Thanks so much for racing in the Epic Edition. That was a very tough race so congrats on showing up and taking on the challenge. If you suffered a lot, give yourself a few days and the suffering will very likely turn to deep satisfaction and good memories. One reason adventure racing is so special is that so few people do it. However, if TOO few people do it, race directors stop putting on races. Please support Get Your Bearings ,Southern Michigan Orienteering Club, Infiterra Sports as well as Michigan Adventure Racing. Like them on Facebook and attend their races so we can race more and closer to where we live. Spread the word and race with friends who are intimidated by the qualities of AR – like navigation, off-trail racing, multi-discipline, teamwork and endurance – that actually make it so wonderful. If all sports were judged on their ability to provide incredible challenge, raw beauty, and lasting fulfillment, adventure racing would be at the very top.Thanks to: 

• The fantastic volunteers including the team from the Global Extend mission to Dominican Republic. I’ve never heard so many racers thank volunteers for helping with the race. You are good people. Money raised from your entry fees and race profits will help build a school and provide other support for a poor village in the D.R.
• Our sponsors: Gazelle Sports, Sight Optical Boutique, West Michigan Bike & Fitness, Let Us Design/Build, Harvest Health, Gravel Bottom Brewery, Saburba, Vitales Pizza of Ada, Spoonlickers. If you buy from them, tell them their sponsorship of the race is worth it.

Results
Here are the preliminary results. Apologies to some women’s teams who did not get their moment in glory due to a scoring error. Fortunately, these women are gracious and some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Congrats to Michelle Green and Jessica Kuepfer of Get Your Bearings for winning the female two-person division and to Laura Howell and Annie Mabry for finishing 2nd. We will contact you about getting your prizes. If you came up a little earlier as a result of this scoring error, keep your prize.

Please email me if there’s a significant error on our part. If you were a top 3 finisher but couldn’t stick around, please email me and I’ll mail you a prize or have it delivered to any Gazelle Sports store.

Splits for each section will come in a future email along with photos and survey results.

Survey
Please complete our two-minute survey. This helps us improve our races and plan for the future.Photos
Check our Facebook page now and Flicker photostream within a day or two and you will likely see a larger batch.

Shirts
We have some race shirts left. They can be delivered to the Gazelle Sports GR, Holland or Kzoo stores upon payment by check. We have a few shirts left from many of our past races too if you need one. All shirts are $7 or 2 for $10. Email me. We will also print short and long sleeved Michigan Adventure Racing shirts if we get 24 orders. Click here to see them and to order.Lost & Found
Found: purple and black PFD, blue PFD with pink sweatshirt tied to it, compass with emergency blanket, full finger bike gloves, white rimmed Ironman sunglasses, and black rimmed sunglasses. Email me if one of these is yours. I’ll leave items in the Found box at Gazelle Sports Grand Rapids, have them delivered to Gazelle Kzoo or Holland, or potentially mail if you will cover postage.Championship Point Series
This was the final race in our three-race Championship Point Series. Congrats to the winning teams: Ark de Triomphe (Bryan and Kristin VanderArk), TrekkerGirls (Kim Owens and Tamra Martinez) and Brutus and the Wolverine (Eric Dickinson and Brian Phillips/Matt Dickinson). View the complete standings here. Email me if you think I missed some of your points.

What’s Next
ArtPrize Edition. Registration is now open for the 4-hour ArtPrize Edition, the only adventure race-art festival/competition mash-up in existence. Sept. 27. Downtown Grand Rapids. This is a good race to bring a newbie to or someone who doesn’t love to suffer as much as you! Lots of road biking, just a little mountain biking (can be run), downtown running and Amazing Race-style challenges. Expect to race with 400-600 people.As far as other adventure races, our Winter Edition moves to Camp Roger this year for some fresh terrain and we own the facilities now. Feb. 7, 2015. Next year’s spring race at Silver Lake State Park with some crazy Sahara desert-style orienteering will be June 6. Likely 6 hours as we slowly pull people up the ladder to longer races. The Epic Edition date has not been set or planned but tentatively Aug. 8 or 1 depending on conflicts. We may move to Aug. 8 to avoid the Millennium Triathlon. Let us know of any major conflicts with those August dates. Other races below.Race Calendar
Sept. 27  Michigan Adventure Race: ArtPrize Edition, 4 hours, downtown Grand Rapids
Oct. 25  The Zombie Dash, 5K, sunset, downtown Grand Rapids
Nov. 15 Dirty Duel trail race, 5K vs. 6K, Robinette’s, Grand Rapids
Feb. 7, 2015 Michigan Adventure Race: Winter Edition, 4 hours, Camp Roger, Rockford
April 25, 2015 Hurt the Dirt trail race, quarter, half, and full marathon, Luton Park, Rockford
June 6, 2015 Michigan Adventure Race: Silver Lake Edition, 6 hours, Silver Lake/Mears
Aug. 8 or 1, 2015 (tentative), Michigan Adventure Race: Epic Edition, hours and location TBDYou are great people to “work” for. Thanks again.

Mark, for Greg, Matt, Brian