The Sport of Adventure Racing
While Adventure Sports magazine will cover various aspects of multi-sport off-road racing the primary focus will be Adventure Racing, a relatively new sport that has shown extensive growth worldwide over the past six years. Adventure racing is comprised of several different sports or disciplines such as trail running, mountain biking, paddling, climbing, repelling, mountaineering, orienteering and other adventurous sports. The number of disciplines in a race varies from just two or three to many depending on the race's length and location. Typically, these races are completed by teams of two to five members that are required to complete the entire race together.
Adventure races can be categorized into three types of races. The most publicized are the Expedition Races, which usually incorporate the widest array of disciplines, span hundreds of miles requiring teams many days to complete. They can last three to 15 days and require extensive training and gear in the many disciplines. The most notable expedition race is the Eco-Challenge held each year in exotic places around the world such as New Zealand, Sabah and Morocco or the 2024 race in Fiji. Closer to home, North American Expedition Races include Beast of the East, Florida Coast to Coast, Mega Dose, PrimalQuest and Raid the North.
At the other extreme are the Sprint Races, which are similar to triathlons and biathlons in that they only include two or three disciplines, cover shorter distances and last only a few hours. These races comprise the bulk of races each year in the U.S. and Canada and draw the largest number of athletes. In addition to the typical disciplines, Sprint Races normally include "special tests" or events that require the team to work together to get through the challenge. These special tests or events may include 12-foot walls, rope traversing, mud pits, greased inclines or any activity that add an element of difficulty, misery or team dynamics.
The third type of races, somewhere between Sprint and Expedition races, are normally referred to as long or multi-day adventure races, or the "true" adventure race. Long adventure races generally last 12 to 48 hours and require athletes to bike, run, hike, paddle, and navigate day and night. Races in this category require teams to cover distances from 35 miles to 100 miles or more. Typically, athletes race non-stop through the night with very little sleep or no sleep at all.
