Ozark Overland Rally

March 28th-30th

This is a totally underground, no cost, brilliantly fun event.

• 3 days
• 3-5 checkpoints per day
• About 240 miles
• Everything from mild to wild
• Teams of 2-4 vehicles
  
• Due to national forest rules, a 4 person per team limit is in place
• 60 People total Team participation MAX, so 4 people per team = 15 teams.

Event Location: Ozark National Forest, Arkansas

Basecamp: Byrd's Adventure Center

Cost: NO COST TO ENTER OR COMPETE!

Itinerary

March 27th - Pre-event social at Byrds Adventure Center. Entry will be free to the pavilion area. Camping or using the trail system at Byrd's is an additional fee. Primitive Camping is 8.00 per person per night. Mandatory Team Captain meeting at 7:00 PM, pavilion area at Byrd's.

March 28th - Event starts at 8:00 AM. Participants will camp in the National Forest or return to Byrd's.

March 29th - Event continues, drivers are allowed to start again at 8:00 AM. Participants will camp in the National Forest or return to Byrd's.

March 30th - Event continues, drivers are allowed to start again at 8:00 AM.  Teams should arrive back to Byrd's by 12:30 PM. Awards will start around 1:00 PM, depending on the time it takes to total the scores. The event will officially end when the last person ventures home.

Rules

• Mandatory team captain meeting the evening of Thursday, March 27th. Location: pavilion at Byrd's Adventure Center.
• Tread Lightly and Leave No Trace principles will be followed, any team found to stray from these for non-emergency purposes will be disqualified.
• All State, Local, and Federal laws are to be followed (I.E. No alcohol and operating a motor vehicle, fire bans, highway legal vehicles, chainsaws, etc.)
• No camping at checkpoints.

How this will play out:

• You will register for the event with a team of 2-4 vehicles.
• Your checkpoints will be outside of the norm - You will be given certain landmarks or scenic marks and the team captain will photograph ALL TEAM VEHICLES or MEMBERS in a group with the landmark in the photo.  Picture taking will be done with a mobile device, such as an Iphone or Android so the photos can be date/time stamped by the operating system. At the end of the event, the team captain will email all the checkpoint vehicle photos to the event coordinator at overlandguild@gmail.com
• In some cases a Boy Scout may be writing down teams, times, and all that jazz at certain check points.
• All checkpoints will be in a long/lat format, like this : 35.287106,-93.250977
• Checkpoints will be given to the Team Captain during the Thursday night meeting on paper.
• All checkpoints will be accessible by using legal roadways. These may be County, State, or Forest Service.
• All checkpoints will have been accessed by a Tacoma on 33's or a 4runner on 33's

Vehicle Requirements:

At least one vehicle in your group should be equipped with a winch and the knowledge to use it.

Required:
Front/Rear Recovery Points
Full size spare
33" Tire OR one locking differential (Center diffs don't count, sorry) OR ATRAC/Similar

Recommended:
Extended Breathers
Limb risers


Understand that driver experience changes everything

How you will the teams be ranked:

Taking the time stamps on your photos from each day, I will total the time from 8:00 AM and last photo of each day. I will combine the three days and have your total time. The team with the closest to my ideal time (I will set it with a group of three vehicles, doing all obstacles, in the most logical order) will win.

BONUS:

-As I am creating checkpoints accessible by all capable vehicles, including the brave full-size few, I am creating a few checkpoints for those seeking a bit more... adventure. These will be worth no additional points for the Rally trophies, but the person who visits ALL checkpoints in the quickest time will be awarded for their... adventure. This one isn't for the faint of heart.

How to register:

Find a team. MAKE SURE YOU CAN COMMIT YOUR TIME.

Send the following information to Overlandguild@gmail.com with the subject ENTRY OOR14 :

• Team Name (appropriate!)
• Names, vehicles, and experience level.
• Emergency contact for each member of your team.
• Total Number of people on your team. (This includes kids, passengers, hobos, and/or any other humanoid you may have - not to exceed four.)

The event coordinator will send you a waiver, which must be completed by each person competing.

Prize: Trophies will be created for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

Though the event is free, the event coordinator will invest a lot of their time into making this work. Please honor your commitment.



FAQ

Q: Why such short notice?

My life is hard to plan. Something about being a young professional with no idea what I'll do or where I will end up does that.

Q: Will everyone start at once?

As the team is given the list of checkpoints on Thursday, they will have to formulate a plan and see what the BEST route to take will be. Is it from east to west? Or north to south? Or south to North?The teams will have a choice of what checkpoint they want to start with in that sense.

The Rally officially starts at 8:00 AM on Friday morning and none of the contestants are allowed inside the Ozark National Forest Boundary until that time. If a team decides they want to sit at the boundary and at 7:59AM fire up their rig and drive across the boundary line at 8:00AM they are welcome to. I have no way of enforcing this so I am trusting the honesty of everyone else.

Q: GPS or Paper Maps?

You could use paper maps. I recommend googling the coordinates and seeing how easy it could be made... 

Q: Why only 60 people for team participation?

As this is low key, I did not go through the permitting process. The USFS has a limit to the number of people that can participate in an non-permit event, the number is 72 or 75, and I want to be safely below that. I figure 60 participants would be ample for the first run, and with the volunteers we will run very close to the limit. If this kicks off well and everyone enjoys it (I have no doubt that will be the case) I will pursue the permit and see if we can have more participants next time.
 

Q: Will checkpoints be given out each day? Or will a lump sum of checkpoints be given out at the beginning for each specific day?
Also, is there a final camp for everyone each night that teams must reach?

The checkpoints will be given out on Thursday evening to the team captain. Teams are free to do the check points in any order, but are limited to no more than 5 checkpoints per day. The goal is to find the most logical route and have an average time closest to mine. There is no final camp each night.

Q: Explain the scoring please. It's not a race correct?

1 minute = 1 point.
1 hour = 60 points.

Let's say my completion of the rally took 10 hours. That's 600 points. You took 11:15 (675 pts) and Kole took 9:45 (585 pts). Kole wins because he is closest to my time.

So, while it is not a race, every minute counts!

Q:Can I just show up and get the checkpoints but not compete?

No, taking the checkpoints is still considered participating. I cannot prevent you from showing up at Byrd's adventure center and exploring the National Forest, but if I have more than 60 people participate in this event I am likely to be fined a large sum of money.

Q:Is a snorkel mandatory?

No, the main set of check points will be accessible by multiple routes. If the water level is high and crossings unsafe, we will remove that checkpoint. I recommend you be cautious. I have seen these crossings become unpredictable in minutes. If the majority of the group cannot make a specific checkpoint and it is well voiced, I will remove that checkpoint from the Rally.

 Informational video