2019 Winter Edition

Race Recap
We hope you had a fun race! It was nice to see the drab landscape turn into a winter wonderland overnight. 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 140 first-time racers who we will now refer to as “grizzled veterans.” 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.

Final Results
Overall
2-Person Co-ed
2-Person Female
2-Person Male
3-Person Co-ed
3-Person Female
3-Person Male

Congrats to all the top finishers and everyone who had the courage to do this! 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. (Note to teams that couldn’t find CP 3. It was hung pretty low in a gully since there were no trees to hang it from but it was there.)

If you finished in the top five in the two-person divisions or top 3 in the 3-person co-ed/female but were not around to get your prize, email me. Apologies to SRSquared who finished in 2nd in the 3-person Female division but were not recognized (due to an Excel gremlin we believe). Email me or I’ll email you to arrange for you to get your prizes.

Post-Race Survey
Consider taking the post-race survey to share your feedback and help us make the race better. If you don’t have feedback to give, you can skip those questions and share your thoughts on whether to bring back the fatbike challenge, barriers to adventure racing, and interest in having an experienced racer paired with 1-2 beginner racers in a future race.

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 facebook (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. One great way is to download the free Terrain Navigator Pro app (iphone link here; also available on Android 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. 

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 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.

What’s Next?
Check out the Groundhog Day running races on Feb. 1-2. Use coupon code prAdventure19 for 10% off.

The Michigan Adventure Race: Silver Lake Edition on June 1 is one of the most spectacular adventure races in the U.S. If the trend continues (like 2015), it will be the largest one in the country as well (thanks to many of you).

You don’t do this race for solitude, you do it for jaw-dropping scenery and highly unique terrain including a Sahara Desert-like traverse of the Silver Lake Sand Dunes (lots of quite firm, windswept sand). You’ll also complete two very fun skill-based challenges – paddleboarding (in place of canoeing) and sandboarding (sit or stand) down one of the big dunes. Watch this video from the 2015 race to get a feel for it. Registration is open. It may be capped at 500.

Get some great navigation practice for our Silver Lake and Traverse City (Aug. 3) adventure races at Lost Arrow Sports navigation-based events, held at various venues between Lansing and Detroit, and the Nitrogaine nighttime orienteering race.

Such a fun day with a truly classy group of people. Hope to see you at Silver Lake or Traverse City!

Mark, for Greg

2019 Races