If you’re a social butterfly who enjoys outdoor activities, find the perfect combination of competition and camaraderie in adventure racing. This new extreme sport, a mix of mountain biking, rappelling, canoeing and orienteering, pushes personal boundaries well beyond the average race.
While solo versions of these races exist, most competitions involve teams of two to five participants who race together. Whether racers participate on same sex or co-ed teams, in multi-day or short competitions, adventure racing quickly becomes addictive.
The Magic Cocktail
Adventure racing has been around for a while and even spawned a televised series called the Eco-Challenge. While the last Eco-Challenge was held in 2002, enthusiasts continue to push the sport to newer and more challenging extremes.
Unlike a triathlon, there’s no prescribed format to adventure racing. The race might include orienteering, navigation, running, paddling, climbing or mountain and related rope skills. Or it might not.
Some races are spread over several days, with participants navigating through a course with maps and compasses carrying all necessary survival essentials with them, while others last only a few hours and require racers to scramble over preset courses. The format is as unique as the locations and event organizers’ imaginations.
Adventure Racers – A Different Breed of Outdoor Enthusiasts
The typical adventure racer is a complicated mix of competitive go-getter and laid back people person. Although lone wolves can test themselves, most people enter for the challenges that arise from group dynamics.
While team members push each other to keep up the pace, winning these races isn’t based on speed but being the most cohesive. Since all team members must stay within a certain range of each other, and are often tethered together, those focused on teamwork cross the finish line before the speed demons who leave teammates in their dust.
Not only do adventure racing competitors converge from different sports, the age range is more diverse than other single-focus sports. Participants are typically in their early 20s to late 40s, but a fit 50-year-old with keen navigation skills can easily join the ranks.
With strategy and orienteering skills playing a major role, athletic youths may find themselves chasing the veterans.
Regardless of your current abilities, adventure racing is a life changing sport that pushes you further than you ever imagined and binds you to your teammates like no other sport ever could.
Getting Involved In Adventure Racing
Both Canada and the United States have their own governing bodies determined to promote the growing sport. The Canadian Adventure Racing Association and the United States Adventure Racing Association are striving to help build the sport in both countries.
In Canada, Raid the North offers training camps taught by die-hard adventure racers and organizes adventure races across the country and around the world.
In the US, Mid-America Xtreme organizes basic adventures races that involve trekking, navigation, paddling and biking.
So whether you’re into climbing, paddling or running, adventure racing’s got you covered…and then some.
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