Activities
Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering (if an orienteering map is used) and/or navigation (when non-orienteering maps are used), cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills. An expedition event can span ten days or more while sprints can be completed in a matter of hours. There is typically no suspension of the clock during races, irrespective of length; elapsed competition time runs concurrently with real time, and competitors must choose if or when to rest.
Adventure racing historically required teams to be of a specified size and to include both men and women, but many races no longer restrict team size and include single-sex divisions. Some also include age-based categories.
History
The roots of adventure racing are deep and people debate the origin of the modern adventure race. Some point to the two-day Karrimor International Mountain Marathon, first held in 1968 as the birth of modern adventure racing. The Karrimor Marathon required two-person teams to traverse mountainous terrain while carrying all the supplies required to support themselves through the double-length marathon run.
In 1980, the Alpine Ironman was held in New Zealand. Individual competitors ran, paddled and skied to a distant finish line. Later that year, the Alpine Ironman's creator, Robin Judkins launched the better-known Coast to Coast race, which involved most of the elements of modern adventure racing: trail running, cycling and paddling. Independently, a North American race, the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic debuted in 1982 and involved six days of unsupported wilderness racing (carry all food and equipment, no roads, no support) over a 150-mile course. It continues today, changing courses every 3 years.
In 1989, the modern era of adventure racing had clearly arrived with Gerald Fusil's launch of the Raid Gauloises in New Zealand. Inspired by the Paris-Dakar Rally, Fusil envisioned an expanded expedition-style race in which competitors would rely on their own strength and abilities to traverse great and challenging terrain. The race included all the modern elements of adventure racing, including mixed-gender teams competing in a multi-day 400+ mile race. Building on Fusil's concept, the inaugural Southern Traverse was held in 1991.
In the early-90's, Mark Burnett read an L.A. Times article about Raid Gauloises and was inspired to not only take the race to the USA, but to promote the race as a major televised sporting event. After purchasing the rights from Gerald Fusil, Burnett launched the first "Eco-Challenge" race in 1995. Burnett promoted his event with Emmy-award winning films (tapping the talent of Mike Sears to produce the films for the first two events). The Eco-Challenge was last held in 2002. With the Eco-Challenge also came the name "adventure race", a phrase coined by journalist and author Martin Dugard, to describe the class of races embodied by the Raid and Eco-Challenge.
In 2001, the inaugural World Championships were held in Switzerland with Team Nokia Adventure crossing the finishing line first. The concept of a world championship lay dormant until it was revived in 2004, with Canada's Raid the North Extreme serving as the AR World Championship event in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Adventure Racing World Series and its penultimate event, the AR World Championships have been held every year since. The 2011 World Championships was held at the XPD Expedition Race in Tasmania, Australia.
In 2002, the first major expedition length race to be held exclusively in the United States was launched. Primal Quest has become the premier U.S. expedition race, being held each year since its launch. In 2004, the death of veteran racer Nigel Aylott over-shadowed the race, and raised debates about the nature of Primal Quest and adventure racing.
In 2004, professional geologist Stjepan Pavicic organized the first Patagonian Expedition Race at the bottom tip of the American continent, in the Chilean Tierra del Fuego. Truly demanding routes through rough terrain of often more than 600 km soon made it be known as “the last wild race”.
Race Types
Lengths
* Sprint: typically a two- to six-hour race, featuring minimal navigation and occasionally involving games or special tests of agility or cunning.
* 12-Hour: a six- to twelve-hour race, featuring limited navigation and orienteering.
* 24-Hour: a race lasting between 18-30+ hours, typically involving UTM-based (Universal Transverse Mercator) navigation. Often basic rope work is involved (e.g., traverses or rappels). 24-hour and longer races often require that competitors employ a support crew to transport gear from place to place. Other races do not permit support crews, with race organizers transporting gear bins to designated checkpoints for racers.
* Multi-day: a 36-48+ hour race, involving advanced navigation and route choice; sleep deprivation becomes a significant factor.
* Expedition: Three to 11 day race (or longer), involving all the challenges of a multi-day race, but often with additional disciplines (e.g., horse-back riding, unusual paddling events, extensive mountaineering and rope work).
Disciplines
The vast majority of adventure races include trail running, mountain biking and (ideally) a paddling event. Navigation and rope work are also featured in all but the shortest races, but this is only the beginning. Part of the appeal of adventure racing is expecting the unexpected. Race directors pride themselves at challenging racers with unexpected or unusual tasks. Races often feature:
* Paddling: kayaks, canoes, out-riggers, rafts and tubing;
* Traveling on wheels: Mountain Bikes, kick-scooters, in-line skates, roller skates;
* Beasts of Burden: Horses and camels;
* Catching Air: Paragliding, hang-gliding;
* Covering Terrain: Orienteering, mountaineering, coasteering, caving, swimming, canyoneering, riverboarding;
* Learning the Ropes: Ascending; rappelling, traversing (including via zip-line).
Formats
Adventure Races (AR) come in various formats and difficulties combined with the listed disciplines. Because of the navigation aspect to adventure racing, orienteering style races are borrowed to create different race formats.
* Full Course: A race with mandatory transition areas and check points that are obtained in order to officially finish the race.
* Short Course: A format typically used when cut-off times are instituted and to avoid forcing teams to 'DNF' (do not finish) where one or more sections are omitted in order for teams officially finish a shorter version of the race.
* Adventure Rogaine: A format borrowed from orienteering where the race has a set finish time and the objective is to obtain as many points as possible within the given time frame. Adaptations for AR include mandatory and optional points and also borrowing from Rogaining, varying point values based on the check point location.
Overview
Rules
The rules of adventure racing vary by race. However, virtually all races include the rules of racing:
* no motorized travel;
* no GPS
* teams must travel together the entire race, usually within 50 meters of each other
* no outside assistance except at designated transition areas (assistance from competing teams is generally permitted at all times); and
* teams must carry all mandatory gear.
In addition, each race will have their own special rules. For example, Primal Quest includes penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, public protest or "displays of disgust" with race rules; failing to travel as a team; traveling within a wilderness boundary, destruction of property; damage to race equipment; testing positive for banned substance; missing race bib; administration of IV fluids other than by race medical staff.
Longer races may also involve skill tests. For example, Primal Quest 2004 required that each team member swim 50 meters in three minutes; tread water for five minutes in 50 degree water; perform a Double T Rescue in less than 5 minutes; pass a single boat rescue; and ascend a vertical 8-10 meter cliff with three knot transfers in 10 minutes.
Organizational Meeting
Typically races will feature an organizational meeting either the night before or the morning of the race. At this meeting the course will be revealed for the first time. For sprints, racers may follow a marked course. For longer races, racers may be given maps marked to show checkpoints ("CPs") or racers may be simply given coordinates (usually UTM coordinates) that indicate where the CPs will be found. Special rules, last minute changes and other information may also be provided at the meeting.
Checkpoints
Racers are required to visit a series of checkpoints or passport controls (CPs), usually in a specific order.
Transition Areas
Most races include one or more transition areas that teams can visit to replenish supplies. Typically, teams change to another mode of travel in a transition area. For instance, teams will end a trekking leg and transition to mountain biking in a transition area. Shorter races often feature a single transition area that teams may visit numerous times during the event. Teams will leave food, water, paddling and biking gear, fresh clothing and any other items they may need during the course of the race.
Longer races feature multiple transition areas. Team gear is transported either by a support crew (provided by the team) or by the racing staff.
Description from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Photo from
Events (5)
Adventure Racing
Adventure racing (also called expedition racing) is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering (if an orienteering map is used) and/or navigation (when non-orienteering maps are used), cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills. An expedition event can span ten days or more while sprints can be completed in a matter of hours. There is typically no suspension of the clock during races, irrespective of length; elapsed competition time runs concurrently with real time, and competitors must choose if or when to rest.
Adventure racing historically required teams to be of a specified size and to include both men and women, but many races no longer restrict team size and include single-sex divisions. Some also include age-based categories.
History
The roots of adventure racing are deep and people debate the origin of the modern adventure race. Some point to the two-day Karrimor International Mountain Marathon, first held in 1968 as the birth of modern adventure racing. The Karrimor Marathon required two-person teams to traverse mountainous terrain while carrying all the supplies required to support themselves through the double-length marathon run.
In 1980, the Alpine Ironman was held in New Zealand. Individual competitors ran, paddled and skied to a distant finish line. Later that year, the Alpine Ironman's creator, Robin Judkins launched the better-known Coast to Coast race, which involved most of the elements of modern adventure racing: trail running, cycling and paddling. Independently, a North American race, the Alaska Mountain Wilderness Classic debuted in 1982 and involved six days of unsupported wilderness racing (carry all food and equipment, no roads, no support) over a 150-mile course. It continues today, changing courses every 3 years.
In 1989, the modern era of adventure racing had clearly arrived with Gerald Fusil's launch of the Raid Gauloises in New Zealand. Inspired by the Paris-Dakar Rally, Fusil envisioned an expanded expedition-style race in which competitors would rely on their own strength and abilities to traverse great and challenging terrain. The race included all the modern elements of adventure racing, including mixed-gender teams competing in a multi-day 400+ mile race. Building on Fusil's concept, the inaugural Southern Traverse was held in 1991.
In the early-90's, Mark Burnett read an L.A. Times article about Raid Gauloises and was inspired to not only take the race to the USA, but to promote the race as a major televised sporting event. After purchasing the rights from Gerald Fusil, Burnett launched the first "Eco-Challenge" race in 1995. Burnett promoted his event with Emmy-award winning films (tapping the talent of Mike Sears to produce the films for the first two events). The Eco-Challenge was last held in 2002. With the Eco-Challenge also came the name "adventure race", a phrase coined by journalist and author Martin Dugard, to describe the class of races embodied by the Raid and Eco-Challenge.
In 2001, the inaugural World Championships were held in Switzerland with Team Nokia Adventure crossing the finishing line first. The concept of a world championship lay dormant until it was revived in 2004, with Canada's Raid the North Extreme serving as the AR World Championship event in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Adventure Racing World Series and its penultimate event, the AR World Championships have been held every year since. The 2011 World Championships was held at the XPD Expedition Race in Tasmania, Australia.
In 2002, the first major expedition length race to be held exclusively in the United States was launched. Primal Quest has become the premier U.S. expedition race, being held each year since its launch. In 2004, the death of veteran racer Nigel Aylott over-shadowed the race, and raised debates about the nature of Primal Quest and adventure racing.
In 2004, professional geologist Stjepan Pavicic organized the first Patagonian Expedition Race at the bottom tip of the American continent, in the Chilean Tierra del Fuego. Truly demanding routes through rough terrain of often more than 600 km soon made it be known as “the last wild race”.
Race Types
Lengths
* Sprint: typically a two- to six-hour race, featuring minimal navigation and occasionally involving games or special tests of agility or cunning.
* 12-Hour: a six- to twelve-hour race, featuring limited navigation and orienteering.
* 24-Hour: a race lasting between 18-30+ hours, typically involving UTM-based (Universal Transverse Mercator) navigation. Often basic rope work is involved (e.g., traverses or rappels). 24-hour and longer races often require that competitors employ a support crew to transport gear from place to place. Other races do not permit support crews, with race organizers transporting gear bins to designated checkpoints for racers.
* Multi-day: a 36-48+ hour race, involving advanced navigation and route choice; sleep deprivation becomes a significant factor.
* Expedition: Three to 11 day race (or longer), involving all the challenges of a multi-day race, but often with additional disciplines (e.g., horse-back riding, unusual paddling events, extensive mountaineering and rope work).
Disciplines
The vast majority of adventure races include trail running, mountain biking and (ideally) a paddling event. Navigation and rope work are also featured in all but the shortest races, but this is only the beginning. Part of the appeal of adventure racing is expecting the unexpected. Race directors pride themselves at challenging racers with unexpected or unusual tasks. Races often feature:
* Paddling: kayaks, canoes, out-riggers, rafts and tubing;
* Traveling on wheels: Mountain Bikes, kick-scooters, in-line skates, roller skates;
* Beasts of Burden: Horses and camels;
* Catching Air: Paragliding, hang-gliding;
* Covering Terrain: Orienteering, mountaineering, coasteering, caving, swimming, canyoneering, riverboarding;
* Learning the Ropes: Ascending; rappelling, traversing (including via zip-line).
Formats
Adventure Races (AR) come in various formats and difficulties combined with the listed disciplines. Because of the navigation aspect to adventure racing, orienteering style races are borrowed to create different race formats.
* Full Course: A race with mandatory transition areas and check points that are obtained in order to officially finish the race.
* Short Course: A format typically used when cut-off times are instituted and to avoid forcing teams to 'DNF' (do not finish) where one or more sections are omitted in order for teams officially finish a shorter version of the race.
* Adventure Rogaine: A format borrowed from orienteering where the race has a set finish time and the objective is to obtain as many points as possible within the given time frame. Adaptations for AR include mandatory and optional points and also borrowing from Rogaining, varying point values based on the check point location.
Overview
Rules
The rules of adventure racing vary by race. However, virtually all races include the rules of racing:
* no motorized travel;
* no GPS
* teams must travel together the entire race, usually within 50 meters of each other
* no outside assistance except at designated transition areas (assistance from competing teams is generally permitted at all times); and
* teams must carry all mandatory gear.
In addition, each race will have their own special rules. For example, Primal Quest includes penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, public protest or "displays of disgust" with race rules; failing to travel as a team; traveling within a wilderness boundary, destruction of property; damage to race equipment; testing positive for banned substance; missing race bib; administration of IV fluids other than by race medical staff.
Longer races may also involve skill tests. For example, Primal Quest 2004 required that each team member swim 50 meters in three minutes; tread water for five minutes in 50 degree water; perform a Double T Rescue in less than 5 minutes; pass a single boat rescue; and ascend a vertical 8-10 meter cliff with three knot transfers in 10 minutes.
Organizational Meeting
Typically races will feature an organizational meeting either the night before or the morning of the race. At this meeting the course will be revealed for the first time. For sprints, racers may follow a marked course. For longer races, racers may be given maps marked to show checkpoints ("CPs") or racers may be simply given coordinates (usually UTM coordinates) that indicate where the CPs will be found. Special rules, last minute changes and other information may also be provided at the meeting.
Checkpoints
Racers are required to visit a series of checkpoints or passport controls (CPs), usually in a specific order.
Transition Areas
Most races include one or more transition areas that teams can visit to replenish supplies. Typically, teams change to another mode of travel in a transition area. For instance, teams will end a trekking leg and transition to mountain biking in a transition area. Shorter races often feature a single transition area that teams may visit numerous times during the event. Teams will leave food, water, paddling and biking gear, fresh clothing and any other items they may need during the course of the race.
Longer races feature multiple transition areas. Team gear is transported either by a support crew (provided by the team) or by the racing staff.
Description from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Photo from
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