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2006 Michigan Coast to Coast Adventure Race
Infiterra Sports in conjunction with River Rats AR were very proud to host the second running of the Michigan Coast to Coast Adventure Race. The race led competitors across Michigan, from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, thus going Coast to Coast. Once again, we would like to thank all of our volunteers, sponsors, and racers. Because you all helped make the event a success!
» Race Results with Finish Time and Rank
» Race Results with All CP Times
» Race Split Times
» Race Updates & Leader Board
» Race photos
Please visit our message board to provide us with feedback on the Michigan Coast to Coast Race.
2006 C2C DVD is available!
Order yours today by mailing a $15 check to:
Infiterra Sports LLC
1033 Kingston Ave
Flint, MI 48507
Please include a note stating which DVD you want. ('06 Rage DVD is also available)
Check out the 2+ minute trailer by clicking here.
Event Recap:
The 2006 Michigan Coast to Coast Expedition Adventure Race made good on its promise to be more challenging and epic. It also lived up to the first rendition giving racers a fun filled, beautiful course across Northern Michigan. Teams saw giant sand dunes, seldom traveled two tracks, great lakes, virgin pine forests, beautiful rivers, little known sinkholes and much more on their journey across Michigan.
It all started in the small tourist town of Frankfort on the coast of Lake Michigan on Monday, May 29th. Teams gathered for check-in and gear check as this small lakefront city was taken over by adventure racers. The ambience of adventure and excitement was heightened by the presence of the Salomon Summer Tour with support from Suunto and Xtatic. Racers went through the various check-in procedures while being treated to the warm hospitality of the small town. The onsite activities were further enhanced by Mountain High Sports & Marketing and the attendance of Checkpoint Zero and Sleepmonsters.
Once racers completed the necessary check-in, they received their 10 maps and over 50 UTM points to plot. Then it was just point plotting and gear preparation until the pre-race briefing at 9:00am on Tuesday. At the breifing, racers learned the full scope of the course, received complete racer instructions and a walkthrough of the course from race staff. After the briefing, racers had the rest of the morning and early afternoon to prep maps, finalize their gear choices and make their way to the start line.
The race started on the shores of Lake Michigan north of race headquarters near the small village of Glen Haven in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It began with a beach run designed to break racers up before they really got moving across the state. Teams ran just over 8 miles from the Maritime Museum down the coast to the town of Empire. The beach trek took racers by the biggest, most scenic sand dunes in the State of Michigan and gave teams great views of the setting sun over Lake Michigan as the weather had just cleared for the race start.
After completing the dune trek, teams started a 37-mile bike to Traverse City and TA1. The bike leg took them on a round about course through northern Michigan orchards on a mix of paved and dirt roads as well as some two-tracks. The first navigational challenges really came into play as teams reached the old rail grades on their way to CP2. This held up several teams as they got off route on the two tracks in the dark of night. After CP2 teams were faced with numerous route choices and sandy two-tracks to choose from to get to CP3 located on the remote northern shore of Lake Dubonnet. After leaving CP3, teams finally got some fast paved road riding up to a mandatory route that led them into Traverse City State Park and CP4 / TA1. This completed the first section/stage of the race. EMS came in first through this section in a time of 4:08 and won 4 sets of Jet Lites for having done so. SOLE, Enduraventure, Absolute Endo and WeCeFAR closely followed.
Teams departed Traverse City State Park in canoe, embarking on a 28-mile paddle that took them to Rapid City. The lead teams were fortunate to make it into the paddle leg while the weather was holding off. Many teams were still finishing the bike leg when the rain moved in and all teams got it in the paddle. Fortunately for everyone, the rain was not brought in by winds and the lakes stayed calm. The start of the paddle had teams navigating the shore of Grand Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan as they made their way up to CP5 in the town of Elk Lake. After portaging the dam in Elk Lake, teams paddled into Elk Lake and then into Lake Skegmog. The stumpy waters proved tough to paddle in the night as teams searched for the outlet to the Torch River. After about one mile of paddling on the Torch River, teams headed back east and up stream on the Rapid River. The river is aptly named, as near the takeout, the river flows so fast that the paddling would be futile and the teams had to pull their canoes up river to reach the TA. Rapid City’s Freedom Park provided a great spot for teams to warm up and recoup after the long, tough paddle. SOLE and EMS had swapped the lead several times in this paddle leg with SOLE coming in 5 minutes ahead. WeCeFAR had a strong paddling leg to move up to third, followed by Enduraventure and Absolute Endo. These top five teams were separated by less than 30 minutes into TA2. However, the team with the fastest split in this stage was the canoe marathon team of the AuSable River Rats, completing stage two in 6:21. For the stage win, they won 4 sets of Petzl harness & ascender sets courtesy of Planet Rock Climbing Gym.
Teams left Rapid City on bike for a fast, yet sandy 28-mile bike leg. This short leg gave teams a fast recovery from the paddle and got their legs warmed back up. Teams traveled to CP7 located at the intersection of some two tracks outside of Mancelona and passed through CP8 on the south side of Sand Lake. CP9 / TA3, located in a remote field in the beautiful Northern Michigan state forest, saw SOLE and EMS blaze in at the same time. The remainder of the top five held serve heading into TA3. WeCeFAR covered this leg in 2:17 to beat out EMS by one minute for the stage win. For having the fastest split in this section, WeCeFAR won the four Marmot Precip Jackets, courtesy of Mountain High Sales and Marketing, as the prize for doing so.
The fourth stage became the crux of the race and really tested the racers. After leaving CP9 / TA3 teams embarked on a 48 + mile trek. The trek led teams through all types of terrain ranging from hardwood forest to sandy two-tracks to swampy lowlands. Teams set out to collect 16 checkpoints, which offered tons of route choice and navigation. Half of those 16 checkpoints were unmanned to further test navigation. (These unmanned checkpoints were labeled alphabetically throughout the race to keep them easily identifiable over the manned checkpoints.) CP10 was located only a couple miles from CP9 and was fairly simple getting teams off on the right foot. From there teams traveled due east to CP11 at the remote Lost Lake. Next teams had to forge the Manistee River en-route to the first unmanned checkpoint – CPA. Then teams cut through the Deward area to move through CP12 and CP13 before crossing I-75 at a mandatory crossing spot on county road 612. Once on the east side of I-75, teams dropped down into the scenic Hartwick Pines State Park in search of CPB and then onto CP14 at the Lumberman’s Museum. Leaving CP14, teams passed through some of the oldest stands of pines in Michigan.
After leaving Hartwick Pines, teams headed into the swamp to find CPC on the East Branch of the AuSable River. Continuing east, teams entered a section of state land used for military maneuvers by the National Guard out of Camp Grayling. This land is very rugged, but also scored with numerous tracks and trails that are not distinguished on the maps. Many two-tracks tempted teams, but navigating the right one was tough as they made their way to CP15 south of KP Lake. As they left CP15 racers continued through the sandy military land to a difficult CPD on a small hill in an area of clear cutting. From CPD, teams had a long trek, mostly over two-tracks, to reach the North Branch of the AuSable River and another river crossing. On the east bank of the river, they found CP16 and by continuing north and east on trails, they reached CP17.
Thus far through this trekking section, the pace of the race had slowed dramatically. The rainy day and numerous river crossings and swamps were really taking their toll on racers’ feet and a colder than expected night and length of the section were also difficult for teams to deal with. Several teams opted either for alternate courses (by skipping CPs through this section) or to go unranked by dropping a teammate or being advanced via vehicle through this section. In order to keep the pace of the race on target, teams were given a cutoff time of 3pm Thursday to leave CP17 and still attempt to find the remaining four unmanned CPs of this section: E, F, G, H. Teams also had to decide before leaving TA3 if they wanted to have their support crew drop their PFD’s for a potential swim depending on their route choice. Teams left CP17 and navigated to CPs E, F, G, and H. The terrain was varied with lots of off trail bushwhacking and rough travel over clear-cut lands. CPG was located on the east shore of a lake that teams had the option to swim (1/4 mile) or choose travel around (4 miles). Due to the temperature of the night, no teams chose the swim option and any team having their PFD’s dropped had to continue to carry them from CP17 onward. After they left CPH on the edge of a swamp, teams traveled some dirt roads and headed to the welcome site of CP18 / TA4 at Garland Resort south of Lewiston. TEAM SOLE and EMS really separated each other from the rest of the pack in this stage, opening up a lead of over three hours into the TA. As big as their lead on the rest of the pack, their battle with each other was just as close. EMS had left TA3 10 minutes after SOLE and came into TA4 just 5 minutes behind. The two teams had traded the lead position several times through the monster trek as well. EMS, having narrowed the lead, came in with the fastest split time of 20:36 for stage four. In winning this stage by 5 minutes over team SOLE, EMS took home 4 Lendal Paddle sets.
The rest of the field really began to separate and fall into line during this epic stage of the race. Enduraventure made a strong push pulling into 3rd with Absolute Endo charging their way up to 4th. WeCeFAR held on for 5th with Blue Bayou/Monsters making a strong push for the top 5 as well only 8 minutes back. Teams WEDALI and Checkpointzero held tough as the last teams getting all CPs in this section. The remainder of the field trickled in for the remainder of the evening on Thursday and into Friday morning. By far the biggest problems teams had was with their feet. Many were badly blistered and required the attention of the race medical staff that did a fantastic job of keeping racers feet ready to go again.
The fifth stage included a 70-mile bike leg that added some bike orienteering and many sections of single track on the High Country Pathway. Leaving CP18 / TA4 teams biked north through Lewiston and then hit some unmanned CPs before going through CP19. This section was very sandy riding and challenged the teams biking and navigation skills. From CP19, teams hit more of the High Country Pathway with many unmanned CPs and route choices. Further down, they passed through CP20 and 21. The expected O-Course was to start at CP21. But due to the speed of the race and to keep teams on track, the O-Course was cancelled. Instead of the planned bike drop at CP21, teams simply biked straight into Atlanta and CP22 / TA5. A relatively quick transition at TA4 gave SOLE a head start on this section and they held their lead over EMS, as these two teams were once again 1-2 into TA5. Enduraventure took advantage of couple hour nap at TA4 and pulled out the fastest split of 9:39 in this tough stage five to win 4 Specialized Quiver 2Bliss Tire Kits courtesy of Fraser Bike Shop. Absolute Endo held strong in fourth and Blue Bayou/Monsters finally cracked the top 5 coming into TA5 almost a half hour ahead of WeCeFAR. WEDALI and Checkpointzero came in seventh and eighth and were the last teams to get all of the unmanned bike points. Vyster got all but one of those unmanned points as they hurried in to make the 4pm cutoff to put on the water leaving TA5. Beyond those teams, most of the remainder of the field biked directly to the TA, some stopping for a point or two, from TA4 to TA5 so they could make the cutoff and continue on the course.
Teams left CP22 / TA5 on a long and grueling 48 mile paddle on the Thunder Bay River. The river is winding and scenic, traveling through some remote areas with few houses or cabins. And at this stage of the race many teams struggled to stay awake while sitting in a canoe. More than one team allowed one or two members to catch a bit of a nap while their teammates kept the canoe on track. A few teams even pulled off and actually slept. Along the paddle teams traveled through CP23 in the town of Hillman and they also had to deal with the slow moving waters before Hillman created by the dam. After the Hillman dam the river became deeper, but is not often used for paddling, so more maneuvering around log jams and downed trees was expected. However, a very wet spring and the recent rain during the race kept the river very high and teams cruised right over most of those jams. In Long Rapids, teams reached CP24 / TA6 and the end of this paddle section. The top teams held their positions throughout the section with the true battle coming over the fastest split for the paddle. The strong paddlers of WeCeFAR were once again out dueled by the local canoe marathoners, the AuSable River Rats, by only 10 minutes this time! The AuSable River Rats took the stage in 8:40 and won 4 pair of Salomon shoes and 4 Salomon backpacks for this stage win.
The final stage would provide some fun, fast biking along with some spectacular ropes and a paddle to the finish. Teams biked north from Long Rapids to CP25, which was located at a very large sinkhole, named the Bruski. Teams had a traverse line over the sinkhole before traveling down into the sinkhole. Teams aided the environment, as they were required to bring some trash out of the sinkhole as they left. From there they got back on bikes for a quick ride to CP26 and the rappel and ascend. CP26 was located at a very unique sinkhole named Mystery Falls. Across the top of the sinkhole is large bridge that was reconstructed on this site, called Mystery Falls Bridge. The sinkhole there is nearly 100 feet deep with vertical rock cliffs of over 60 feet. Two separate waterfalls of over 50 feet each cascade down into the sinkhole and then disappear in an underground river. Teams first rappelled off Mystery Falls Bridge and then had a free hanging ascent back up. After the rappel and ascent, teams hopped back on bike and headed to CP27 at Camper’s Cove Canoe Livery and Campground. From CP27 teams had an eleven-mile canoe paddle out to Lake Huron and the finish in Alpena. WeCeFAR pushed hard and came in with the fastest split of 5:31 for this stage and won 4 pair of Keen shoes and 4 JetBoil stoves courtesy of Mountain High Sports Marketing. SOLE made the big news of the day, however, pushing this stage hard and finishing the course in first place overall, 62 hours and 9 minutes after the start of the race. EMS held strong to finish second in 65 hours and 15 minutes. Enduraventure pushed in for third at 68:02. Absolute Endo, last year’s champion, had another strong showing to hold fourth place and was the first Michigan team in at 73:32. WeCeFAR continued its tough race on into the finish for a fifth place top five at a time of 76:58. Blue Bayou Monsters (80:47) nd WEDALI (86:30) rounded out 6th and 7th as the last two teams obtaining all CPs.
The reports and updates proved true... The 2006 C2C was more difficult. But with this greater challenge came great reward for those teams that were able to fight their way through. There were 15 teams that completed the course, (seven teams that finished the entire course, with 8 additional teams completing the race on an alternate course). Seven teams went unranked (by dropping a teammate or being advanced on the course), but managed to push through to the finish. Eight teams were forced to withdraw from the race completely. With the race drawing racers from more than 25 states, we hope that everyone had an enjoyable (and challenging) time and that teams were able to see some of the great sites across northern Michigan as they moved Coast to Coast.
In conclusion, Infiterra Sports would like to send out a few well deserved thank you’s: First to all the volunteers who were so fantastic in offering up their time to contribute to the race. Thank you to the racers who were so appreciative, kind and tough. Thank you to the numerous state & local authorites that made the event possible. Thank you to the various canoe liveries for making the paddling smooth and spectacular. Thank you to our wonderful sponsors, including Salomon which was on hand for the event with the Salomon Summer Tour with support from Suunto and Xtatic, Axis Gear, Lendal Paddles, Fraser Bicycles, Mountain High Sports and Marketing, E-caps/Hammer Gel Nutrition, Moosejaw Mountaineering, SealSkinz, Smartwool, Planet Rock, Rail Riders, Protech, Latitude 45° Bike Shop, and Jet Lites. Finally, thank you to our families who sacrifice so much for us to put on this event.
We hope to see you all out there next year at the 2007 Michigan Expedition.
Infiterra Sports -
Luke Osborn
Zac Chisholm
Chad Lambert
Don Hudson
In Conjunction with River Rats AR -
Chad & Jenny Swander
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