2010 Infiterra Sports 28hr Adventure Rage
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» Race Official Results - 7/25/10 - as an Excel Sheet - includes all CP Times and Split Times. Contact Zac with questions on the scoring.
» Race Official Results - 7/25/10 - Basic Results as a simple PDF.
» Race Course Overview
» UTM Plotting Document
» Race Pictures
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Event Recap - This was the ninth annual Adventure Rage Adventure Race. The Rage is always a challenging race, not for the light of heart or for the undertrained. But it also set up to be attainable for the well trained intermediate racer as well as to challenge the best teams in the country. This year’s race delivered on all fronts.
The race actually started at check-in on Friday when teams went through a rock climbing prologue at Planet Rock Climbing Gym. Each team member climbed a route on the wall and the teams accumulated a total time. The fastest team in each category set the base line and every team finishing after that time was delayed off the starting line by that amount. It was a unique way to kick off the 2010 Rage.
After check-in teams received their maps and instructions for the entire race. Then they had UTM plotting and map details to copy over to their maps. At 9pm the race briefing was held where full details of the course were covered. After that, teams were free for the night to make final preparations for the race start at 8am.
Saturday morning teams began arriving on the west end of Center Lake for the paddling start. Teams lined up in order of their prologue times and at 8am they were off. The staggered start had teams starting through the first ten minutes of the race. It may not have made or broke any team’s race, but it was difficult for some of the last teams to watch as the rest of the field paddled off while they waited for their start time to come. Teams made their way east through Center Lake and the chain of lakes all the way to Little Wolf Lake for the take out at CP7/TA1. There was some navigation involved in this section, but in the middle of the day with teams still bunched together, no one got thrown off by too much. Total paddling distance neared 15 miles. The lead teams cracked the 3 hour mark and finished paddling just before 11am.
At TA1 the teams transitioned on to their mountain bikes for primarily a paved and dirt road bike section. The course would lead teams east and north through roughly 30 miles. Included in this section was short section of single track on a new trail at Sharon Mills along the Raisin River. The route took teams north the rest of the way to the Mill Lake Outdoor Center in Waterloo Rec Area for TA2. The teams completed this section primarily in two to three hours and the field was still within a couple hours from front to back. That would not be the case after the next section.
TA2 or CP17 was a transition to trekking where teams were preparing for a 15 mile orienteering course in Waterloo Rec Area. Teams had 1:20,000 OCAD maps for this section and separate passport. In total there were 16 checkpoints out there to be found. At this point it was reaching the middle of the afternoon and it was a hot and sunny day with temps near 90 and high humidity. That would play a role in the race. Not all of the CPs were mandatory for this section though and teams were encouraged to leave with enough time to get on to the rest of the course. That was not much of a concern for the top teams, however. Running Free came off the O-Course first with all the CPs at shortly after 5pm. EMS was about 15 minutes back making up some time and Untamed New England was about 40 minutes back of them. Also in the hunt was Hafke Legal Services, Blue Bayou-River Rats and Michigan Racing Addicts as they all picked up all 16 CPs too.
Back at the same TA, now TA3, teams transitioned onto bikes for one of the highlights of the race. The next section was nearly a 25 mile leg, almost completely on two track and single track, finishing on the famous Poto Trail in Pinckney Rec Area. The lead teams also found a “bonus” section in the middle of the single track with 3 more remote checkpoints to be obtained by foot. Teams had to reach these points by midnight in order to even attempt them and they would be a critical stage in the race. Only a handful of teams even reached the bonus section in time. Running Free was forced to withdraw shortly after leaving TA3 in the lead due to cramping issues related to the heat. EMS, now leading the race and Untamed New England both got all three CPs in the bonus section. Blue Bayou and Hafke both reached the bonus section between 9:30 and 10pm right as it was getting dark. Hafke had some bad luck on the bike ride getting several flat tires and were just over taken by Blue Bayou coming into the bonus section. Both teams got the first two points in the bonus section and then Blue Bayou made a strategic decision to skip the third point and head off back on bike. Hafke stuck with it and headed after the third bonus point. That point proved elusive and costly as Hafke spent another hour and a half searching without finding it. Untamed had a great biking leg and pulled ahead of EMS moving into TA4 by just 10 minutes. They were not even out of the TA before EMS rolled in. These two teams had a solid hour and a half lead on the rest of the contending field and would continue to duke it out on the O-course. Blue Bayou, Rage Against the Cutoff, JEAR/Chrysler-Jeep, Hafke and Michigan Racing Addicts completed the lead pack.
At TA3, teams were transitioning for another O-course. This time it was a 1:15,000 scale OCAD map in Pinckney Rec Area with a total of 12 CPs possible. As teams arrived right at midnight, this section would be almost completely through the night. A few of the final teams on the course were completing it as the sun rose. That led to the challenge of this O-course. This was also the point where the separation of the teams really showed. Many of the teams arrived with little or no time to tackle this O-course. Those that had some time could prove themselves with night navigation skills. EMS and Untamed battled through the night on the O-course and by day break EMS came back with all 12 CPs, but Untamed was unable to locate Point 9 falling one CP off the lead. Blue Bayou found six CPs in their limited time on the O-course as did Rage Against, while JEAR and Hafke only had time for two.
Back to the TA, now TA4, teams prepared to trek east to the Huron River. They would have just a couple points, one on the top of Peach Mountain, on this short segment which was only about 5 miles. Those two points, CP34-35, were optional so they could be skipped if teams were running out of time. At the end of the trek, teams found themselves at the Huron River preparing for a 10 mile paddle downstream. TA5 was at the end of the paddle and then it was just a short 5 mile bike leg after that back into Planet Rock in Ann Arbor for the finish. This paddle and bike sections were relatively straight forward and most positions were pretty well defined by that point. Still it was good push into the finish.
The teams certainly all got their money out of this course. It wasn’t until after 9am when the first teams started to roll in and the lead teams all finished less than two hours prior to the cutoff. It was EMS that took home the title finishing with all CPs (33) and a finish time of 11:05am. Untamed New England was second (first 2 Person) with 32 CPs at 10:39am. Blue Bayou-River Rats had a strong race for third overall with 26 CPs at 11:28am. Rage Against the Cutoff made the cutoff with 23 CPs at 11:21am in 4th overall and as the first solo. JEAR-Chrysler/Jeep fought off a slow start and finished strong with 20 CPs at 10:55am in 5th overall. Fighting off some mid race equipment problems, Hafke Legal Service still had a strong finish for 6th overall with 20 CPs at 11:22am.
Congratulations to all the racers that came out to challenge themselves at the Rage. The heat and humidity certainly intensified this challenge as did the swarming horseflies! Fortunately, teams got some relief from the heat on Saturday night. Remarkably only two teams were unable to complete the course! This course finished right in Ann Arbor, but the race itself was as remote as if it were taking place in northern Michigan. It challenged the best teams around and allowed those that came prepared a chance to complete the Rage.
A big thank you goes out to all of our Sponsors as many racers walked away with great prizing! Thanks to REI, Hammer Nutrition, Planet Rock, Zanfel, Seal Skinz and Kahtoola. We had a small group of super dedicated volunteers that followed this race through from beginning to end and they deserve a special thanks as well. We appreciate the assistance from the State Parks and Metro Parks who were very gracious and cooperative. Thanks to SMOC for use of the OCAD Maps and the MMBA for the great work they do in maintaining the mountain bike trails. And we also need to give a big Thank You to Planet Rock for hosting all the pre-race activities including the climbing prologue as well as the finish on Sunday morning.
Contact Luke Osborn with any questions about the 2010 Adventure Rage.
