• Variety of challenges – math, observation, communication, physical endurance, mental focus.
• How well spread out everyone was.
• Venue, flow, format, variety of terrain.

• More physical challenges needed. We had hoped to do bouldering/rock climbing but the cost was $1,600; too high of a cost for the value.
• Start the race earlier to avoid crowds. Most venues don’t open until 10 am so it’s easier to get permissions if we start closer to then.
• Traffic on the bike course. This is only the second time to EGR since 2011. Such a great place but we do recognize the traffic concerns. Most years we bike away from downtown.

Some Challenge Solutions

• Pop Bottle Count (fast solution): 13,260 total bottles is listed on artist’s sign. 26 identical rows/groups of bottles. 13,260/26=510 bottles per row; 8 rows of red x 510 = 4,080 red bottles.
• Mystree Puzzles: some of the tougher puzzle answers. First thing in the morning (AM). No TV for a week. No one to blame (no 1, 2 blame)

Race Recap #1

What an amazing day in some amazing places with some amazing people. Thank you for racing with us. We were especially impressed with your discipline and safety on bikes. Waiting for green lights must have been torture for some of you but the feedback we received was 99% good.

A Big Thanks to:

• Gazelle Sports – the place to go to get the right shoe for your foot, gait and terrain. Great staff and expertise.
• West Michigan Bike & Fitness – my choice for a new bike, repairs and gears. Three locations in the area.
• Founders Brewing Co. – ranked one of the best brewers on the entire planet.
• Peppino’s Sports Grille – great pizza and a great place to watch the game.
• Bill & Paul’s Sporthaus – the place to go for adventure racing gear including compasses, map cases, hydration packs.
• Switchback Gear Exchange – located just north of downtown GR, Switchback saves you money by selling and buying your outdoor gear and bikes.
• Tecnu – the experts in products to fight poison ivy rash and bugs.
• Advanced Family Chiropractic Center – click here for their new patient offers.
• Higher Health Chiropractic – check out their site to see how they can help you achieve your health goals.
• U-Rent-Em Canoe/Kayak Livery in Hastings – great paddling close to GR. Our favorite livery for renting boats for our races.
• Dave & Busters – arcade games, sporting events, and good food, located on 28th ST in GR near the mall
• Local vendors for discounted goods: D&D Printing (maps), Baker Tent Rental, Kingma’s Market, Fran’s Girls (trophies)

All the volunteers and Camp Anew friends and staff. Thanks for all the donations in the Charity Challenge; we’re still working on the final amount from the challenge and race profits but looks like well over $800 will go to help kids who’ve lost loved ones to attend Grace Adventure camp at Silver Lake next summer.

Results
Great job everyone. Here are the preliminary results. If there are significant errors, please email me by Wednesday or we’ll consider results final. If you finished top 5 in your division and weren’t there to claim your prize, please email me by Wednesday and I will mail it to you. If you returned beyond the deadline, don’t let that tarnish the day – look at where you probably would have finished without penalties and next time you’ll know what to do differently.

Survey
Please take a minute to fill out our survey to help us improve future races.

Lost and Found

• Lost: driver’s license.
• Found: Sunglasses, ear buds (and prescriptions eyeglasses from a previous race). We can deliver items to Gazelle Sports GR, Holland, Kzoo and Northville or send me a pre-paid mailer so I can mail your item back.

Photos
Thanks to Jamie Geysbeek Photography for the race photos. Check out the first batch on Facebook (a few below too). Once they go through image editing, we’ll post hundreds more to our Flickr album and let you know via Facebook.

Orienteering
Some of you experienced orienteering for the first time at the orienteering course in East Grand Rapids. If this was new to you and you didn’t attend the clinic or review our navigation presentation, maybe you struggled to find the CPs and wonder how you can get better next time. Here are a few quick tips for two of the more difficult CPs:

• CP 5: use bends in the trail, the shape of the land (the contours pointing uphill indicated the gully) and, or streets to the north of CP 5 to help you know where to venture off trail to find the gully where the CP was located.
• CP 8: find the water on the west side of the road. Take a bearing with your compass or follow the waterway to the swampy area and head south toward the ditch.

Gathering data from your map and reality related to contours/land shape, elevation, vegetation changes, man-made objects, water features, and how far you’ve traveled and for how long to find a checkpoint may be the most challenging and rewarding experience in all of sports.

Dirty Duel
Nov. 14. Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, NE Grand Rapids. Two amazing 5K courses to choose from. Conquer a sand dune, cornfield/maze, off-trail scrambling, and more. Like no race you’ve ever done. Entry includes $20 Merrell buff/headware (first 700 registrants), donuts, cider, cider floats from Hudsonville Ice Cream. $26. Shirt purchase is optional. www.dirtyduel.com.

Thanks again for racing with us!

Mark, for Greg, Matt and Brian