ADVENTURE RACING
Adventure Racing—Live it! By Mike Caldwell
IT’S NOW DAY FIVE AND you and your teammates find yourselves trekking through thick, damp foliage infested with insects, spiders, and snakes. Your captain is delighted because it only took an hour to cover those last 500 metres. You tabulate that you’ve probably had a total of six hours of sleep since this event started and your feet certainly haven’t had the fortune of being dry for anything close to that length of time. You have been surviving on energy bars, bagels, bags of nuts and dried fruit, but the majority of your meals have been squeezed out of a tube. Your main source of drinking water has come from brackish ponds and giardia-infested streams. Last night you helped remove a leech from your teammate on a part of the body generally considered unmentionable, even among this close group of friends. Now, as you head into the dark caves, knee deep in bat guano, you wonder if your arms will have the strength to pull you up those 200 metres of fixed rope… This is the Eco-Challenge. This is Adventure Racing. What type of lunatic would compete in such a sport? Well, surprisingly, probably somebody just like you!
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Adventure racing has been defined as a non-stop, multi-day, multi-sport, mixed team event, and in many ways can be likened to an expedition with a stopwatch, as each race is a point-to-point journey. During the race competitors will need to maximize their map and compass skills as they are responsible for determining the best way to hike, canoe, and mountain bike through what is often extremely remote wilderness. In order to finish, the team must stay on course and within the time restrictions, remain free from injury, and cross the finish line together. It might still sound crazy, but adventure racing is the fastest growing sport in North America today, with an annual growth rate of 275%! Now, more than ever, people want to feel that
May 25 June 15-16 July 13-14 July 27 Aug 24-25
Ottawa, ON Beachburg, ON Laurentians, PQ Kingston, ON 24-30 hour & off-road triathlon Calabogie, ON 6-8 hour & 10-14 hour race 10-14 hour & 24-30 hour 6-8 hour & off road triathlon 6-8 hour & 10-14 hour
Adventure racing is a non-stop, multi-discipline race covering distances of 50 - 500 km. Coed and same-gender teams of two, three or four complete the race as a team using race instructions and a mapped course. Teams OUTLAST their limits, challenging themselves with a selection of disciplines including mountain biking, hiking, orienteering, canoeing, kayaking, fixed rope climbing, rappelling, tyrolean traversing, white water rafting and whatever non-motorized mode of transportation is available along the race course. These demanding sports, the harsh elements of nature, and competition among competitors are the core of adventure racing. Fitness, endurance, strength, intelligence, and mental toughness are necessities for all teams. The essence of teamwork ultimately decides a team's fate, the outcome of the race, and the adventure racing experience. Find a team, gear up, get out and register! Find out how far you can go and whether you can OUTLAST your limits.
Ottawa Outdoors Summer
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