the sand on the south side of the State Park! When I last test-ran those trails in March, they were all hard packed. Honestly. Well, I paid my penance by running them this morning when I picked up the flags. That was brutal. What a nasty course designer.

Thanks to:

Preliminary Results
6-Hour
12-Hour
Thanks for your patience! Please email me by tomorrow if you think there’s a significant error and I’ll dive into the passport pile to check it out. I put in two 20-hour days in a row (including a bit of running, paddling and biking!) so everything is a blur right now and I certainly may hve screwde smoeting up! If you finished in the top two in the two-person divisions (or top four in 6-hour co-ed) but were not around to get your prize, email me.

12-hour teams: I will send split sheets later this week. Probably.

Getting Better
If you struggled out there, start with reviewing your route and decisions using your race maps (PDFs below). Go over your bonehead mistakes and brilliant strategery.

Maps
6-Hour Trek & Paddle
6-Hour Bike

12-Hour Trek
12-Hour Bike 1
12-Hour Bike 2
12-Hour Paddle
12-Hour Bike 3
12-Hour Bike 4
12-Hour Trek 2

More tips

  • Check out our new series of Navigation Lessons online if you haven’t been reading them on Facebook.
  • Download the free Terrain Navigator Pro app (iphone link here; also available on Adroid I believe). You can then hike through the woods in any public area and see how the topo map looks compared to the real terrain, plotting CPs and creating practice courses.
  • Review Cooper and Michelle Green’s post-race analysis from races over the past several years.
  • Do more races including the (shorter) orienteering events through the Southern Michigan Orienteering Club events (mostly on the east side of MI), Nitrogaine (overnight navigation on foot) on June 24, and  the Fall Challenge 2-4-6 adventure race on September 23 in Rochester Hills.
  • Even more tips on our Lessons and Tips page online (scroll below the lessons).

Survey 
Please complete our 2-minute survey. Especially you first-time adventure racers. This survey helps us improve our races and plan for the future. I read and consider every comment. And then laugh derisively. I’m kidding! 🙂

Race Photos
Thanks to Jamie Geysbeek Photography for the amazing race photos.Check them out on our Facebook page. Contact Jamie for special rates only available to MAR racers, on weddings, corporate events and special occasions.

Lost & Found
Email me if you lost something and I’ll check around for it. Here’s what we have.

What’s Next?
July 15 (likely) Navigation 101/201 Clinic at the future permanent orienteering course at Seidman Park in Ada, just east of Grand Rapids. It’s not ready yet, but the posts should go in soon and you’ll be able to access the orienteering map on the race site.

July 28-30 Michigan Adventure Race: Epic/Caberfae Edition, 18-20 hours on July 28-29, 6-8 hours on July 30, Caberfae Peaks Resort near Cadillac. In my opinion, this race will have some of the best and most challenging (especially 18 hour race) orienteering we’ve ever designed, the best paddling river we’ve been on, and the best mountain biking (gravel and singletrack). Nighttime racing is an amazing experience if you are near or at that place in your racing “career.”

Such a fun day with a truly classy group of people. I’m very grateful to have a job working for 500 great “clients” in such an amazing place. Let’s do it again soon.

Mark, for Greg