2009 Infiterra Sports Summer Quest Sprint

Infiterra Sports was excited to host the Summer Quest 4hr Spring Adventure Race that was held Saturday August 29, 2009 at the Novi Lakeshore Park in Novi, Michigan.

Results are Official. Please email Zac if you have a question about the scoring.

» Results - These results are in PDF form.

» Orienteering Map - 8.5x11 - 1.4mb

» Bike Map - 8.5x11 - 1.6mb

» Race Instructions - 8.5x11 - 46kb

» Race Pictures

Please visit our message board to provide us with feedback on the Summer Quest.

Event Recap -
In 2009 the Summer Quest was resurrected for its third running. This year it was a sprint race in its truest form at only 4 hours. It was billed as a fast and fun “bare bones” race and it was just that. The late race announcement gave it a low turnout, but those that came out had a blast!

Teams were given the option to canoe or not. For those that chose to canoe, the race started a half hour earlier. At 8:30am the canoeists took off running for their canoes and a short portage to Walled Lake. After just a short paddle leg, the lead teams came off the water right as the non-canoe teams were starting at 9:00am.

At that point all teams were off on foot for a trekking/orienteering section. This leg had 13 Check Points scattered throughout the park. There were points in the middle of the swamp in 10ft high monster cattails, in the middle of swampy creeks and up near the bike trails. On their way to some of these points, racers found briars, saw grass and stinging nettles. These things encouraged racers out of the swamp and onto their bikes eve some before they had obtained all the points. Teams had to be careful not to punch any of the bike CPs that they came across and they also had to manage their time to make sure to get as many foot points as possible, while still leaving a sufficient amount of time for the bike section. Only three on foot CPs were required.

When they returned from the on foot section, teams came back to check in at the pavilion and get their bikes to go out on the final portion of the race on their bikes. The park area had seen a lot of rain the previous couple of days so the trails were not in the best condition with a fair amount of mud and puddles, but this just added to the challenge. On the bike section teams could get up to 17 CPs. These points were located right on the series of mountain bike trails that weaves throughout the park. Again, it was time management to get as many points as possible and still make it back in before the 12:30pm cutoff.

For the fastest teams it was just a burn because they knew they would need all points for the win, but a few other teams found that they had left too much time for the bike section and left a couple trekking points only to find themselves finishing the bike with too much time to spare.

Congrats to everyone that came out. All teams finished the race! Team Must Be Nuts hammered out the course with local knowledge of the trail system and great training techniques that lead them to the overall win getting all 30 optional points and finishing at 11:15am. Teams Jeep and Chrysler had another strong showing to capture a 2nd-3rd place tie finishing at 11:40am with all points. These three teams rounded out the 2 Male category for the Canoe Option as well. Bill Scanlan grabbed the Solo Canoe title as well, just 2 minutes back at 11:42am and also getting all points. A to Z finished 5th overall and 1st in the Coed Canoe division missing just one point and coming in at 11:31am. Malarkey 1 also missed just one point as the 2nd Solo and 6th overall in the Canoe division. Cycle Therapy Racing took the non-canoe division victory missing only two CPs and finishing at 11:47am.

Thanks to the Lakeshore Park in Novi and Heavner Canoe Rental. We would also like to thank our small, but committed volunteers: Gordon Seeley, Bernie Stockwell and Rob Gray. And even though it was a late addition to the schedule, we had prizing from Sponsors Salomon, REI, Hammer Nutrition, Seal Skins and Voler.