Minnesota Adventure Race Series (MARS) is a combined effort of the Minnesota Orienteering Club (MNOC) and Wild Adventure Race (Wild AR). Winners in each supported event and category will receive points towards the overall series winners at the end of each racing season. Prizes are awarded to the top three places for supported categories at the series finale race or at an additional post-season event.
An adventure race is a team sport that requires navigating a course with a map and compass utilizing combinations of non-motorized disciplines. GPS units are usually not allowed, and racers are required to follow leave-no-trace-type backcountry ethics.
Teams are responsible for traveling together through a series of check points via different disciplines including: trekking, mountain and road biking, paddling (canoes, kayaks, rafts or other water craft) and fixed-ropes (ascending and/or rappelling).
Adventure races allow individuals to take that next step beyond triathlons where endurance meets the skilled and technical non-motorized sports, and where navigation and team challenges play a key role.
Races can range anywhere from three hours up to 10 days in length. Teams may vary in size from race to race, with four-person-coed (at least one member of the opposite gender) being the most common category.
Wild Adventure Race accepts four-person-coed, two-person-coed and two-person-open (same gender) teams in most of our races. Other team configurations may be allowed on a per-race basis. Check the race description page for team types available for that race.
MNOC's Adventure-O is available to coed teams of two and four persons and open (same gender) teams of two. The Adventure-O is also part of the Checkpoint Tracker National Series. More information is available per individual race/event pages.