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CHALLENGE THE SHIELD
ADVENTURE RUN
Parry Sound, ON
MAY 3, 2026
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OVERVIEW
The 4th annual Challenge the Shield Adventure Run is an awe-inspiring wilderness endurance challenge on the rugged Canadian Shield. Teams of two run or trek to as many of the 36 checkpoint challenges as they choose amongst the iconic windswept pines, pristine lakes and granite rock barrens as they choose. Each checkpoint is assigned a difficulty rating and points value and teams decide how many checkpoints they want to tackle. The "choose-your-own-adventure" points-based course design is both beginner-friendly and an epic challenge of strategy and adventure for even the most experienced teams. You decide the adventure! Challenge your friends. Challenge the Shield! HOST SITE Georgian Nordic Outdoor Activity Centre (Parry Sound, Ontario). Link to Georgian Nordic weather station. ADVENTURE RUN RACE DISTANCES Teams can choose between two race distances: 6-hour Adventure Run Up to 36 checkpoints. Up to ~35 km in distance. Maximum points: 2,500. 3-hour Adventure Run Up to 20 checkpoints. Up to ~17.5 km in distance. Maximum points: 1,250. 3-hour race participants will have the option to use a GPS Map App to assist with navigation. See event guide for details. CATEGORIES 6-hour: Coed, Male, Female, Masters (average age >50) 3-hour: Open, Juniors (ages 13-19) *age as of December 31, 2026. CHALLENGE STICKERS & AWARDS Challenge yourself at Challenge the Shield! The overall (coed) winning team will take home our Challenge the Shield mascot Squirrelly George for the year (George as in Georgian Nordic and squirrelly because you gotta be a little bit squirrelly to do a race like this right!). There will also be prizes for the first-place team in all categories (Coed, Male, Female, Masters, Open, Junior). The Challenge the Shield is also about challenging yourself. Whatever your age or experience we would like to reward your achievements in this race. How many checkpoints can you find? How many points can your team get? Challenge the Shield Points Challenge Gold, Silver, and Bronze CTS stickers will be given to teams that get 2000, 1500, and 1000 points, respectively! All teams will get a Challenge the Shield participation sticker! Any teams that navigate to the perfect 2500 points total will have completed Ontario's Toughest Navigation Race and will be Crowned as Ontario's Toughest Navigation Racers. CHALLENGE THE SHIELD ALL-TIME POINTS LEADERBOARD Check out our Challenge the Shield All-Time Points Leaderboard. Challenge yourself and friends to reach our all-time points milestones of 5,000 or 10,000 points. The all-time points leaderboard accumulates points from both our CTS Adventure Run and CTS Adventure Race. Milestone prizes coming soon. Congratulations to our 5,000 points club athletes. Current leaderboard. EVENT GUIDE, RULES & REQUIRED GEAR Our 2026 Event Guide will be available on March 13, 2026. Download our 2025 Event Guide for details on the race, required gear, race day schedule, race waiver, photo consent form, and more from our 2025 event. REGISTRATION & ENTRY FEE Entry fee is for a team of two. Entry cap of 100 teams. Entry fee includes professional customized race maps for each team member, host site day-use fees, customized CTS race swag (i.e., t-shirt, hat, socks) for all early or regular deadline team entries, CTS participation sticker, a post-race pizza for each team, and a 2026 Georgian Nordic Adventure Running membership to cover race insurance. Entry fee does not include HST or Zone-4 online transaction fee. Refund Policy Entry deadlines: Early until Jan. 30, 2026; Regular until Mar. 13, 2026; Late until Apr. 24, 2026. Race fees: Early $159; Regular $189; Late $219 (Junior teams half price) Discounts: GNOAC members can use code GNOAC50 for 50% off entry fees. Registration opens October 1, 2025. SATURDAY TRAINING (SAT MAY 2) Join us for CTS-RUN SATURDAY TRAINING on Saturday May 2nd at Georgian Nordic. Choose between three training courses. Novice course: Up to 2 km. One-hour time limit. Choose your adventure format. Training course: Up to 5 km. One-hour time limit. Choose your adventure format. Race Team Canada course: A 5 km point-to-point advanced nav course against members of Canada's National Orienteering Team. This training course will use the sport-ident timing system and will be the equivalent of an Orienteering Canada middle distance course. Training map pick-up: 1400-1430 Training course start: 1430-1445 (start any time in this start window) Training courses close: 1545 Saturday training fees: Adult $30; Junior $15 Discounts: GNOAC members can use code GNOAC50 for 50% off entry fees. Register using the registration link above. Funds raised from our Saturday training courses will be donated to Canada's National Orienteering Team athletes attending the May 2-3 weekend to help them offset their training and racing costs. RACE DAY (SUN MAY 3) SCHEDULE 0730-0830 Race packet pick-up at Georgian Nordic Outdoor Activity Centre 0840 Pre-race briefing 0900 Mass start (6-hour and 3-hour races) 1200 Finish (3-hour race) 1215-1300 3-hour race post-race pizza and awards 1500 Finish (6-hour race) 1515-1600 6-hour race post-race pizza and awards RACE RESULTS 2025 Results: 6-hour 3-hour 2024 Results: 6-hour 2-hour Team List 2023 Results: Link CONTACT [email protected] |
