Are you in the mood for a challenge? Anyone with a little determination can adventure race, what's stopping you?

The Big Blue Adventure Series comes home to Lake Tahoe Saturday, Sept. 20 but keeps athletes on their toes with a new course beginning and ending at the Village at Northstar. The seventh annual Tahoe Big Blue Adventure Race also serves as the series championship.

The redesigned course takes competitors through the towering pines of the Sierra Nevada and into the waters of North Lake Tahoe. The Tahoe Big Blue, with finishing times of six to 12 hours, requires eight-plus miles of kayaking, more than 24 miles of mountain biking, five to eight miles of foot travel, orienteering courses and constant use of navigational skills with topographical map and compass. A Tahoe Big Blue Sprint, with finishing times of two to four hours, will also take place, welcoming novice racers with shorter distance requirements.

“The Tahoe Big Blue Adventure Race is one of North Lake Tahoe’s premier events,” Andy Chapman, tourism director for the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association, said. “It highlights the prime late summer/early fall conditions and showcases the area’s adventurous side.”

Hundreds of racers from across the nation will compete in the most popular event of the series, which in the past finished at the North Tahoe Regional Park. The new Village at Northstar, located between Kings Beach and Truckee, is home to numerous restaurants and coffee shops, boutiques and sporting good stores, a skating rink, golf course, free scenic lift rides and a mountain bike course.

“We’re really looking forward to shaking things up a bit this year,” Todd Jackson, president of Seventh Wave Productions and series producer, said. “To be able to start and finish at Northstar is a big benefit for the racers and their fans simply because there are so many amenities and activities in that one location. They shouldn’t get too comfy though, because the new course is bound to have some new twists and turns.”

The Tahoe Big Blue is open to teams of two, three or four all-male, all-female or coed, as well as individuals. The Tahoe Big Blue Sprint is open to individuals and teams of two. Competitors can register through Sept. 19, with late fees applying after Sept. 19. Teams entering in multiple Big Blue Adventure Races are eligible for discount registration. Racers can register and find teammates at www.bigblueadventure.com.

Prizes and awards will include products from series sponsors Merrell, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Salomon, Helly Hansen, Suunto, Numa Sports Optics, Deschutes Brewery, National Geographic, Recharge, Tecnu, Sole, Clif, Sierra Summits and Ultimate Directions.

The Big Blue Adventure Series, produced by Seventh Wave Productions, was created in 2002 and now consists of more than a dozen adventure races (including sprints and 24-hour challenges), winter competitions, trail runs and triathlons from Southern California to Oregon. For more information, go to www.bigblueadventure.com or call 530-546-1019.