The inaugural Maine Summer Adventure Race took place on July 23, offering a full- or half-day of exploration of the woods and lakes around Midcoast Conservancy’s Hidden Valley Nature Center in Jefferson. Teams of two, three or four racers competed in a nonstop race involving trail running or trekking, road and mountain biking, flat-water paddling and orienteering to guide themselves to as many checkpoints as possible within the race’s time limit.

In the eight-hour race, 25 teams of one to four racers began the day with a short orienteering section on HVNC property, followed by a road bike up to Midcoast Conservancy's put-in on the northern edge of Damariscotta Lake for a 13-mile paddle. Racers then biked through North Whitefield, Whitefield, and out to Blinn Hill before mountain biking behind HVNC back to the barn, about 28 miles. At the barn, they picked up their map for the final orienteering course, a 10-mile trek all over HVNC and the Stetser Preserve. Highlights of the race included a swim out to an island in Little Dyer Pond for one checkpoint, and a great paddle up a creek in Jefferson off Damariscotta Lake.

The 3-hour race had a total of 25 racers who had to obtain up to 15 checkpoints on HVNC property, including two by boat in Little Dyer Pond, and complete up to three challenges on course, including a Frisbee golf challenge, tying a bowline knot as a team, and sawing through a log as a team. Co-course designer Kate White, of the Strong Machine Adventure Racing team, said, “We had a lot of first-time adventure racers in this race (including a few kids with their parents!) and we were so impressed with everyone's efforts to push hard right through the end of the race.”

Cliff White, the other half of the course design team, added “What was really fun about this race was the amount of choice and strategy that all teams had to do. The course was very big and was primarily made up of optional checkpoints, meaning that teams had to decide which segments to spend their time on in order to maximize their points. Some teams gambled on the paddle section, clearing all checkpoints there, while others cut their paddle short hoping that they would be more efficient on the biking and orienteering sections. The winning team maximized it all - Rev3 Adventure, an experienced and nationally-ranked team from New Hampshire and Connecticut, used their speed and navigational skills to obtain all paddle and bike points and clear most of the orienteering course, winning the race in 7 hours 51 minutes with 27 total checkpoints.”

Teams came from all over New England to compete in the unique and challenging race. Second place team Rugged Road was from Vermont and third place Chaos Raid was from Massachusetts. In the three-hour race, the winning team Smarty Pints hailed from Gorham and Scarborough, got all checkpoints and finished with 21 minutes to spare. Team Old Guy Young Girl (Saco and Massachusetts) got second place and The Maine Event (Biddeford and Vermont) got third place after also clearing the course. 

Kate White said, “Overall, we were thrilled with the turn out and proud of the racers for taking on two challenging courses on a very hot and humid day. We also had a great after-party thanks to generous partnerships with the Alna Store, Sheepscot General, and Oxbow Brewing! “

Midcoast Conservancy looks forward to hosting the event next year. For racers eager to hit the trails before then, registration is now open for this fall’s Race Through the Woods, also at HVNC, on October 2. For more information, go to midcoastconservancy.org/events or call (207) 389-5150.