Are you ready to jumpstart your Adventure Race Season????

Kick-off the year right by accruing your USARA Points in a fun course designed to get you warmed-up for 2026!!! 

​This is a fantastic early season race perfect for families wanting a great day in the woods as well as seasoned racers keeping their skills sharp through the winter months! After the race, we will have food and a fire with our awards ceremony to allow racers new and seasoned to socialize together with such a welcoming community!

5 Hour Adventure Race 

​10 January 2026 | Frederick, MD​

​​USARA Race Series

​Mountain Bike | Trek  (Trek Only Option Available!)

Course is welcoming to families while allowing optional checkpoints for seasoned racers to test their skills!

Pre-Race Zoom Call - Wednesday 7:00pm EST 

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87617309615?pwd=WTumiiU2JUTv7lmcQbYzyXBc050yNn.1

Meeting ID: 876 1730 9615

Passcode: 670083

Early Packet Pick-Up:

5:00-7:00pm EST at 13002 C Mink Farm Rd, Thurmont, MD 21788 

• You will see our flag at the property entrance. Proceed to the first intersection and park at the barn. Packets can be collected at the homestead house, just past the barn towards the pond.

Race Start Location: 10240 Hamburg Rd, Frederick, MD 21702 

Timeline

Gate Opens: 7:00 AM

Transition Area Opens 7:10 AM for Equipment/Bike Staging.

Packet Pick-Up: 7:00 AM 

Pre-Race Brief: 8:30 AM

Race Start: 9:00 AM 

Race End & Food: 2:00 PM

Awards: 2:30 PM

Beginner/Intermediate Clinic

We will cover some intermediate/advanced compass techniques, but not the basics of compass use. Please read this article or watch this video if you need to learn the basics.  This clinic will focus mainly on route planning, race strategy, map marking, race execution, minimizing mistakes, recovering from mistakes, and navigation techniques using the actual race maps for the course.

Pre-Race Clinic

Time: 6:00-8:00 PM Friday, January 9th 
Location: The same building as packet pickup. 13002 C Mink Farm Rd, Thurmont, MD 21788

Post Race Clinic

Time: 8:00-9:00 PM EST Sunday, January 11th
Zoom: Link will be sent to participants
What to bring: All of your map-marking gear (pens, highlighters, colored markers, etc) and your questions. 

There's still time to sign up for the AR clinic. If you missed out on the chance to sign up during the registration process, email jesse@gritadventureracing.com  to RSVP. It's $40 and you receive a two-hour clinic and a one-hour post-race debrief.