Musing and Errata on the world of Adventure Racing from the Yak
presented by MPGear.com

These guys have been racing (and winning) since 2002 and show no signs of slowing down. Not only do they get it done on the course and have a great time doing it, but they also always go above and beyond to present themselves as professionals.

This provides tremendous value for their sponsors and does a great service to the sport of adventure racing at large. For this reason I'm very excited to welcome to team Salomon/Created Butte as Checkpoint Zero's newest bloggers.

They're just getting started, but have already got a few posts to wet your palette. They've got a busy couple months ahead of them so you can expect more of the same right through the end of the racing season.

Building on the overwhelming success of its 2007 debut, the 2008 Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race promises more of what you've come to expect from veteran course designer Tony Berwald.

Tony is known for producing events that remain approachable to new racers while challenging the more experienced and competitive teams that make the adventure racing community in the southeastern United States so vibrant.

The course Tony has in store for 2008 will again carry on the legacy of the North Georgia Adventure Race while at the same time embracing new ideas and a renewed spirit of true adventure.

Additional information (fees, gear list, sponsors, etc), including links to the forum (thank you Trailblazers) and online registration page, can be found on the race page.

The Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race will be the opening event in the expanded 2008 Checkpoint Tracker National Points Series. Additional details will be released in November.

The first newsletter to competitors has been released. It's got some good information, but nothing on the location just yet. Highlights include a preliminary schedule, breakdown of prize money and gear list.

The first edition of this new and challenging adventure race will take place from December 9th to 14th, in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The race will follow an itinerary, unfolding the characteristics and the environment of Abu Dhabi: sea kayaking in the Arabian Gulf, exploring the Liwa Oasis, crossing the desert with camels and discovering Al Ain, the garden city, at the foot of Jebel Hafeet.

The race is receiving a huge interest from athletes worldwide. Today over 20 teams, covering 11 nationalities, have registered, the numbers for this first edition being limited to thirty teams.

The race organisation is just back from Abu Dhabi, working on the different options for the race itinerary, before finalizing the route beginning of October.

To find out more about the race & the destination, visit http://www.abudhabi-adventure.com.

Following a victory at the TRIOBA 12-hour Adventure Race and capturing the Pacific Northwest Adventure Race Championships, MerGeo.com has continued its late season success with three more victories.

First was a victory at 6 Degrees of Navigation, an annual race put on by the Cascade Orienteering Club. The 4-person coed team raced extremely well together and ended up finishing more than an hour ahead of the next team, completing the sprint course in 4:34:07.

The race schedule then moved over to Washington State's Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula where they won the Challenge the Port sprint race and the 4th Dimension 24 Hour race, both in the 4-person coed division. Their 3:40:24 finishing time in the Challenge the Lake was over 15 minute quicker than the next closest competitor.

The victory at the 4th Dimension 24 Hour race was very satisfying for the team, since this was the only 24 hour race held in the northwest in 2007, and the team prevailed over its local rival DART-nuun.

The team is excited on their recent success and looks forward to possibly racing in the USARA Championships where they finished 8th last year.

MerGeo.com is supported by MPGear.com, Seattle Running Company, Performance Bike Stores, nuun, Clif Bar and Clif Shot Bloks!

Per the latest post to the official site it seems they're getting ready to announce the 2008 venue:

Where will teams race next summer? Stay tuned to this site as the location of the 5th Edition of Primal Quest is soon to be announced.

So it's time to lay your money down (metaphorically speaking) and state, for the record, where you think it's gonna be.

I'm betting the skies over the 2008 course will be bigger than those shown in the photo from Utah that went along with this most recent post, but that's just a guess based on observation and deduction.

According to a recent Devon O'Neil article in the Summit Daily News, Mr. Mann has "had course designers in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and, in just the past couple of weeks, Arizona, lay out routes in their respective states, in case the Colorado plan falls through."

I'd love to hear what you think and why. I'll send a Checkpoint Zero t-shirt to the first five of you that post a comment to this thread and guess correctly where the race is headed.

Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race
March 8, 2008 at an all new venue in north Georgia

Building on the overwhelming success of its 2007 debut, the 2008 Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race promises more of what you've come to expect from veteran course designer Tony Berwald.

Tony is known for producing events that remain approachable to new racers while challenging the more experienced and competitive teams that make the adventure racing community in the southeastern United States so vibrant.

The course Tony has in store for 2008 will again carry on the legacy of the North Georgia Adventure Race while at the same time embracing new ideas and a renewed spirit of true adventure.

A few additional details have been posted and more information (gear, rules, schedule, sponsors, etc) will be added September 15th.

This race will be the season opener of the 2008 Checkpoint Tracker National Points Series.

Registration opens October 1st at CheckpointTracker.com.

Upstate Adventure Race
October 25, 2008 in the upstate of South Carolina

An all new course designed by Tony Berwald prodigy Tim Morris, the man that brought you both editions of the Smokey Mountains Adventure Race...including the one with the blizzard in March...like I said...Berwald prodigy.

This race will be set against a beautiful backdrop of fall colors (late October is typically just shy of peak fall foliage in the region) and blue skies and take racers through terrain previously untapped by any adventure race.

What better way to bookend your 2008 season than with TWO high caliber Checkpoint Zero events. Both races will feature a minimum cash prize purse of $3k ($6k if they sell out), a remote soup kitchen (ok it's a propane fired turkey fryer) and a now infamous kick in the nuts we like to call CP13 :-)

The perfect shades for the crash-prone racers of team Checkpoint Zero :-)

Got an interesting email from Luke at Infiterra Sports the other day:

Michael Boks of Grand Rapids Area Adventure Racing recently compiled some stats for 2007. He collected race data from the four main AR promoters in the state: Infiterra Sports, River Rats AR, GRAAR, and Endurance Sports. So far in 2007, these four promoters have combined to host nine adventure races ranging from four hour sprints to four day expeditions.

For those nine adventure races this year they have had 820 unique racers. Of those, nearly 200 have raced at least twice and over 50 have raced at least three times. There are a handful of racers that have raced in more then three Michigan races so far in 2007 and one racer, actually from Ohio, that has made it out to six different races.

This shows a great racer base in Michigan and the Midwest, but further looking at the data it shows that nearly 3/4 of the racers have only participated in one event so far in 2007. Combine that number with general input from the RD's and it was determined that the main reason this number is so high is because they have a large number of first time racers. Racers that will get hooked on the AR experience and will be
searching for events in 2008 and beyond.

The Michigan adventure racing scene continues on strong with three more races to close out the 2007 season. The Adventure Rage, GRAAR Fall Challenge, and the December Chill will wrap up the 12 event season and most likely push the total number of unique racers in Michigan over the 1000 mark.

*****************************

Luke

Nice work Michael. Looks like the doom and gloom crowd have their work cut out for them convincing the rest of us that "AR is dying" :-)

October 20, 2007 at Harrison Bay State Park in Chattanooga, TN

This day of fun will feature 2 race courses designed for both the experienced and beginner adventure racer. Both events will feature mountain biking, trail running, canoing and orienteering...plus a few surprises along the way!

The Strong Adventure Race is designed to benefit the North River YMCA and Aquatic Center's Strong Kids Campaign. This program provides scholarship support to people with financial constraints, allowing them to take advantage of YMCA programs. This includes sending kids to summer camp, rehabilitation, sports programs, etc.