GREAT OWL | Owl Adventure Racing

RACER UPDATE MARCH 3, 2025

🏃 Registration Closes Soon!

If you have teammates still on the fence, now’s the time to sign them up! Registration closes March 17th—don’t miss out! Sign up here.

🧭 Race Details

You can check in at registration and receive your race packet (maps) as early as 5:30am. The Lost Bridge Beverage Co has plenty of parking and will also be the staging area for your bikes/stuff as well as the finish line.

Address: Lost Bridge Beverage Co - 2872 Lawrenceburg Rd, North Bend, OH 45052

Racers will be shuttled from LBBC at 6:40am to the startline (it’s a secret ). It’s critical you are ready and on the shuttle at 6:40am. A quick prayer and National Anthem starts at 6:30am.

The race begins at 7am. The next 12 hours will be a wild ride with lots of surprises. Without giving away too much detail (not knowing is part of the adventure after all) it’s good to know that the river section ends near LBBC (the Race HQ) where you’ll be able to replenish your supplies and seamlessly transition to the next part of the race.

For the 6 Hour Race, Maps will be distributed at 12pm, with the race starting at 1pm. There will not be a shuttle start for the 6 hour race.

**If it's your first time, the goal is to get as many CP's as you can and make it back to the finish line before the cut off time (7pm) - which means you may have to shorten sections based on your capacity. There will be plenty of route alternatives to consider.

🗺️ Extra Maps for 12-Hour Racers

We will provide 1 map set per team. If you’d like an extra map set for teammates, you can add it to your registration in Run Sign Up.

🚴 Gear Reminder

Boats:
- Canoes are provided this year, so no need to bring your own.
- We will shuttle one drybag per team to the River Transition Area.

Mountain Biking:
- The only "real" mountain biking will be in one section (Which is skippable) while the rest is either road or hard pack trail.
- A Mountain Bike would be best, hybrid would be good, but definitely not a road bike.
- Everything you need can be staged at your car. Bike, Helmet, Supplies, etc.
Gear:
- Check out this Gear List.

📍 Live Tracking for 12-Hour Race

Your family and friends can follow your race in real time! Share this link so they can cheer you on from anywhere: Live Tracking.

🌊 Water Safety – IMPORTANT!

Your safety is your responsibility! River paddling can be unpredictable, especially in March. Be aware of:
✔️ Fluctuating water levels & currents
✔️ Downed trees & cold temperatures
✔️ Required PFD (personal flotation device)—must be worn at all times
✔️ Optional dry suit (recommended for cold weather but not required)

Check out this helpful Water Safety Video before race day.

Adventure Racing at its core should be “an adventure”. However, we want to mitigate as many truly dangerous possibilities as we can. The big one this year is the river. March is historically high river season, so we will be keeping a very close eye on that. We have markers in place that will help us decide that day if the river will be a green light or not. Again, your safety is the main priority! We will also be staging volunteers at various points on the river to monitor in case of emergencies.

Regardless of high water or not, we are not allowing racers not go through the river section alone.

The other slightly less concern is that if we receive heavy rainfall that week, likely the mountain biking trails will be closed. No worries, we have plan b,c, and d in place to still make it an amazing race.

⛺ Camping & Accommodations

On-site camping is available! $20/Night. Let us know if you're interested.
Nearby hotels:
- Holiday Inn Express Cincinnati West, Ohio
- Holiday Inn Express, Harrison, Ohio
- Comfort Inn & Suites, Lawrenceburg, Indiana

🍽️ Food Options

Fuel up post-race! Food and drinks will be available for purchase on-site after you finish.

Here's the Menu:

$10 Pulled BBQ Sandwich with fresh coleslaw (pork or chicken)
$8 Hot dog w/ chips
(Self serve accoutrements)
$8 Block Salad
Iceberg, Cheddar, scallions (Ranch or Vinaigrette)
$7 Mac-n-cheese bites
(Crispy)
$5 Cornbread
$5 Potato Salad

🙌 Want to Volunteer?

We’d love your help! Sign up here: Volunteer Link.

🏁CLOSING:

EVERYTHING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. But we’re confident it shouldn’t change too much. We will send out the mac-daddy Race Communique the week (March 22) before the race to give you as much detail as possible. As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

See you out there.

- The Owl Racing Team

Great Owl Adventure Race