Discussion: Expd Ozark 2023

~1 month to go until Expd Ozarks.

Course overview is posted on the website now: https://www.expeditionozark.com/the-race

Lots of short legs in the race with a total of 14 TAs!

A week to go?? 35 teams listed on the website for the

2023 Current Registered Team List (Expedition Race)

Team Orange Lederhosen - USA
Team 5060 Adventure - USA
38.6 Degrees - USA
Packraft Ecuador - Ecuador
Visit Penticton BC Wild - Canada
Old Shoes - USA
Running Riot Racing - USA
Vidaraid - Spain/USA
Savage Squirrels - USA
Team ThisABILITY - USA
No Complaints - USA
Brazil Multisport - Brazil
Bend Racing/Skin Doctor - USA/Canada
Overtaken - AUS
NYARA Montbell - USA
Adventure Enablers - USA
Past R Prime - USA
Team Natural State - USA
BRF Barf Racing - USA
Bosom Buddies - USA
Grit & Grind - USA
Xtreme Adventure - USA
Team Chautauqua - USA
Team Nebraska/Unplugged Adventures - USA
Food First Fitness - USA
Estonian ACE Tactical Foodpack - Estonia
One80 - USA
Racing Denmark - Denmark
Attack From Above - Canada
Tower Racing - USA
Warrior - USA
Team RandR - USA
Two & a Half Men - USA
Absolu Raid Cap Ganguise - France
Expenature.FR SUD Raid - France

Tracking link is already posted: https://live.enabledtracking.com/ozark2023/

Wow - that is a really impressive list of teams! Really impressed with how many international (and competitive) teams are coming out for a first year race. Anyone know what the secret was for getting that type of draw? It seems impressive for a first-time race organizer, especially when compared to the almost-entirely-American team list for Endless Mountains from an established race organization.

My thoughts exactly glewis.

I think it was huge that Heidi/ARWS made a scouting visit for Ozarks in 2022 during her trip to the US for Endless. Also the NW Arkansas area has a history of hosting high-quality international events, thanks to financial backing from the Walton family. And, the terrain/outdoor rec infrastructure is known to be high-quality, also thanks to Walton family. Who knows, maybe there are some international subsidies in play that aren't publicized.

Hopefully the first-time RDs can provide an event that brings all of these teams and more back!

And another thought, I believe AR in in the Midwest is just strong. There hasn’t been a multi-day race in the region in ages (nearly 20 years since Bonk Hard’s Mighty MO???), but the 30-hr and shorter races have great organization, and I think a good chunk of Midwest-based teams are hankering for a chance to try a multi-day close to home.

Here are the 4-person coed teams:

(1) Orange Lederhosen (USA) Derrick Boos; Sheldon Thompson; Patrick Evenson; Christine Davisson

(3) 38.6 Degrees (USA) Bryan Niehaus; Nathan Goff; Mandy Goff; Kevin Minton

(4) Packraft Equador (ECU) Mateo Ponce; Karina Neumann; Santiago Lopez and Francisco Navarro

(5) Visit Penticton - BC Wild (CAN) Nathalie Long; Chad Spence; Simon Gignac; Justin Smith

(8) Vidaraid (ESP) Marco Amselem; Urtzi Iglesias; Jon Ander Arambalza; Mari Chandler

(10) Team Thisability (USA) Chip Dodd; Andera Anderson; Clay Ballantine; Caitlin Thorn

(11) No Complaints (USA) Doug Ritzert; Shawn Lemaster; Jenn DeBruyn; Eric Olsen;

(12) Brazil Multisport (BRA) Camila Nicolau; Guilherme Pahl; Thiago Bonini and Jonas Junckes

(13) Bend Racing/Skin Doctor (USA) Jason Magness; Karine Corbeil; Chelsey Magness; Alex Provost

(15) NYARA Montbell (USA) Rodney Villella; Amy Bartoletti; Aaron Courain; John Courain

(18) Team Natural State (USA) Jeremy Rose; Summer Reighn; Madeline Kley; Jessy Heard

(22) Xtreme Adventures (USA) Ron Eaglin; Brenda Carlson; Jennifer Tordini; Kelly Moise

(25) Food First Fitness (USA) Corey Hatfield; Danielle Many; Brent Anderson; Adela Nochebuena

(26) Estonian Ace Tactical Foodpack (EST) Timmo Tammemäe; Lauri Tammemäe; Dani Costa Tobar; Felipe Münchmeyer

(27) One80 (USA) Krissy Sample; Rodney Sample; Kim Griffith; Matt Boyd

(28) Racing Denmark (USA) Mikael Halberg; Sisse Møller; Ole Hemme Hansen; Mikkel Overgaard

(29) Attack From Above (CAN) Chris Laughren; Derek Bessette; Ross Brittle; Julie Parent

(30) Tower Racing (USA) Jameson Henkle; Ashlie Ferguson; Andy Wentzel;Rolly Delfin

(31) Warrior (USA) Mark Lattanzi; Jesse Spangler; James Galipeau; Lisa Randall

(34) Absolu Raid Cap Ganguise (FRA) Chiara Casari; Lionel Villeneuve; Yannick Perrin; Benjamin Midena

(35) Expenature.fr Sud Raid (FRA) Romy Viale; Rachel Nolan; Antony Diaz; Robert Rorich

I’m sure the prize purse was a major draw for the top teams. 1- $10k, 2- $5k, 3- $3k + an additional $2k for first Intl team. Plus it’s a full ARWS event, no exhibition status. I hope they pull it off.

The top 5-10 seems like it will be really competitive. I think that Vidaraid is the likely favorite, but I don't know enough about all of the international teams. Could Estonia, Brazil Multisport, BC Wild, Expenature.fr or Racing Denmark keep up with them? What about Bend, Attack from Above, or Warrior?

Also, I didn't realize that it was a full ARWS race as opposed to a demonstration. Or about the prize purse. I can see why there is such a draw.

Jayxc, it's a demo race this year - will be a full ARWS event in 2024.

https://arworldseries.com/expedition-ozark/

Thanks for the correction. Glad to see ARWS didn’t make any exceptions actually.

Sure thing :) I think the designation has been clearer at some points than others. We’ve looked a few times, too.

From https://arworldseries.com/rankings/

Teams earn points from a standard points table based on their finish position. For example, a first-place team earns 1000 points regardless of the race. These are then weighted to reflect the different level of difficulty and competition (called Competition Status) at the different ARWS events. Their points are multiplied by the following:

Tier 1 Events
- AR World Championship (2.0x)
- ARWS Qualifier Series (1.0x)
- ARWS Demonstration Race (0.5x) <---- Expd Ozarks

Tier 2 Events
- ARWS Regional Championship (1.0x)
- ARWS Regional Circuit Round (0.5x)

And they're off!
https://live.enabledtracking.com/ozark2023/

Race kicked off this am at 8am EDT. The course has a pretty unique start that double's back on itself a few times with a trek, bike, paddle, trek that will be pretty quick and seem like a triathlon to the racers with quick transitions and a high pace.

From there its off onto some gravel roads for a bike ride. Biking nav seems to be pretty straight forward but the terrain will be challenging with punchy climbs. Leg 4 trek will separate the front runners from the pretenders.

From Facebook: "Teams have set out on the prologue with strict instructions to stay on the trails and roads. Any going off piste incurs a 2hr penalty.
They can get the CPs in any order but all are mandatory."

Jay, is the race book posted somewhere?

Why has the field split on the first stage?

Looks like some may have thought that northern route was faster.

Narrator: It's not.

Because they can get the CPs in any order?

Ah I see it was just a route choice. Some of the tails of the teams that went north didn't look like they had gotten the prologue points.

Brazil Multisport passes Racing Denmark at TA2 to be the first on the water.

I haven't found the race book yet.

AR Insider FB page says he will be posting the race maps there tonight at 6:30 ET. I guess they're not on the tracking page, or not yet?

It would be great if we could get the race maps as a layer on the tracking site. I seem to remember one of the ARWS events (XPD maybe) had this ability which was fantastic.

Team one80 in the back of he race, took a little side trip on bike to check out the paddle CP :)

Weather could become an issue later today and into tomorrow with the potential for tornados in most of Arkansas. What’s worse, tornado warnings or tropical storms?

Looks like the brunt of the weather is Tues afternoon -> night, with highs in the 80s today and tomorrow (bleh) followed by nice cool spring weather from Weds on, after the front blows through.

We are going to need the race schematics to help keep track of all of the legs. Scroll down on this page for them:
https://www.expeditionozark.com/the-race

Also I made a cheat sheet...armchair AR at its finest.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dmp3oowM7Q...

Question: is there any canoeing/kayaking or 100% of the paddling in their packrafts?

Its a matter of perspective i guess, maybe the south american teams prefer the heat and humidity?

Maps and race book are now available for download at the Info button on the tracker.

Lame dotwatcher here. I've been following along with social media but spaced out about the discussion that might have been active here. Hi everyone! That said...

Where in the world is Vidaraid headed now that they've dropped their paddling gear and 1-11? Maybe they know about a good coffee or ice cream shop?

Edit: and they aren't the only ones going what appears to be the wrong way to reach 1-12.

There's an OOB property on the direct route to the Fire Pit TA3 and the secondary route/T-intersection looks kind of tough to find. Its probably more like a trail as opposed to a clearcut gravel road.

@awentz: somewhat trivial request. Can you remove the 's' in Ozarks in your first post with the thread title? Perhaps it'll save a few folks from confusion. There is a totally different thing from this AR that is called Expedition Ozarks: https://www.facebook.com/expeditionozarks

We're over here watching Brazil's route down White Rock Mtn Road. On the race maps, it looks like there's a faint trail that cuts east toward the TA, but we can't find that trail on AllTrails or any of the other online mapping platforms. And the noted ideal route goes north and around. It looks like Brazil is right about where the trail comes in on the race map. So curious to know what they're seeing in the woods...

Now they're past the junction, still tracking on the road... and Bend is following suit.

Jason of BendRacing just posted a good podcast episode talking about the start of the race.
https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jason-magn...
He covers the two different bike route choices, as well as the navigation errors after the paddle leg.
Looks like Bend has caught up to Brazil now having made good time after their initial poor bike choice. Can’t blame them
much for the route bobble though, 39 maps on the bus at 4am is brutal.
Vidaraid is also cruising again after their nav error and is making good ground closing the gap.

@Lebnjay: I think teams only got some of the maps pre-race and will get more later...? Not claiming this as a fact, though. It seems like I saw a photo posted of teams working with the maps and there was a caption to the effect of "Teams now have the first set of maps to review before the race begins."

Just speculating, but it seems like Brazil Multi has someone injured or ill. They have been moving considerably slower than *several* other teams on a section of the trek that appears to be pretty straightforward navigationally in the dark. It seems that it's not just that Bend is faster than everyone and passed Brazil while also dropping everyone else.

@awentz - to follow up on Conman's request, could you also add the year?

Bend is about to finish "the big trek" as the leading team - they are about 3 hours ahead of the RD "fast" estimate. way to go!

@Lebn - it's a bummer that Jason isn't racing but I agree I really appreciate his commentary. I also appreciate him and anyone who takes time to screenshot maps and draw in different route options - so informational for experienced and beginner racers alike!

Also on the big trek, it's nearly a 3-way tie for 2nd with Absolu, Estonia, and Vidaraid, about 400m apart on the road leading into the final 2 CPs.

So...cutoff coming up on CP 2-7 at 1PM. Teams who miss that have to short course onto the road.

I took a peek at this scenario through the lens of Nebraska/Unplugged. Good, solid, experienced team.

Using their timestamps:
It took them roughly 4:30 hours to travel from CP6 to CP7. That means that teams not through CP6 at this moment are at risk of not making the cutoff there....

WAIT! Looks like Nebraska slept for two hours around 4AM...SO...that's good news for Brf Barf and the 4-5 other teams "behind" them (Brf Barf is going up and over vs. the mostly traveled southern route to CP6). I had thought they were likely off pace, but they should have time, especially with daylight. I suspect some will elect to short course to the TA after 7 anyway, but at least they should have the agency to make that decision.

I'm thinking Team #3/18 might be the cusp or behind it. All other teams then get shorted to the TA

Forecast for today for Ponca (town closest to TA6 & TA7) is scattered strong storms from Tue 4pm to Wed 7am local time. Teams will be getting off the paddle at TA6, doing a short trek, then getting on bikes at TA7 to head NW. Hopefully the storms don't affect teams paddling.

Also high of 81F today...keep hydrated, teams.

ARCG (Fra.) are opting for the slightly less direct, more eastern bike route along Little Mulberry Creek which postpones the big climb and climbs a little less overall. Leaders Bend stayed on the red race route. Est ACE, in third, will have to decide soon.

The ridgetop red race route really seems to have been the right read, or Bend is just riding harder. Est ACE stayed on the ridge too - we'll see if they catch ARCG as a result.

Adventure Enablers has a nice, newly-formatted leaderboard:
https://results.enabledtracking.com/event/ozark202...

I did notice they have a different version of the new USARA logo - I'm sure these two groups had some last-minute coordination given that the new logo was released 3/24 and most of the race materials had to get submitted before then.

(I really like the new USARA logo, btw)

Bend/Skin Doc first into TA5! start of the paddle on the beautiful Buffalo River. they were right on the RD's "fast" estimate of the biking leg of 5 hours.

I imagine they'll want to get as much of the upcoming O section done as they can during daylight - a good reason to push it right now

Just saw a short vid of Brazil coming into TA off the big trek and Camila confirmed my suspicion: everyone on the team is struggling with illness / feeling bad. Apparently this is a first for them as a team. I assume she means it's new having everyone on the struggle bus *at the same time.* With all their exped. AR experience, I'm certain each of them has had bad periods in races where the rest of the team tows, carries gear for, and supports their ill teammate.

Teams that missed "the big trek" mini-cutoff (pass by CP2-7 by 1pm Tues)

19 BRF Barf made it by less than 10 minutes but may be opting for skip 10 through 15
6
28
25
17
9
3
18
7
27
33
23
1

14 Overtaken made the cutoff but opted to skip 9 through 15

To my understanding, these teams are still "full course" since the only ones they will have skipped so far are PRO points.

A weather hold course-wide (apparently) is currently scheduled for 11pm to 3am due incoming storm *tornado* conditions. Teams will learn about this at different times and some will have more opportunity to strategize around it. Those without this knowledge as early will, unfortunately, be at a strategic disadvantage.

Interesting developments. Think it will be a 'fast' course, with some great fireworks!

@Conman, yes...a solid sleep during course hold hours would be really beneficial, unless of course a team slept a chunk already and could keep pushing.

Good luck sleeping 4 to a tent if the conditions are rocking and rolling...If the weather truly erupts, it could be a rough, long night for a lot of other reasons.

Bend Canada is on the Stage 7 mtb and should clear it before the Sharknado Lockdown. The Estonians seem to have stepped up the pace and will have a chance to clear Stage 7 as well. TA8 will be the first opportunity for Bend to figure out who’s on their heals since the start.
I don’t think Absolu Raid will have enough time to clear Stage 7. Question is if they decide to hold up in the TA or risk finding shelter on the bike route.

Any update on Racing Denmark? Surprised to see them drop back so far. They are a strong team - saw them in action firsthand in ITERA last year.

And Silky, thanks for your praise of the new USARA logo! It was one of the end products of an extensive branding exercise we went through, which really helped us get a good idea of our audiences and potential growth paths.

Nasty storms currently moving over the race course. Bend is shown as not moving about 1/3 of the way through the Kings River paddle. The Estonians are moving and are about 1500m behind them so maybe a new leader soon. Absolu Raid and Vidaraid are also on the water and moving.
This looks like an awesome paddle during the day.

This next trekking leg is a boat drop during the paddle. The Sleep icon was obviously wrong for Bend as they have arrived at the TA 1st. My guess for their route- 13, 10, 15, 6, 5, 11, 16, 8, 12, 14, 7, 4, 9.

Edit: There appears to be a difference between the race maps and the tracker map specifically around 16.

Interested to see how they tackle this section. Crazy amount of parallel reentrants!

Bend is not heeding your advice JayXC, curiously bypassing 13 and 10. I assume they will finish with those.

Est ACE just setting out on the O course.

Its looking like 15, out-and-back to 9, then clockwise sweep of the rest.

I've been trying to follow along with this race - the quantity of media is almost overwhelming! Thankfully we have the chronological thread here to keep my brain straight.

I am so impressed with Bend - I didn't expect them to be able to beat all of these high quality international teams. Anyone know anything about Vidaraid? I expected them to run away with this race, but it seems like they haven't hit top speed since their second mistake.

The way FB plays with timelines its practically impossible to follow a race with just that outlet. The same is true for Dot Watchers Unite and other similar sites. Its very hard to follow comments there as posts from today will disappear for a few hours while posts from 2 days ago pop back up every so often.

@JayXC looks like Vidaraid is taking your advice :)

Also 4-08 and 4-05 are not on the racer maps...maybe that got drawn in at TA? Surprise plotting challenge?

Oh wait - I do see 4-08 and 4-05 on the racer maps (just had to scroll up). Was this what you were referencing @JayXC? Racer maps have these 2 CPs north of 4-11. But tracker maps have them between 4-12 and 4-16 (south of 4-11). Bend's tracker indicates they are picking up these CPs as shown on the tracker map, which shortens this trek a bit. Must have been a late change communicated at TA.

Yes that’s the issue. Hopefully race maps are correct. ;)

Vidaraid might come across Bend and Est ACE in the woods in a few minutes.

The legends on Orange Lederhosen have been picked up by race staff and transported to TA8. They have been on Leg 3 ("the big trek") for a while. I hope they have a great paddle!

Really impressed by Warrior powering along and now starting the trek. Also Tower, who appears to have passed Denmark at the end of bike/start of paddle. So fun to see US team competing with this stacked field!

And shout outs to NYARA and No Complaints. It's rough being the last team on the full course - starts to feel awfully lonely - and they are holding on. NYARA has short-coursed the stage 7 trek, No Complaints still full-course. There are no other cut-offs ahead of them except for the *big* one at the end... they will need to push (and maybe cut more) to make it in time.

Interesting development overnight. Bend, the Estonians and Vidaraid are out on the Stage 11 trek. Bend and Estonia are traversing this leg in opposite directions with their routes crossing each other between 6-5 and 6-8. Bend was the first team into and leaving the TA but stopped for a 3 hr sleep just after and woke up just as Estonia was passing through. From there their routes diverged. Hard to say who's leading at this point. Vidaraid is about 2 hours behind and appear to be slowly closing. Bend's nap should be enough to get them through the end of the race.

I don't see where Estonia has slept in the last 24 hours. A video I saw of them coming off the paddle showed them moving very slowly and if they plan to go to the end without sleeping I think its possible that Vidaraid catches them.

I THINK Estonia may have slept some before getting into the TA. Hard to say, not a total home run on the tracker, but it looks like it to me. It's going to be exciting. I think this is the best last chance for a shake up unless something goes wrong with mechanicals, nutrition, or sleepmonsters. Obviously, all three of those things are highly normal.

Still, Estonia has a real chance to at least close the gap if not take the lead.

Also, I THINK they both skipped CP 6-2...though it's hard to say that for sure right now. Possible they converge right around there, regardless.

I think Vidaraid needs some help from the top two at this point to close the gap. The nav doesn't look hard enough from the outside to bank on that, and all three teams seem to be holding a steady, strong pace. Those early mistakes really sting...

Warrior's track on the stage 9 trek looking funky... did they forget 4-15 and have to go back?

*edit - tracker pinged erroneously back by the paddle take out, looks like they are just going around the out of bounds area. phew ;)

I thought the same thing at first but they have to do a bit of an out and back to get around the OOB to the north.

Bend appears to have just begun the final paddle. Estonia ACE not too far behind - 45 minutes?

I got to chat about the race on the Dark Zone podcast last night - w broots and Jason Magness - fun to nerd out on the race to date: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dark-zon...

Thanks for coming onto the show. It was your first time on the show, but certainly not your last.

Is it me or are these race maps hard to read? Looking ahead to the last trek and the details around 7-10, 7-12 and 7-13 on map 35 are very cluttered. The CP labels are right on top of the details you need to navigate with.

I am also having an incredibly tough time reading the maps JayXC. The most recent trek (leg 6) was impossible to follow with them. I'm assuming that racers have a much better quality than the low-res versions that are online.

I thought I saw somewhere (but I can't now find it) that there was a better map for the final mini-trek.

Est ACE 51 mins behind Bend as of TA11.

Significant wind in play on the lake paddle...in open-topped canoes. UGH!

Regarding online map resolution, same complaint here. I opted for CalTopo and am referencing the USGS topos stacked with the MapBuilder layer for trails to visualize the racers maps in more detail.

Decent timing for the two lead teams on the lake: they will fully complete this in daylight on a lake with lots of inlets and complexity that could make night nav. tricky. May not be great for those who have to paddle in the afternoon hours when winds might be a bit more pushy...Vidaraid.

Bend leading Estonian ACE by 42 minutes as of CP 6-12.

Bend had a long transition at TA12. They left right after Est ACE arrived.

The clue for upcoming CP 7-02 is "Baseball dugout". That's kind of an obscure English word for non-American teams.

Not as obscure as 'slough' was at ExOR last year. I still have no idea what it is or how to pronounce it. sluff, slow, slew?

Ugh, I hope these final sections (bike trek/caving bike) are OK for nav. The race maps don't appear to have the Back40 trails overlaid, but there are some fuzzy black dashed lines in there. Back40 is well signed and easy to nav if you just want to ride the trail. I rode there in 2017 and did an entire day without a map - just follow trail signposts as needed. The trail system is unique in that it weaves through subdivisions, but never feels especially urban. Bend looks like they are figuring it out - they are currently between 7-04 and 7-05.

It seems like Bend simply struggled (from a dot watching perspective) with adjourning from travelling roads to the trails...Where to hop on? How long to stay on? etc. It's a challenging choice (or series of choices) that has to be made quickly when you're feeling pressure from behind or to catch up.

Looks like Estonia has nailed the first transition.

Ooo, yes, Estonia gained some ground getting to 7-04. Bend's lead is still about 40 minutes?

Is it bad if Estonian or Ecuadorian citizens travelling in Arkansas accidentally enter Missouri? Asking for a friend.

@Conman: harkens back to UNE... 2012? ... when an Ecuadorian team (that inclded Santi from Packrafting Ecuador) accidentally crossed the border into Canada. :)

Looks like Bend and Estonia will likely pass one another at or near this last TA.

Maybe illegal move by estonia after the dam at 7-06?

I saw that too Lebn - I wonder if they'll be penalized or claim that they followed some social trails.

Looks like Bend is flying in towards the finish...but an ARWS live video said that there is a concern that they missed the instructions for one of the cave CPs!

On Caltopo, if you use the Shaded Relief layer, it looks like there is a trail bed where it looks like Estonia bikewhacked.

I use this function all the time when arm chair scouting as it helps ID trail beds when satellite does not.

It's clear Estonia followed it to the T. I think it's legal.

Congrats to Bend! Super impressive performance.

I found that on the global heatmap for the one that Jason asked about, but not the second one at the dam - that looked like a backyard.

Looks like Vidaraid decided they wanted a little taste of Missouri. Mari probably exempts the fellas from any sort of trouble since she's not travelling on a visa.

no clue how to insert pics to this, glewis.

I emailed you a screenshot. Drew on their route, off to the side so you can see it paralleling a clear feature on the sidehill. Quite certain it's a trail bed.

@broots the only way to post a photo here is to put it up on the web via imgur.com or another similar hosting site. Then you can get fancy and embed a link so the pic shows up here, or just put in a link so others can click to see your thingy.

Good find broots - sorry for ever doubting you!

This makes me think that it would be really touch to enforce the "no bikewhacking" rule, because a team could nearly always claim "there was an old trail there".

Ooooo, teams Orange Lederhosen, Team Natural State and Grit & Grind making an error on the paddle - looking for the portage at 6-12 and have ended up at a different inlet to the west - hopefully they can sort it out. The inlet/mini-peninsula features are *sort of* parallel - but the correct one has a significant road that hopefully tips these three teams off.

Warrior looks to be close to finishing the Hobbs trek, while Tower is just starting out on it.

ThisAbility in the early stages of the Hobbs trek as well, although going opposite direction as Tower. And we know ThisAbility has dropped mandatories, while those other 2 American teams have not.

R&R have only dropped 5 Pro CPs so far (on the Kings River trek). They are heading out on the Hobbs trek now. I would guess they'll drop a few here to be able to finish the rest of the course? Rachel knows these areas well (she lives in Little Rock) so is likely feeling confident with the nav from here on out.

NYARA Montbell is biking to the Hobbs trek. They have skipped 12 Pro CPs so far.

Warrior no skips so far, Tower no skips so far.

No Complaints skipped 5 Pro CPs.

Nebraska/Unplugged skipped the entire Kings River Trek (13 Pro CPs) and the 7 Pro CPs on the Hobbs Trek, but they got the 2 mandatories on the Hobbs trek.

The wayward paddlers (Orange Lederhosen, Team Natural State and Grit & Grind) are still trying to find the 6-12 portage. Now they're on the other side of the incorrect mini-peninsula. Hopefully they are starting to realize their issue. There is no flag where there should have been a flag for 6-12. Looks like they might try to beach one more time before an "ah-ha" moment.

OK one more thing in my morning update - the paddle map sure is strange. https://www.adventureracinginsider.com/map29-1

Instead of blue water, the lake level is in purple. Maybe because this is a dammed river lake? Interesting.

The wayward paddlers are on the very western edge of the race map. There are some mapped islands that are also on the satellite image. I wonder if the current water levels are covering up those islands, while the teams wanted to use them as a backstop and didn't realize they were underwater??

OK looks like Grit & Grind figured it out first, and on their way out of the wrong area, may have tipped off Orange Lederhosen.

Team Natural State, however, continues to paddle about *nearly* off the race map. Crossing my fingers for them - hopefully they can relocate soon and paddle south/eastbound.

@silky Regarding the purple lake...the base USGS map is OLD (1967); Beaver Dam had just been built and the reservoir was filled *after that map was created*. Here's the most recent 1976 quad legend: https://imgur.com/a/1Z8oE3x Purple is the color, as I presume you know already, of all the aerial photo-revised map changes.

More info than you might want (last sentence is most relevant): "Bids for the construction of the powerhouse were opened in November 1962. Construction of the powerhouse and switchyard began in 1963. The turbine contract went to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dock Company of Newport News, Virginia. Two 77,400-horsepower Westinghouse units sit atop the turbines, each capable of generating 56,000 kilowatts. Power generation began in May 1965. The overall project was completed by June 1966 at a cost of $46.2 million. The reservoir reached normal operational pool in 1968."

Yesss Grit & Grind safely on the other side of the 6-12 portage!!! Good job team!

Orange Lederhosen still on their way, maybe they will meet up with BRF Barf after the portage and THAT is a crew I would like to paddle with!!!

Team Natural State - still working on definitively relocating on the western edge of the race map...looks like they might be close...rooting for them!

@Conman yes def more info than i was bargaining on!! but thanks nevertheless :)

Before this race is over - I would like to give a shout out to the Expedition Ozark graphic designer(s). The logo work is great, bibs look awesome, printed stuff looks super, everything both professionally done but also unique for the sport of AR. Also the color scheme ties in to all of the other NWA promo material, very "cohesive" as the fashion people say. KUDOS!!

Very puzzling right turn just a few minutes ago by team #34 Absolu Raid. Possibly road construction or some other unplanned obstruction???

Oh dear this final paddle is really messing w some teams. Xtreme Adventures (Ron Eaglin and crew) is on what looks like their 2nd re-attack to 6-11. They need to get back in their boat and keep paddling a bit to the correct saddle.

Team Natural State has made it to the 6-12 portage but their icon turned to sleeping so maybe (um...definitely) they're tired out of their minds and need a quick CP nap before crushing the last 4km of paddling to TA12.

Just updating my race tracker spreadsheet - Bend finished with an overall race time of 85 hours and 40 minutes. This includes all of their TAs and sleep and the 4hr mandatory hold.

The race logistics guide in the racer book indicated a fast time of 96 hours and 30 minutes which didn't include TAs/sleep/4hr hold. I'm not sure the fast time estimate was intended to equal the winning time estimate, but to improve upon that time by 11 hours is impressive.

So well done, Bend, to keep pushing the whole way through and crush the course!

Oh dear, Packraft Ecuador is struggling with 6-11 as well. First attacked the incorrect saddle from the west, now from the east...they need to keep going north!! Send good vibes por favor

Just spoke with Bend for an hour. Cutting it now and will publish in about 60 minutes or so. They were lucid and everything! A podcaster's dream!

Silky - wonderful updates and a good synopsis of what has been happening out there. Thank you!

Nice discussion guys! thanks for the good words! We had a good race!

You sure did! :) Congratulations!

Very impressive, jackson5!

Excellent work J5!

Final results here: https://results.enabledtracking.com/event/ozark202...

A few notable notes:
--8 out of 31 teams cleared the course, the 8th being Tower Racing.
--Kudos to rocky33 (Team RandR) for being the first non-4p coed team, and 12th overall!
--18 teams were full course, 9 teams were short course (aka "missed mandatories"), and 4 teams unofficial for either dropping a teammate or receiving RD transportation
--there seem to be some time credits/penalties in play of 15 min, 71 minutes, 10 minutes, and 50 minutes. The 50 minute credit was for Visit Penticton as they had to wait in TA for gear bins to be delivered. I'm not sure what any other credit/penalty is for.
--The all-female category appears to be impacted by these credits. Looks like Adventure Enablers team tied on CPs with BRF Barf but beat them on time by 3 minutes with a 10 minute time credit.
--Nebraska/Unplugged Adventures took 1st in the all-male category by 14 CPs over 2nd place Bosom Buddies

The 71 minute time credit is explained here: https://www.facebook.com/expeditionozark/posts/pfb...

Seems like it came from the night of the weather hold.

ARWS Ozark Race video now released too.

https://youtu.be/vJprKMB9zrI