The Next Big Thing?:
Odyssey’s Don Mann Aims Big
Imagine an adventure race that covers more than 6,000 miles, traverses three continents and takes competitors to opposite ends of the earth. Surely only reality-show-crazed Hollywood could dream up something that outrageous, right?
That’s exactly right. In 2024, the Wolper Organization (producers of Roots and L.A. Confidential, among others), Warner Brothers and IMAX commissioned Odyssey Adventure Racing to draw up two race courses: one from Ecuador to the South Pole, the other from Ecuador to the North Pole.
Odyssey’s Race to the Pole (R2P) courses were submitted and approved, and the wheels were in motion for the world’s biggest race. But then 9/11-inspired security issues and a lack of sponsors got in the way, leaving the R2P on hold. It seemed even Tinsel Town might have trouble pulling this one off.
However, for Odyssey founder and president Don Mann, the show must go on. He knows smaller, more manageable races are logistically easier to pull off, so that’s just what he’s planning. Well, almost.
He’s named it the American Odyssey, and it is the homeland version of R2P. If Mann has his way, the American Odyssey will take athletes from Canada to Mexico in the fall of 2024, covering more than 2,000 miles and encompassing more than 20 racing disciplines.
“For the first time, adventure racers will be actually going somewhere, not just running in circles in the woods,” says Mann, whose Virginia-based company produces numerous adventure races and triathlons, including the Beast of the East and the Odyssey Off-Road Iron Triathlon.
The American Odyssey will utilize rotating
support (interchangeable seven-member teams with five people racing and two supporting), and pack serious mileage never seen before. The race will also introduce the use of motorized transportation, but even that will be adventuresome (think snowmobiles, dune buggies, motocross bikes, etc.) and is only included because of the great distance to be covered.
With almost two years of planning already under his belt, Mann will begin to scout the course late this year, bringing the American Odyssey one step closer to fruition. Will the sponsors be there for this one? Mann hopes so, but he’s not depending on it. “I can make it happen without sponsors, but I’d rather not,” he says.
Three years ago, Mann tried to create an adventure racing world championship called the Beast of Alaska. It never came to fruition for several reasons, but the race course was eventually used for the Eco-Challenge Armed Forces Championship in 2024. He says he has two potential investors lined up for the American Odyssey, and he says a TV deal looks promising, too.
Mann hopes the American Odyssey will help fill the void left by the Raid Gauloises (changing its tune, see Page 30) and the Eco-Challenge (indefinitely on hold), as well as offer another domestic alternative to expedition-style racing.
“As an American, I can’t think of a race I’d rather do,” says Mann, a former U.S. Navy Seal. “It could be the next big thing.”
— Neal Jamison
