As one of only a few women’s-only adventure races in the country, the Buff Betty has introduced hundreds of adventurous ladies to the joys of adventure racing over the years! It is a race for women, directed by women, and a great introduction to the sport. In fact, it was one of the first adventure races that Original Addict Michelle ever did, way back in 2006! Liz did the 2012 Buff Betty with her teenage daughters...yes, there were some tears involved :-) . 

We are excited to bring the race back to its 2014 and 2017 home—the beautiful and scenic Shenandoah River State Park. It is the perfect venue for the Buff Betty, with miles of fantastic trails for both hiking and mountain biking; just enough terrain to make things interesting; beautiful woods to navigate through; and, last but not least, perhaps the highlight of the park, the scenic and tame Shenandoah River to paddle on! 

This year’s Buff Betty will feature 2 NEW races to choose from. Pick your adventure, get your friends together and get ready for an awesome day of adventuring! 

​

A little longer, a little harder, the 8 hour Buff Betty. 

The best race for veterans of the Buff Betty and racing in general. Not too long, not too short, this race will be a fun and challenging day in the woods. Teams/soloists will have up to 8 hours to bike, trek, paddle and navigate their way to the finish line. If you have some navigating experience, or have at least one person on your team who does, have done some races before with the basic understanding of how an adventure race works, and have the fitness level to play for up to 8 hours, this is the Buff Betty for you! Buff Betty’s can expect several biking and trekking legs with off-trail travel, and approximately 4-7 miles of paddling. The final overall race mileage will be communicated to teams before race day. We expect the winning team to finish in roughly 6-7 hours. We'll also be providing live tracking for this race, so your family and friends can "follow" you along the course!

Not quite ready to spend 8 hours playing in the woods?  Then the 4 hour “Taste of the Race” Buff Betty is the race for you! 

The best race for those curious about the sport and ready to give it a try. Maybe you have heard about adventure racing from a friend or binge-watched Eco-Challenge Fiji and thought to yourself, wow, that looks like fun! 

This 4-hour Buff Betty is designed as a very, very beginner-friendly race. Teams/soloists will trek on trails and mountain bike some great beginner friendly trails. As of May, we do not plan on having a paddle for the 4-hour race (though this could change...it is adventure racing, after all!). The navigation for this race will be very easy. If you can read a basic park map and can follow trails, you can do this! Even better, the map you get will be much better and of higher quality than a basic park map. All the checkpoints will be on trails, trail intersections or very identifiable features. The goal is to introduce you to how adventures races work and to make sure that you have fun--not to make it difficult and complicated. Just a  taste of what you can expect in a longer, harder race. We expect the winning team to finish in roughly 3 hours.