Think You Could Ever Handle Adventure Racing?
Andrews Spencer from Branchwhipped.com on Adventure Racing:
Adventure Racing: A Race of Skill and Speed: ”
Do you possess mountain bike skills? Can you run cross country for 10 miles or more? Hold your own with a paddle? What about a ropes course and a compass—orienteering anyone? Can you survive hours of abuse on dry food? Do you own a dry bag? These are just a few of the skills you’ll need to be competitive in an cross country endurance and smarts race.
Wikipedia definition: Adventure racing is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering 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 dark period during races, irrespective of length; 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.
Anyone ever watch the Eco Challenge when it was broadcast on TV in the 90’s? I watched those races in awe at what a team of athletes were capable of. It seemed like brutal torture what they were going through racing through the wilderness, often times a portage would require the team to carry a canoe for hours. But it looked like so much fun at the same time. Now that adventure races are becoming more common I’ll think I’ll finally have my chance.
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