With 1st place finishes at the One Day Xtreme, Wild Wonderful and Impossible Panther and a 2nd place finish at Endorphin Fix, the team needs one more first place finish for a perfect 400 points.

They've got two events left on their schedule to pull it off...the Odyssey One Day on July 25th in Roanoke, VA and the Bushwhack Adventure Race on September 25th in Raleigh, NC.

If they win either race they'll likely win the Series. The best chance for an upset might come from last year's winner, DART-nuun who beat them at the Michgan Expedition Race, because of the rules governing a tie score.

A tie score at the end of the season will be decided by a) results of any head to head competition b) total number of Series events attended.

Our official mapping partner, MyTopo, has generously offered to provide a free copy of Terrain Navigator to the winner of each Series event. MyTopo has been supporting Checkpoint Zero for years and the Series since it's inception. In addition to providing custom, high resolution maps that are both waterproof and tear resistant, they're also providing the topographical mapping data that we display on our online Course Overview and GPS Tracking maps.

I'd like to personally thank MyTopo for their long running support and for this unsolicited addition to our large and growing prize purse.

The LBL Challenge will offer racers 12 or 24-hours of pure backwoods adventure racing in one of the best venues in the Midwest, the Land Between the Lakes. The Land Between the Lakes, in western Kentucky, is known for its fantastic and flowing single track trails, beautiful lakes and backwoods beauty. With more than 170,000 acres of backwoods forest, 300 miles of undeveloped shoreline and over 200 miles of single track trails and jeep roads, the Land Between the Lakes is an adventure racers paradise! The LBL Challenge is brand new to Bonk Hard Racing. You will not want to miss the inaugural race at the Land Between the Lakes.

Team captain Peter Jolles explained in no uncertain terms that this race was not a competition between teams...it was a test of will power given the dangerously cold weather:

"From the get go we knew that the team that stayed warm would be the one that made it to the finish line first. We took great pains to stay dry during the entire race, and for the most part we accomplished that. We had a few frozen bits of equipment: bladders, shoes, bikes, lungs, thumbs...the usual stuff you when it's way below zero. Anyone who thought the Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race last year was cold doesn't know what cold is. The course was what we have come to expect from the Odyssey folks, lots of elevation change, long treks and rides, plus some tricky orienteering right at the end of the race to keep you on your toes. Coming away with the victory was a great moral booster for the team and we're psyched to start the season off on a high note."

The next event in the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series presented by Inov-8 is the LBL Challenge set for April 4th in Grand Rivers, KY.

The 2009 Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series presented by Inov-8 will feature an expanded lineup of 26 events, new sponsors and more engaging online coverage of events in progress as it returns for it's third season.

"Inov-8 is thrilled to be involved with the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Racing Series again in 2009," commented Lisa Mikkelsen, co-Owner of Inov-8. "The level of competition at Series events in 2008 and the addition of new races in 2009 is a testament to the great work Checkpoint Zero and all of the Series promoters have done creating the future of competitive adventure racing in the United States."

Checkpoint Zero is excited to report the continued participation of all 2008 Series promoters and the addition of six new promoters who will be bringing a total of seven new events to the 2009 schedule.

The new event promoters joining the Series are Pangea Adventure Racing in FL, 4LPH4 1337 Adventures in GA, Bushwhack Adventures in NC, Perpetual Motion Productions in ID, Trioba Adventure Racing in WA, and American Adventure Sports in PA.

"The reaction to the Series in 2008 exceeded all of my expectations", commented Paul "Yak" Angell, president of Checkpoint Zero, LLC. "As the season progressed we saw increasing interest in the Series as a concept and attendance at Series events as more and more teams showed up in the automatic rankings. Virtually all promoters reported teams attending their events solely to earn Series points."

Sylvan Sport, makers of the award winning Go "adventure camper", and Mountains Plus, the premier outfitter in the pacific northwest, will be joining Inov-8, Numa Sport Optics, nuun, myTopo.com in supporting the 2009 Series.