Always an Adventure
(Part 1 of a two-part series on Adventure Racing)
As they continue up the steepening pitch, he feels her straining under the increased resistance of gravity—literally. They are connected by a tether and the increased strain causes his rear wheel to slip a bit. They are connected because—as a team—they know each other's strength and weaknesses. She is a heck of a mountain biker, that's why he chose her as a teammate, but when it comes to long climbs he is the stronger. By working together in this manner they move faster as a "unit".
That is why they are currently in first place. There is still 10 miles of biking to go, a 6 mile run, and a 4 mile paddle to the finish but they know if they continue to work this well together they will win yet another race. Somewhere along the line it will be her turn to "tow", and he knows he can rely on her to pull more than her weight.
This is adventure racing. A sport where teams of two—or more—conquer the unknown while biking, running, and paddling. "Unknown" because unlike triathlon—of which adventure racing is the "red headed step child"—these races are usually run on unmarked courses and the competitors do not know the exact order or length of the events until race day. It's even possible that they will not know the exact events at times.
The birth of adventure racing is often credited to the team of Gerard Fusil and Mark Burnett when they began the "Raid Gauloises". This race was named after the sponsor—Gauloises cigarettes. These events took place in very remote and exotic locations, such as Vietnam, South Africa, and New Zealand. These races lasted upwards of 12-15 days and teams of five navigated their way to "checkpoints" and completed a course that more or less resembled the one that the race directors had in mind. The course would require teams to travel together on foot, bike, and in the water. Support and logistics for such an undertaking were hugely complicated, and athletes had to be extremely fit to travel non-stop under these grueling conditions.
Mark Burnett went on to make a "TV friendly" version of this race when he began production of the "Eco-Challenge". While this race was certainly grueling, it was a bit shorter (5-10 days) and held in less remote locations than the Raid. This race allowed for less experienced teams to enter the fray, and this is partly what made it so popular to watch. Burnett then went on to get much more famous by producing an even more TV friendly version of the concept when he produced "Survivor".
The adventure racing community followed suit by designing shorter versions of these expedition races, and found a relatively large following for what eventually became "sprint races". The idea was to produce an event that the average person could complete in a few hours with a moderate amount of training say 4-5 hours per week. These races followed the team aspect by pitting teams of 2, 3, or 4 against each other. They also maintained the triumvirate of biking, running, and paddling. And finally, they also embraced the co-ed aspect by encouraging teams to have at least one female on them. The most famous of these was the Hi-Tec adventure race series. Named after the British shoe manufacturer that was the sponsor, these races were quite popular in the 90's and drew over 300 teams of three on a regular basis. In fact, the very first Hi-Tec race was held nearby at Moraine State Park in Portersville, PA.
The premise of the "sprint race" is to give racers a feel for the challenges present in an expedition length race. Therefore there will sometimes be rope sections, navigation, and mental challenges all of which teams must face together. In adventure racing, teams are encouraged to help not only themselves—but each other as well. And it is this aspect of "team" that separates it from other endurance sports. It is not uncommon to hear a first timer say, "I have no desire to run another 10K. I am hooked on adventure racing!" Your teammate might be your spouse, your parent, your child, your boss or coworker—at the end of the race you are going to know them, and yourself, better than you ever thought possible.
Much more than racing, it is an adventure. Become more than a spectator and join in the fun!
The next Grass Roots Adventure race is the TURFF-The Urban Race For Fifty on August 15. This race is a great introduction to adventure racing and costs only $40 per team of two!
Follow this link for information and registration: http://rootsrace.com/event_turff/index.htm |
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