racer Updates

Racer Update #1

We are excited to welcome you to the 10th annual Maine Summer Adventure Race, taking place on Saturday, July 11 at Mt. Abram in Greenwood, Maine! Race day is just over a month away. Please review this information carefully and make sure all of your teammates see it too. We will send out another update about 1 week before race day.

Race Day Details. The 3-hour race will begin at noon on Saturday and is perfect for beginners and/or families with kids. The intermediate-level 8-hour race will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, and the 24-hour race will kick off at 10 a.m. and give racers an immersive, overnight AR experience.

Finalizing Team Registrations. Make sure that all of your teammates are registered for the race as soon as possible by checking the team lists here: 3-hour race, 8-hour race, 24-hour race. The 8-hour race has just three spots remaining and registration will close once the race is full. There are still plenty of spots available in the 3-hour race, and this year, we have more openings than usual in our 24-hour race. As an incentive to get 8-hour teams to teams to level up, we are making a special offer of a $25 per person upgrade for those who want to move to the 24-hour race. This is a huge savings! Contact us at StrongMachineAR@gmail.com ASAP if you’re interested.

Register at MaineSummerAR.com.

Course Overview. Our course is now finalized and it's going to be a good one! Expect a real Maine mountain vibe, with bald, granite faces (that you will be summiting at all hours of the day and night), hidden gravel and double-track bike routes, and an iconic paddle.

Here are our estimated distances for each race. Please note that actual race distances may vary depending on route choice and any final course updates.

3-hour race: 

Minimum: Take a step forward off the start line, turn around and cross the finish line. You're a finisher! 

Maximum: Hiking: 5 miles -- Biking: 10 miles. No paddling in the 3-hour race.

8-hour race: 

Minimum: Hiking: 0 miles -- Biking: 20 miles -- Paddling: 6 miles. 

Maximum: Hiking: 10 miles -- Biking: 30 miles -- Paddling: 9 miles.

24-hour race: 

Minimum: Hiking: 7 miles -- Biking: 40 miles -- Paddling: 16 miles.

Maximum: Hiking: 25 miles -- Biking: 80 miles -- Paddling: 20 miles.

The 24-hour Maine Summer Adventure Race will be part of the ARWS North America Series and will once again be a regional qualifier for the USARA National Championship, taking place in Bend, Oregon, on October 23-24, 2026. The winning premier division team will take home a fully paid, free entry to Nationals.

Mandatory Gear Lists. The mandatory gear lists are finalized and posted on our website. Racers from all events should review the list for their race and ensure that they have all of the required items with them for race day. We will check mandatory gear on the course so don’t risk getting a penalty!

Bikes are optional for the 3-hour race this year. There is a great bike section should you want to tackle it, and for families, bike trailers or other kid-friendly attachments are welcome!

For the 8-hour and 24-hour races, mountain bikes are very strongly recommended, as there is one several-mile section of rough trail on the mandatory route. For those insistent on riding gravel bikes, we will allow them, but you’ll definitely have to walk several sections, and skip a lot of singletrack and optional checkpoints by riding around on gravel/paved roads. Also, be aware that we will be transporting bikes by U-Haul in both races (we promise we will be careful!).

We will provide canoes and kayaks for 8-hour and 24-hour teams (and life jackets and paddles are provided, but you’re also welcome to bring your own). Teams of 3 should consider bringing something for their middle paddler to sit on (like a plastic crate) as the boats do not have a middle seat. There is no paddle in the 3-hour race.

Post-Race Meal Considerations. We will have food and drinks to celebrate after the end of each race with a range of options that will satisfy omnivores and vegetarians. Please email us at StrongMachineAR@gmail.com if you have any other dietary restrictions (e.g., vegan, gluten-free, food allergies) so that we can plan accordingly.

We'll have food from Luchador Tacos (their breakfast burritos were a huge hit last year with our 24-hour racers), a beer truck from Steam Mill Brewing, and for the second year running, free gear repair while you race, offered through a collaboration with Maine Gear Share.

Lodging: There are many great lodging options in the Greenwood/Bethel area, from hotels to AirBNBs to camping (and for those with vans, you can park overnight at Mt. Abram). Thanks to the generosity of several local business owners, we’ve managed to secure discounts at several options. 

The Bethel Resort and Suites, centrally located in downtown Bethel, has rooms of all sizes, including one-, two- and three-bedroom suites and condos. They have offered us 15% off, using this link.

We also have a 20% discount at the Rostay Inn, a cozy motel with a hot tub that's perfect for a post-race soak. Use this link to book.

For those who prefer to camp, we have secured 20% discounts at the Pleasant River Campground (which also has six brand-new cabins). Use the code MSAR2026 at checkout.

We also have a 10% discount at the Stony Brook Campground (use code MSAR10 at checkout) and 10% off Lone Mountain Campground. Call or email MaKayla Wells at 207-392-0019 or lonemountaincampground@gmail.com and mention MSAR. We have stayed at both campgrounds and highly recommend them!

Bike Rental. A few rental bikes are available from Barker Mountain Bikes at 53 Mayville Road in Bethel. Call in advance to reserve a bike (he’s got several nice mountain bikes in most sizes available for rent) or stop into the store before the race to pick up any gear you need at a 10% discount! Just mention MSAR at checkout. 

Sponsors. We couldn’t do this without the generous support of our sponsors: L.L. Bean, Saphound Maple Syrup, Squirt Cycling Products, Zanfel, OutThere Packs and Pasokin. There will be lots of great prizes from these great companies offered in our post-race swag raffle for all three races. Please consider supporting these businesses as you stock up for your AR needs. We appreciate their ongoing support of our event and the sport of adventure racing!

As an early thank-you to all our racers, OutThereUSA is offering a 25% discount on their fantastic AR-specific race packs. Use the code: StrongMachine25

Maine GearShare:  We are so excited to announce the second year of our partnership with Maine GearShare. Bring any gear in need of repair to the race and the expert fixers at Maine GearShare will do their best to get it back in working order. All done for free while you're off racing through the woods! All items must be clean. Common repair types accepted: stuck or misaligned zippers, nylon with rips, puffy coat holes, broken backpack buckles and straps, seam failures, etc. Some stoves, tents, snowshoes and other hard goods can be repaired on a case-by-case basis. This is part of Strong Machine Adventure Racing's commitment to sustainability and giving back to the outdoors community.

Need a teammate? There are lots of people of all ages and abilities looking for teammates! If you are looking for some new friends to race with, or if you have any other questions about the race or AR in general, please reach out to us at StrongMachineAR@gmail.com.

Seeking Volunteers. We are forever indebted to our fantastic volunteer crew, who you will see throughout the race weekend staffing our registration table and transition areas, and shuttling gear all over the course. If you know anyone who would like to help out during the race weekend, we could use another few volunteers to help out early Saturday morning through early evening. We offer big discounts to entries for a future race for all of our volunteers as well as an event t-shirt, food during the race, and entry to our big post-race feast.

Race Week Update. Our final racer update, to be sent a week before the race, will include a detailed event schedule, parking location, GPS tracking link for the 24-hour race, boat configurations for the 8- and 24-hour races, paddle/gear/transition bag info for the 8- and 24-hour races, and other important details. We will also release a schematic with basic stage details for the 8- and 24-hour races.

Facebook. Please “like” our Facebook page to get updates before, during (for friends and family), and after the race!

Questions? Email us anytime at StrongMachineAR@gmail.com.

See you in July!

-- Kate, Cliff, Emily, and Evan (your race director team)