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2003 SALOMON/MOOSEJAW ADVENTURE RAGE
Salomon North America and Moosejaw Mountaineering where proud to host the 2nd annual Adventure Rage that was held the weekend of September 26-28, 2003 around the town of Columbiaville, Michigan.
» Results Spreadsheet
» Race Pictures
Event Recap:
It started at registration when the teams where handed their T-shirts. The front reading "Is this what you want? Is this what you came for?" A taunting message from the race staff reminding participants that they where about to embark on a wild, yet supposedly FUN adventure.
Friday afternoon teams began gathering at the Wolverine Christian Camp outside the small village of Columbiaville, Michigan. This was the host site for the 2003 Salomon/Moosejaw Adventure RAGE, the first race presented by the race staff under their new venture - Infiterra Sports LLC. Teams filtered in from Friday afternoon traffic for registration and gear check and shortly after 8:00pm the pre-race briefing began. Most of the joking and pleasantries were set aside and the mood became much more businesslike. The maps and instructions were passed out and race director Luke Osborn began running through the course with the anxious teams. He gave the teams details and tips about the course, but for the most part it was going to be up to the racers to make their way through it. Luke also warned the teams that he thought the course would be tough and encouraged them to keep racing and not give up out on the course. In less than an hour the briefing was wrapped up and teams were free to begin plotting their UTM points and outlining their courses. The Christian Camp was convenient and hospitable, offering a large hall for teams to prepare maps and gear as well as two large bunkhouses where most teams stayed in a racer village type atmosphere the night before the race. The camp also provided a central location for the race staff to interact with racers while they did their plotting and course planning. As teams were making their race preparations inside, the rain was falling and temperatures were dropping outside.
By 6:00am Saturday morning racers were bustling around the camp, making final adjustments and starting to gather around the starting line. The weather was cool, damp and overcast, but for now the rain was holding off. At 7:00am Luke gave a few last minute instructions and sent the racers on their way. The race began on bike and lead teams north and west into the little town of Otter Lake. Several main roads were off-limits for this section and racers had many choices including the use of an old railroad bed that lead into town.
From CP1 to CP2 racers made their way down back roads and trails, through fields and under a section of power lines to forge a river with their bikes in hand. As they made their way to CP3 a mandatory route was placed in effect that lead teams down a section of old railroad bed again. This contained a huge pile of straw and manure from a farmer that dumps his horse stall cleanings. Unfortunately for racers, crossing over this pile was easier than trying to bushwhack their bikes through the dense brush that lie on either side. CP3 was further south, located in a Boy Scout camp filled with plenty of scouts running around. It became a very confusing CP for most racers as the race staff admits it was a little out of place due to all the Boy Scout activity. However, it was the same for all the racers and that’s what makes it an adventure. From there it was on to CP4, which was a bike drop just a couple miles up the road at a Girl Scout camp. The first section of biking totaled around 25 miles. From there racers got a little wet as some cold showers hit the area. They made their way through some daytime orienteering through the Girl Scout camp and the Lapeer State Game Area for CPs 5, 6, 7, 8 and into CP9/TA1.
At TA1, which was back at the Christian Camp, teams transitioned into paddling gear. It was just a short ½ mile trek to the Norway Lake Road put-in on the South Branch of the Flint River. From there, teams paddled down the little used river. Most teams hit the water between 1:00 and 4:00pm and found themselves walking their canoes through several shallow sections and avoiding tree jams as they made their way to the convergence of the North and South Branches and into the Holloway Reservoir. This convergence area was unrepresentative on the map, so teams needed to pay close attention to their direction. Once out into the reservoir there were 2 CPs on their way to CP14/TA2 at the Holloway Reservoir Boat Launch. There was also a third optional CP. This point was the passport pick-up for the extended course. Any team that thought they had a chance or wanted a chance to go on the extended course should get the passport by either portaging their boats or coasteering and wading out to the island where they were located. As they entered the reservoir, teams picked up a large headwind and also got hit with some spotty rain showers, which made the 13 mile paddle that much more difficult.
TA2 was a welcome site for the majority of the teams that finished the paddle in the cold of night. Some of the faster teams were able to hit the TA and begin the big trekking/orienteering section with some daylight left. However, most teams came off the water just wanting to get warm and regroup before they pushed on through the night. Eventually, some stars came out and rains seized. Teams prepared for some real navigation and a 6 to 7 mile trek in the chilly night air. This night navigation, proved to be the "make or break" issue of the race. The orienteering section called the Hogbacks also contained the ropes section for the RAGE. This was a huge zip-line over the mouth of Hasler Creek, and was impressive either in daylight or at night. From the ropes there were six more unmanned orienteering CPs before TA3. Unfortunately, many teams were under prepared for such night navigation and they showed up at TA3 in the Elba Equestrian Complex without obtaining all the CPs, as well as being cold and frustrated. This section took out 16 of the 28 teams that started the race.
Twelve teams left TA3 headed out on the roughly 25-mile bike towards the end of the race. Of that twelve, ten had obtained all the orienteering points and two decided to push on despite missing a couple CPs, something most teams were encouraged to do, yet decided against. The remainder of the regular course included road and trail biking with some difficult navigation through the Lapeer State Game Area.
As a majority of the teams were struggling to find the orienteering points, a nice battle was developing for the lead between Hafke Legal Services and Teamo Supremo. Hafke Legal Services had opened up a solid lead with spot-on navigation in the Hogbacks, but Teamo Supremo still pushed hard. Due to the weather conditions and the time with which teams where running the course, the cutoff time for the extended course was moved up an hour to 2:00am. Factoring in the difficulty of the extended course, race staff wanted to ensure teams would have more time. Hafke Legal Services and Team Supremo made the adjusted extended course cutoff, which was located on the Bike at CP17.
The extended course took the two teams through some challenging bike navigation and then some even more challenging trekking before getting back on the bike to link up with the regular course again at CP18. Teamo Supremo narrowed the lead held by Hafke Legal Services to just a few minutes by the extended course bike drop and were able to open up a lead of their own by the time they picked up their bikes again and headed back toward the regular course.
From CP18 teams headed into the Lapeer State Game Area for CP19 and to CP20 for the final bike drop. After dropping their bikes, teams were lead north on a marked trail. They then had to head west to the South Branch of the Flint River. Three more randomly placed flags were located in the river on the way to the finish. The surest way to find these flags was by walking the last ½ mile in or very close to the river. Most of the river was less than waist deep, but those who weren’t careful could end up much deeper in the cool murky water.
The four-person team called the Animals where the first team to finish the regular course coming in just before dawn on Sunday morning. More teams followed throughout the morning hours as the cutoff time for the race was extended indefinitely to reward those teams that pushed on through the difficult weather and night navigation. Around noon the final two teams came off the course – Team Dirt and Team Lost Boyz. They worked together much of the race and showed great perseverance to push on even after most of the other teams that were that far back called it quits. In total eight teams finished the entire course collecting all the checkpoints. Two teams made it to the finish with a couple missing checkpoints. One team finished the entire course as a three-person team after one of their teammates was forced to leave the race due to a personal emergency. The regular racecourse totaled around 50 miles of biking, 13 miles of paddling, and 14 miles of trekking depending on route choice. The extended course added a very tough 17 extra bike miles and about 3.5 miles of trekking through some seriously thick bush.
Most teams stuck around Sunday morning. After finishing the course or waking up from a nap in the bunkhouse teams where treated to a hot breakfast buffet of pancakes, eggs, biscuits and gravy, fruit, coffee, and a lot more. As they enjoyed the food and shared stories of the race, a slideshow of pictures taken during the race was shown. The winning/finishing teams were given their prizes and recognized for their accomplishments at the breakfast buffet.
The course was long and tough and the night navigation proved too difficult for most teams, but overall many participants were happy with the race and already buzzing that they would be back and better prepared next time. Upon completion of the event, race staff agreed that the event could have easily been a 30-hour race and the all the teams did an excellent job to battle the course and challenge themselves as they did.
Next year the Rage will be even bigger and better. We hope to see you there!
Race Staff
Infiterra Sports LLC
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