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2008 SPRING FURY - ELITE
Infiterra Sports was proud to host the 5th annual Spring Fury that was held Saturday April 12, 2008 at Yankee Springs Recreation Area, near Middleville, Michigan.
Results are now Final. Please email Zac if you have a question about the scoring.
» Official Results - These are the final results. They include an overall final sheet, split results and a divisional breakdown.
» Map #1 - 11x17 - 10mb
» Map #2 - 8.5x11 - 3.6mb
» Map #3 - 8.5x11 - 4.7mb
» Single Track Map - 8.5x11 - 150kb
» Race Instructions - 8.5x11 - 47kb
» Race Pictures
Please visit our message board to provide us with feedback on the Spring Fury.
Event Recap -
Michigan weather in April can be very unpredictable and the weather for the 2008 Spring Fury Elite race was no exception. Warm temperatures the day before the race didn’t hold as a cold front with consistent rain made the race very challenging from start to finish. Regardless of the conditions 78 of the most Elite adventure racers would push themselves for 11 hours of the vast terrain of the Yankee Springs Recreation Area and surrounding Middleville area.
The 2008 edition of the Spring Fury Elite course would start, finish and run through the Long Lake Outdoor Center. This rustic cabin facility provided awesome shelter and warm fires from the wet weather.
At 8:00am on the dot, race directors said, “GO!” as racers started with a ten-point orienteering section. This opening land navigation course gave racers a chance to experience some of the great topographically rich terrain of Yankee Springs Recreation Area and challenged teams navigation skills from the start. All racers were required to obtain ALL ten points.
After the orienteering section was complete, teams made their way back to the Long Lake Outdoor Center to transition to the canoe section. Teams had a short quarter mile portage down hill to the put-in on Long Lake. Once entering the water, they had to gather three points on Long Lake and three points in the larger Gun Lake. Conditions on the water were not easy, as many teams took on water and one team even capsized in the chilly conditions.
After the paddle, racers once again transitioned at the Outdoor Center as they picked up their mountain bikes for a 15-mile ride that included over 7 ½ miles of single track on the Yankee Springs trails. While on the fun single track, teams had to collect seven checkpoints before exiting the trail. Once on the road they had a very hilly mix of both pavement and dirt road rides north and east to the Thornapple River.
At this point racers dropped their bikes for a single person inflatable raft. The river was raging from the recent rainy weather so racers had a swift and challenging paddle down a 2-½ mile section before the take out at the Whispering Waters Campground. Once back on land, racers had a short run over an old rail grade and some roads back to their bikes.
Back at their bikes racers had a tough 8-½ mile ride through some sandy two-tracks reminiscent of Northern Michigan to the next bike drop. At this drop they would receive their final orienteering map that required 11 points to be collected as they made their way on foot to the finish.
The teams battled it out throughout the day, fighting through the rainy and wet conditions. Team Animals won their second race of the season with an impressive finish collecting all 45 points at 5:44pm to the win both the overall the 2 Male Division. Team Chrysler 1 and Team Jeep finished tied for 2nd overall and second in the 2 Male Division and 1st in the Solo Male Division. Both teams finished with all 45 points at 6:35pm. The only other team to finish with all 45 points was the 4th place overall team, TopoAdventureSports.com at 6:53pm.
Congratulations to all of the teams that came out to test their skills in the rough conditions of the Infiterra Sports 2008 Spring Fury Elite. The course was definitely tough and pushed the most experienced racers to their limits.
We want to thank our great group of hardcore volunteers! They braved the cold and wet conditions the entire day. Our races could not be successful without such a dedicated crew!
As always thanks to our sponsors: We had awesome on-site support from Salomon and Suunto along with a great display vehicle from Jeep. Additionally REI, Hammer Nutrition, Seal Skinz, Rail Riders, Zanfel and Superfeet have all long been big supporters and key to our success.
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