Adventure Racing
31-Aug-2011There's a race, and then there's a big race… and then there's Adventure Racing.
A combination of two or more endurance disciplines, athletes compete for 10 days or more over this gruelling race, only sleeping when they really need to.
This type of race became well-known from the late eighties when the Raid Gauloises was launched in New Zealand (http://www.raidgauloises.com/#). Mark Burnett (from "Survivor" fame) brought the event to America and created the well televised "Eco-Challenge".
Most of the races have trail running, mountain biking and a variety of other disciplines. One of the toughest races, the Primal Quest, takes teams of four through ten days of trail running, mountain biking, paddling and navigating over some of the world's most diverse terrain. In each team, there must always be at least one member of the opposite sex.
In 2006, during the 2006 Utah Primal Quest Challenge, South Africa's two top adventure racing teams Cyanosis (www.teamcyanosis.co.za) and McCain Adventure Addicts (http://www.advaddicts.co.za ) used Backpacker's sand-gaitors and BackPacker AR Balance 32L with great success.
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The BackPacker AR Balance 32 litre are suited for this kind of race. Made from 600 Denier Ripstop Nylon Duracore, it has a quick release front pouch with mesh side and bottom panels for drainage purposes & YKK zip access. Check out the full product range here…
The psychology of the Adventurer Racer is different from other sports, says Greyling Viljoen in his presentation at a club meeting atwww.AR.co.za, he mentions that "races are lost and won in the head. The "hero" and the "enemy" within." He goes on to say the main differences are 1) unpredictability 2) team dynamic. Success in Adventure Racing goes beyond your physical and mental prowess, and more towards knowing your team mates respond to stress, follow plans, retain focus during the ups and downs of the race.
Nicknamed the "Superbowl of Adventure Racing", the teams in Primal Quest 2009 tackled more than 960km of rugged landscape over the Badlands of South Dakota. Teams were tracked in real-time via GPS's attached to them (but offered no assistance to the team members themselves), and followers could monitor their progress online withhttp://race-findmespot.com.
Being a multi-disciplinary event, athletes that want to compete seriously, need to be accomplished runners, mountain biker, paddler and navigator. Physical strength, albeit an essential skill, navigation skills, rope knowledge and basic wilderness medicine skills are also vital when competing in the longer events.
Anyone wanting to attempt an Adventure Race, would be well-advised to join a club and do an AR Training Course. Adventure Racing takes participants beyond their limits, pushes their boundaries and takes them right out of their comfort zone, but nothing beats the satisfaction of completing an Adventure Race.
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