rod.mclennan's blog

Thanks to everyone who came out for the 3rd annual Fat Otter Fall Sprint Adventure Race.  Congratulations to Aggressive Behavior for bagging their 3rd win in a row!

The abridged results are up on the website and can be downloaded here.  As always, the results will remain un-official for the duration of the week in case anyone chooses to protest.  Keep an eye on the website for the extended results.

Here are the race day logistics for next weekend:

7:00am-8:30am - Checkin
8:00am - Beginners Navigation Clinic
8:30am - MANDATORY pre-race briefing
9:00am - Race Start
3:00pm - Cutoff
2:30pm-4:30 - FOOD FOOD FOOD
3:30pm - Awards

IMPORTANT: Be sure you have downloaded and reviewed the required gear list. You must have and carry those items at all times.

Be sure to keep an eye on the event blog for additional updates.

For those of you curious souls out there, I'm going to divulge some information regarding the map(s) for the Winter Rogaine.

If you're used to the wonderful 1:10000 orienteering maps, you'll be in for a bit of a challenge! The maps for the Rogaine will be modified USGS 1:24000 (or 1:15000) Maps and Areal Maps of the park.

Why tell you this? Well, some people will likely be turned off by this, and others will be excited for something new. I didn't want anyone to be surprised and show up without knowledge on how to read the different maps.

Unfortunately, we were not able to secure permission to host the Winter Rogaine at Moraine Hills State Park as originally planned, HOWEVER, I am pleased to announce that we have received approval to host the Winter Rogaine at Rock Cut State Park this year!! This is a great area and is well suited for such an event.

Don't miss this opportunity to work off some of that Thanksgiving turkey!!

For those of you that have registered for the event and are not able to participate at the new location, please let us know as soon as possible and we will get you a full refund.

The following is the race writeup for the SKMC Adventure Race written by the race director Andy McCarthy. For the original post, go HERE

W.T.F. ... that’s all you could say if you were from the outside looking in on the start of this race. Is it a bunch crazed cookie eyed pirates or the start of the 24 hour SKMC?

Well, we tried the Minute it to Win It game, "Face the Cookie" to start the race and if anything , it made for an interesting race start.

Due to the request of many people, Fat Otter will be offering a Rogaine the first Saturday in December. This is completely dependent on the Illinois DNR cooperation in the matter. Keep your fingers crossed that they're happy to have everyone in the park! Moraine Hills is a great (and much untapped) resource in the Chicago area.

Keep an eye on the website, I will open registration just as soon as I get confirmation from the DNR.

I'm looking at both 3 and 6 hour courses with a Fat Otter style post race meal after. This should be a really good time if we get approval!

As much as I was hoping to switch things over to Rock Cut State Park this year, I haven't been able to do so (yet). So this year's Fall Sprint Adventure Race will be returning to the Palos Division Forest Preserves!

Expect some of the best orienteering and single track mountain biking in the Chicago area. The race will hopefully be based out of Red Gate Woods as it was last year. Keep an eye on the blog for updates.