A smothering heat overtook the land by 8a.m. Then at 9, the signal to start the event sounded off, “Go, go, go!,” shouted the race director. It was July 14th, a Saturday, and the occasion was the 11th Annual Adventure-O Race, an endurance event organized by the Minnesota Orienteering Club.
As a part of the Nationwide Checkpoint Tracker Series, the Adventure-O is an event with a reputation for tough navigation and serious mapwork required. Our course this year, which started in a state park on the St. Croix River in Wisconsin, included multiple “trekking” sections (most racers run these); two paddles on the river; road biking; and an hour or more of serious singletrack mountain biking on the slopes of a nearby ski area.

Racers teamed up in groups of two or four. The goal was to find checkpoint flags strewn throughout a large wilderness area. We had eight hours to “clear the course” and punch our card at each of the 30+ checkpoints hidden in the woods.

GearJunkie sponsored two squads this year at the Adventure-O, both four-person teams with men and women, and thus we had a substantial presence at the event. We prepared separately before the race, each of the GJ squads deciding to compete for the win alone. It’d be Team GearJunkie/WEDALI against Team GearJunkie.com, a friendly fight from the signal to race hard until the very end!









