SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GET OFF AND PUSH
We are pushing Marji Gesick to 2021, and the reasons are pretty straightforward.
#1 You paid for the Marji Gesick experience, and we cannot give you the Marji Gesick experience in 2020.
What is the Marji experience? 3,000 people coming together to celebrate the human endeavor to overcome. A celebration of community, adventure, pop-up aid stations, support crews, togetherness, and finding our limits. The Marji we know and love would not be recognizable this year – we cannot deliver the experience you paid for, expect, and deserve. For this reason, we will push our bikes to next year.
#2 The State of Michigan Executive Order
We’ve been working with the Department of Natural Resources since early spring – to modify and adapt another experience we produce called “The Crusher.” Some of you might be expecting us to adapt and offer a Marji-EX option, and I’d be lying if I said we haven’t thought about it. Bottom line: The events are very different. Crusher is a wilderness adventure sending participants away from our community and into the wilds northwest of Marquette County, the Huron Mountains, and beyond. Frankly, the EX adaptation for Crusher “enhances” the experience. Marji, on the other hand, drives thousands of people straight into our community, and we have to ask “Is this the right thing to do?” Even if we answer yes, can we truly expect people to navigate the Marji unsupported, with no signs, and nothing more than a cycling computer? Simple answer: No. It’s not feasible, and it would not be the experience you paid for.
The current executive order limits outdoor gatherings to 250 people for the entire day, across the entire course, in our region. Our partners at the state level define 250 people as racers, family of racers, pop-up aid stations, volunteers, and anyone associated with the event. 1,000 people are registered for Marji. I’m not good at math, but I can tell you the math doesn’t work. Additionally, the state is not issuing new use permits until the end of August, and it appears likely they will extend the moratorium through September, meaning we cannot get permitted for the sections of the course utilizing state property. Could we try to work around it? Sure, if we’re ok with not giving you what you paid for. We’re not ok with that.
The decision was not made lightly – we’ve waited as long as we can. Based on the information available to us, and how we believe things will play out, we see no scenario in which Marji Gesick can be run the way it is meant to be run – together.
What this means for you.
1) Defer
You race in 2021. Simple.
2) Event Credit
We run multiple events all year long: Marji Gesick, Polar Roll, The Crusher, Marji Camp, and maybe more next year. You can credit your 2020 Marji Gesick entry fee to any of our future events (in 2021). With the mass cancellation of events this year, we’re even going to offer you an opportunity to use your Marji entry fee toward CrusherEX, which is running July, 2020 – October, 2020. CrusherEX is an enhanced gravel adventure people are calling the Marji Gesick of gravel, and registration is open. If you‘re itching for some time in the wilderness, CrusherEX is for you. Visit www.crushergravel.com for more info, or request a credit to be used toward the events next year.
3) Donate
The 906 Adventure Team is a 501(c)3 non-profit focused on kids, communities, and trails. Our mission is to empower people to discover the best version of themselves through outdoor adventure, a mission we try to accomplish by offering a variety of unique adventure experiences to people of all ages. We produce events you’ve come to know and love: Polar Roll, Crusher, and of course Marji. For youth, we fund Adventure Bike Club in three U.P. communities, working with 500 youth in a “normal” year, while training 150+ volunteer adventure leaders to lead those adventures.
906AT events make all of this possible, including annual trail donations, totaling more than $18,000 last year alone. While we have been planning for the potential loss of an event this year (Marji) the financial implications for the organization cannot be ignored. If you would like to donate your Marji entry fee to help the organization, 2020 is the year to do it – and if you do we’ll guarantee you a spot in Marji next year (you would pay for the entry). If not, that’s ok too.
It’s all about community.
We asked you to #adapt in 2020, and you did. Now we’re asking you to join us and #forge ahead. 2021 is about doing what you do best, making the most of what you have, and getting better every day.
While a lot of races out there are run by for-profit companies, that’s not the case for Marji Gesick, Polar Roll and The Crusher. All of our events are productions of the 906 Adventure Team, a 501(c)3 whose mission is to empower people to become the best version of themselves through outdoor adventure. We don’t have a large staff of people (two, to be exact) or significant overhead, and that enables us to donate a significant portion of race revenues in two ways:
Since 2015, we’ve given back more than $141,000 to the trail-builders of RAMBA, NTN, Sisu Dirt Crews, WinMan and the DCNT. We also support youth adventure programs in three communities and have plans for that number to grow in the near future.
In 2021 we’re building a learning management system to train 150+ volunteer Adventure Leaders, and have our eyes on the future: planning to grow from 500 youth served to thousands. Together with your continued support and a network of dedicated partners, we will connect kids with each other, their communities, and give them a healthy alternative to time spent on devices.