2011 Infiterra Sports Spring Fury 10hr Sprint

The race kicked off at 7am as teams took off on foot on a short half mile field run and back to their boats on Half Moon Lake.  They then headed out on a roughly nine mile paddle leg.  Shortly in to this paddle teams reached CP2 where they would beach their boats and head out for 5 CPs on foot.  The twist for this section was that the points were not on a standard USGS map, but rather on a satellite map of the area.  And a few of these points were located to entice teams into swamp crossings to save some time. 
Emerging from the satellite O-course first were BOC, Beer in the Shower, Team Green, Lab Rats and a whole host of teams just minutes off the lead. 

From the Satellite O-course it was back to the rest of the paddle leg.  The majority of the paddling section still remained and teams paddled through the chain of lakes around Half Moon Lake.  Coming off the water BOC, Lab Rats, Team Jeep, Ed Broadbear, Must Love Dogs were all bunched within 5 minutes and there were that many more teams again within 10 minutes. 

Following the paddling leg, teams returned to the central TA at Half Moon and got ready to leave on the bike leg.  Teams would find various CPs located out not too far off the public roads in Pinckney Rec Area.  They made their way clockwise starting by heading south and then around to the north part of the Rec Area where they found several CPs located on the single track.  As teams began to make their way back down toward the TA, they hit CP21 in Hell, yes Hell, Michigan.  At Hell’s Kitchen teams were given the option to head out for three bonus points through roughly 5 miles located via roads in a triangular pattern on the northeast side of the Rec Area.  Then teams headed out of Hell and back to the TA, CP22 at this point.  Checking in at CP22 in the lead was the trio of Team Jeep, Ed Broadbear and Must Love Dogs.  Just one minute back was Michigan Racing Addicts and two minutes back of them was Lab Rats.

At that point, a 19 point O-course was all that remained in the Fury.  These points were spread throughout Pinckney Rec Area.  Teams were given a new map at this point.  This map was a 1:15,000 SMOC map.  Points were located on ridgelines, hilltops, in depressions and reentrants as well as across and through swamps.  The great equalizer in this O-course was CP36.  CP36 was taken by someone outside the race and moved to a nearby swamp.  Clearly it was no longer in the correct location and teams had to trust their navigation and leave the location without obtaining the point.  This was made increasingly difficult as some teams did manage to stumble upon the point as their search widened.  As per Infiterra Sports rules, it was determined that this point was no longer in the correct location and it was discounted from the race all together whether a team managed to find it or not. 

Despite that, with the near perfect weather conditions teams certainly smoked the course.  Michigan Racing Addicts put together an outstanding O-course and moved from fourth to finish first overall at 2:34pm.  Frog Stompers also laid it down with a stellar O-course moving from 25 minutes off the lead to finish in second overall and second coed at 2:45pm.  Crunch Frogs was the first Male/Male team and 3rd overall at 2:56pm.  They edged out Hafke JV by two minutes who finished 4th overall (2nd Male/Male) at 2:58pm.  Lab Rats had a strong showing holding their position to finish 5th overall (3rd Male/Male) at 3:04pm.  Team Jeep who were 6th overall (4th Male/Male) came in just ahead of their partner in crime Ed Broadbear was the first Solo in at 3:14pm for 7th overall.  Must Love Dogs was 8th overall (3rd Coed) at 3:16pm and Homebodies was 9th overall (4th Coed) at 3:19pm.  B.O.C. finished in the top 10 at 3:25pm for 5th Coed.  No Name Team and Fraser Bicycle rounded out the top three Solos at 3:39pm and 3:52pm respectively.  These teams all obtained the maximum 43 CPs.  Dirt Skirts grabbed the Female/Female title finishing at 3:52pm with 39CPs. 

Congratulations to all the racers that came out to the Spring Fury 10 Hour Race.  The terrain of Pinckney Rec Area is always fun and this was no different.  It was a bit of a throw back to have a nice central TA that was visited several times throughout the race.  That was a comfort enjoyed by racers and race staff alike.  A big thank you goes out to all of our Sponsors as many racers walked away with great prizing!  Thanks to ARCompass.com for their on site support and to new sponsors 5 Hour Energy and My Sweet Life and long time supporters Hammer Nutrition, Seal Skinz and Zanfel.  We also had fantastic group of super dedicated volunteers that helped this race through from beginning to end and they deserve a special thanks as well.  We also appreciate great cooperation from Pinckney Rec Area who were great to work with as always. 

Contact Zac Chisholm with any questions about the 2011 Spring Fury.