Posts Tagged ‘Adventure Racing,’

With the new year well upon us, and with the knowledge that some intrepid souls are already proving their worth in Patagonia, we thought we might have a look into the training that is required to participate in endurance events, be it ultra-marathons or adventure races.

But first of all we need to try and understand why people would challenge themselves to such an extent. What is it that pushes some far more than others? I’m not sure there is any real answer to that, but Steve Clark, an ultra-marathon and endurance runner, sums it up pretty well when he explains:

“I wanted to be tested to my mental and physical limits and really see what I was made of, and fundamentally that is why I love ultras.  Run one and you can learn more about your strengths and weaknesses from one event than you would from a lifetime of listening to motivational speakers, self help gurus and personal development trainers.  You also get the time to think how to put it all into practice more than in any other sport I know.”

That’s a good enough reason isn’t it?

Running an ultra-marathon or competing in an adventure race requires at least 3 vital qualities: ambition, inner drive and determination. All endurance races are challenging and extreme ultra-marathons fall into a catagory all of their own. If you have not got a liberal dose of the 3 qualities I just mentioned to enable you to put in the correct quantity and quality of training, and the planning and preparation that is needed to increase your odds of success, then odds are you will not succeed.

Training for these type of events does not only happen when the weather’s good and you’re in the mood. This sort of training has to be done in all weathers, no matter how wet and miserable.

It is suggested that to complete your first 100-mile endurance you should have a one-year base of distance running, with at least two 50K distances and one 50-mile run, before starting the training schedule required for ultra-marathons. Running 100+ mile weeks does not increase one’s chances of finishing a 100-mile run. Many ultra runners have completed 100-mile runs with weekly mileage in the 50s or 60s. The rule here is ‘quality’ of training, over ‘quantity’.

Trail Runs has given the following training schedule which allows rest and recuperation days whilst building up the weekly average at a steady and sensible rate:

It looks pretty heavy this, but training is essential as you are going to find an ultra-marathon an ultra-challenge. To succeed in completing these distances is, without doubt, superb physical fitness and stamina, but 80% of the battle to succeed takes place in the final 20% of the distance, and here you have to dig deep and fight-the-fight mentally, calling on all your reserves and remembering the pain and effort you went through with your training.

It is essential to go into the 100-mile run well rested and injury free and for this reason you will note on the chart that the 2 weeks before the big run have a much lower mileage than the previous build up.

Rest is essential and it is equally essential that you do not get caught up in over-training.

This schedule is a 7 and a half month programme. Helen Skelton, the Blue Peter presenter, gave herself just 3 months to train for the Namibia Ultra-Marathon – one of the most formidable ultra-marathons of them all. She had bucket loads of what I said you needed: ambition, inner drive and determination. Mental strength is covered in those 3 requirements, but worth another mention as it is integral to whether you succeed or fail… Helen Skelton succeeded.

Being pulled from any race or event on medical grounds is always difficult to take, but is always out of your control. An ultra-marathon is a lot more than just gruelling training to allow you to complete the race. Water management is equally important. If you finish your supply before a checkpoint and dehydrate – you will not be able to recover without assistance. In times like that it is important that you do the two things the medic will insist on: Rest and Recuperate and a third thing that you should do for yourself at a time like this is: Reflect. Reflect on what you did well in the event, and what you can learn from the experience, so that it never happens again. You become stronger through adversity, never weaker.

Steve Clark, Across The Divide Operations  and Development Director and Ultra Marathon runner, ran 2 marathons before realising that they didn’t interest him enough. He sought the challenge of the ultra-marathon and was hooked. It’s not only the extreme challenge of succeeding, there is the added benefit of the others in the race and the destinations these ultra-marathons take you to.

“The best thing about Ultra’s has to be the people that you meet. They seem to be a much friendlier bunch and far more open to helping each other through dark patches on the trails, as they fully understand how hard these events can be and how even a little company and support can lift the spirits and make the difference between success and failure.  Most people are not in it to win it, but just to haul their bruised and battered bodies over the finish line.  They are quite happy to share this whole experience with fellow racers along the way.”

There are ultra-marathons in Namibia (charityatd), the Sahara, Antartica, Laugavegur Ultra Marathon in Iceland (charityatd), the Gobi Desert, the Atacama Desert, The Great Wall of China, Petra in Jordan… to name just a few. Exotic, and all challenging terrains.

“So if you are contemplating making the leap from marathons to ultra marathons sign yourself up for an event today and you will never look back.  They are life changing experiences and you will definitely end up a better person for it,” he says.

For more information about Steve Clark’s company, Across the Divide, please follow the link.

All eyes will be on the Patagonia Adventure Race that begins today. Adventure racing had a difficult year last year as the economic crisis that hit the world made sponsorship difficult to find, but this year things are looking better and the season is getting off to a good start with the wildest of all the races starting any minute.

The Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race (jcarterhatch) was formally opened last night in a spectacular ceremony that seemed a world away from the wilderness of Patagonia. The elite team Helly Hansen-Prunesco returned the winner’s trophy at the ceremony. All eyes will be watching them this year…

56 competitors from 14 international teams  gathered with the attending media to see race organizer Stjepan  Pavicic  unveil his carefully planned route for the 2010 race.

This will be one of the toughest tests in the race’s history – with the course traveling almost the length of Chilean Tierra del Fuego before heading south beyond the world’s most southerly community on the Isla Navarino. There are two major mountain bike sections and more than 200km of trekking this year through unpredictable peat bog.

The bog, or Turba as it is known in Spanish, will take some getting used to for the challengers. It often looks solid, but it absorbs so much water it can suck you in to your waist in an instant.

Chris Lomas, of Team Fast and Light, summed up the fears for many of the racers: “My biggest fear is getting lost. This place is so vast. Anywhere in the UK, and most places in Europe, you can get lost, but if you keep going, you’ll hit civilization after a day or two of walking. Out there (Patagonia), you can go for weeks without seeing anyone. It is a true wilderness.”

Trekking is historically the most challenging – and spectacular – part of the course and this year will be no different as the route travels past some of the best peaks in the notorious Darwin Range.

Pavicic, who has explored the Patagonian mountains for more than 20 years, explained: “The trekking in Chilean Patagonia is phenomenal but it is extremely wild. There are plenty of routes to enjoy for tourists, but where we go there’s nothing – just an extreme wild land of bush, bog, forest and mountains.”

The rough waters of the Beagle Channel will also prove a challenge for even the most professional kayaker.

Bernard Hug from the Swiss Team summed up the spirit of adventure racing: “We love to travel and to see something of the world. And we love extreme sports. In Patagonia we’re able to see beautiful landscape and compete at the same time with so many athletes from all over the world, so that’s perfect.”

Dennis Piretra, Chief Communications Officer for race sponsor, Wenger, described the essence of adventure racing in a nutshell: “The purity of the challenge that lies before the teams is very special and in today’s day and age, very unique,” he said. “The prize is not monetary, the prize is pride and glory. This spirit of this race hearkens back to times that were very different and people sought adventure not for financial gain, but to feed a primal need for discovering the unknown and finding our personal limits.”

The race will begin on the Straist of Magellan at 10:30am this morning, Patagonia time.

Good luck to everyone.

The island of Tierra del Fuego, one of Patagonia’s most southern and remote areas, will host the more than 600 km journey across the Land of the Fire making the eighth Exhibition Race in Patagonia the most southern race in the history of adventure racing. Competitors will have to venture through the majestic white-capped mountains of the Darwin Range and the freezing waters of legendary Beagle Channel.

The isolated location, unpredictable weather and unexplored landscapes will combine to create a truly extreme adventure race. It is the adventure at the end of the world.

20 nations will be represented in Patagonia including USA, Canada, Germany, Denmark, South Africa, Spain, France, Brazil, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Great Britain, Czech Republic, Turkey, Mexico, Columbia, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile.

The race begins on 9th February and will end on the 17th. Registration is on the 6th in Punta Arenas, Chili and a technical skill evaluation will be held on the 7th – including an equipment check. Start day, the 9th, will also see the teams being transferred to Tierra del Fuego.

The race will include trekking, mountain biking, sea kayaking, rope handling, navigation skills, and, of course, good team strategies. All disciplines have been chosen with consideration to the natural lie of the land. There will be no forced or artificial testing.

As always with Adventure Racing, participants must have good navigational skills. The geographic location of the course forces the competitors to work in areas where it will be very difficult to establish reference points. In order to advance correctly the teams will use compasses and altimeters, in addition to the route book and the maps provided by the organization.

Race Founder and Director, Stjepan Pavicic, said: “The value of Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race is in presenting not only a physical and mental challenge, but also a message: we must preserve this remote and pristine region of Chilean Patagonia. I’m proud it has become recognized in both respects.”

The following video from the race of 2007 (julioserna) gives you a good idea of what this race is all about, and the awesome terrain that the  competitors will have to challenge.

However, every edition of this race features a unique route. Past racers have found themselves in the Southern Continental Ice Field, the Straight of Magellan, Torres del Paine, Tierra del Fuego, the Beagle Channel and Cape Horn. The land is diverse, the challenge real, the adventure untamed.

The Brits streaked through to a surprising last minute victory, pipping Team Nike/Beaver Creek at the post – surprising everybody.

Helly Hanson/Prunesco are the 2009 Adventure Racing’s World Champions with a time of 128:32:58. With an average age of 37, the British Team Helly Hansen-Prunesco surprised everybody with a vigorous final sprint and conquered their first world title in adventure racing. Team leader Tom Gibbs – an Airbus designer – revealed the team’s strategy:  “We came to Portugal with no major expectations and therefore put little pressure on the team. Our strategy turned out fine and it was all decided on the final hours of the race”.

Geoff Hunt, AR World Series director, and of Southern Traverse New Zealand fame, in the closing speeches, said,  “If one racer in the room [Tom Gibbs of Helly Hansen Prunesco] can fail to finish in four World Championships, then be on the winning team in his fifth, then anyone who had not achieved their aims, or fallen short, should take a lesson from that – “don’t be disappointed, be determined, and maybe one day you can be on the top step of that podium too”.

Team Nike/Beaver Creek, hard fighters to the end, were close behind with 127:38:36. Team Leader, Mike Kloser, acknowledged the standard of racing this year, praising what he called “the toughest field ever assembled at a World Championships”. He also remarked that their strategy had had to change after day two, when they realised that clearing the course was not going to be realistic.   

Lundhags Adventure, Sweden, came in third with 127:34:52 and Orion Health from New Zealand, who were expected to dice with Nike all the way to the end, finished fourth with 127:59:25 – the times were so close that it could still be called dicing. Wayne Oxenham, the team leader, was separated from his other three team members and was lost for over an hour: “It was a somewhat traumatic experience, as I was alone for about 1h20m, completely lost and disoriented, having no idea where the others were. I ended up following another passing team (Nike) and managed to re-join them further down the track”.

The definition of Adventure racing? It is the sport of teams of athletes crossing natural terrain using muscle and wit and all-the-while solving the problems that arise from true adventure and all competitors to the XPD Portugal Adventure Racing Championsips knew that this was going to be a seriously world championship to challenge all others.

Way back on the third day people were already predicting that the normal strategy planning would be thrown out of kilter if risks and gambles weren’t seized when the opportunities arose.

Two thirds of the way through, out of the 900 Kms track, the 50 teams left in the race (out of the original 59) were having to make major strategic decisions and title holders were having a hard time keeping up with the the leaders.

North-American Team Nike/Beaver Creek were still leading the pack at this stage, but a number of other teams were also very well placed to fight for victory. Title holders, Team OrionHealth from New-Zealand, were in fourth place surprised by this Estoril Portugal XPD Race’s track. Team leader Wayne Oxenham explains: “The track is very rough and it’s impossible to collect all the checkpoints and that has somewhat disturbed our strategy”.

At times this race was brain over brawn.

After 128 hours of non-stop progression and over 900 kms run on foot, mountain-bike and kayak, the 2009 Adventure Racing World Cup -Estoril Portugal XPD Race turned out to be the supreme challenge to fortitude and strategy. Out of the 59 teams from 25 different countries that left Estoril on Sunday 8th November, 40 were able to classify, which is an impressively low withdrawal rate considering the length and the harshness of the track and terrain.

Geoff Hunt also commented on the strategy required to win the race, a new component to adventure racing and something which some teams had not figured out until the latter stages, “some haven’t even figured it out now” he added!

The strategic element, and the race format, haven’t been popular with all the racers, especially those used to a more linear ‘first over the line’ format, but it is something which teams recognise has lead to a race which had been thrilling right to the finish and adding yet another facet to this extreme sport.

Our congratulations to everyone…

59 teams coming from 26 countries including New Zealand, South Africa, France, Russia, Brazil and the United States are competing in the Adventure Racing World Championships in Portugal.

The XPD Portugal race began on the 8th November and will finish on the 13th. Prize giving will be the morning of Saturday, 14th November.

The total estimated distance for this extreme race is 910 kms and each team have approximately 127 hours to complete the race which consists of 5 stages and 21 sections.

Another year (2007), but the same race, this video from ScorpionArt will give you an understanding of the ultimate challenge that these athletes have given themselves.

It is compulsory that each team has at least one female member in their total of 4 or all-women teams are allowed too. Entrants have their own support teams, but those who don’t (and there are 12 teams that don’t) will have support provided by the organisers. The winning team will be ‘the Adventure Race World Champions 2009′.

There are 5 mountain bike shortcuts in this race which will allow any team in difficulty to easily reach the finish line. These shortcuts can cut off a total of 136 km and will, on many occasions, allow the slower teams to recover the pace and come forward.

Organized by APCA – the Portuguese Association of Adventure Racing – and supervised by the Portuguese Orienteering Federation, this competition will visit some of the most beautiful and little known ecological reserves in Portugal including the magnificent Schist Villages giving the competitors a vision of a bygone era. Many of these schist villages are uninhabited and in ruins, but some have been renovated and repopulated.

The first stage, which started in showery weather, sett off from the Escoril and finished in Cascais. It was a total of 60.3 kms  with a total elevation of 1,689 m and included trekking, roller (or the use of trikke’s if you preferred) and mountain biking through a region known as the western tip of Europe wit its stunning views – if you had the time to appreciate them!

By the end of the first day the teams had realised that they were in for a gruelling race. Already teams were making strategic decisions to cut out the first stage in the hopes of leapfrogging time.

Stage 2 was a total length of 171.8 kms, total ascent of 10,821 m, total descent of 9,604 m beginning at Castelo da Lousa and finishing at Hotel Serra da Estrela. This section had the competitors trekking, mountain biking, canyoning and abseiling through lost villages, forests and up and over big hills.

There had been a few misunderstandings at the end of the first stage, with people beginning the second stage a bit unsure of how the point system worked. It was also becoming apparent that the trick now would be to work out how much of the route not to do. Both the canyoning and abseiling were avoidable, for example, although bonus CP’s were available on the abseiling section. It is a risky tactic to miss a CP as it is the number of CP’s which decide the winners, with the bonuses and time only coming into play if teams are tied on CP’s.

After the canyoning it was a short trek to the next transition to prepare for the long mountain bike section through the night. Some teams were worried about the weather conditions for this as there had been a strong wind blowing all day and the biking route was along ridge tops for much of the way, but as it turned out fog and low cloud were as much of a problem as the wind. By the time teams were up on the ridge-line the visibility was only a few metres.

The teams were headed for Assistance Point two at Penhas da Saude where the leaders arrived around dawn yesterday, and from there on they resumed trekking across Portugal’s highest peaks, which already have a thin covering of fresh snow!

Nike/Beaver Creek and Orion Health, are leading the pack at the moment and have so far attempted the whole course.

The weather conditions in the early part of Monday night were harsh, with the dense fog lingering over the hills and the wind increasing in strength to gale force. The wind chill temperatures were around freezing and there was little shelter.

This is turning out to be one helluva race…

At 45km the full trekking stage across the mountains was longer than originally stated, and it was taking even the fastest teams more time to complete than they anticipated.

In any normal adventure race Nike/Beaver Creek and Team Orionhealth.com would be favourites and their battle so far in this race is no different. But it’s this race which is a bit different…

While they decided on their route Mike Kloser of Nike was heard to say, “I’m worried about the cut offs.” A strange thing to say, you might think, by an experienced adventure racer. However, it’s not strange at all and he’s right to be concerned as this race requires the fastest teams to make choices they are not used to or comfortable with, i.e. to miss checkpoints. Last year all the fastest teams at the start of the race tried to get all the CP’s … and they all missed a cut-off and were out of the running.

There is still a long time to the first cut off late tomorrow night, but for now all that can be said is that Nike and OrionHealth are the teams with most CP’s and moving the fastest … but nobody will know for some time yet if they are winning!

Stage 3, today, is 214.6 km long with a 3,441 m ascent and a 4,633 m descent through a deserted but beautiful and challenging landscape on mountain bikes, kayaks and rollers….

Good luck to all…

NEWS ALERT (7.30 p.m. Wednesday, 11th November):

The harshness of the mountains at the end of the 3rd day of the competition   have caused the first casualties in the Estoril Portugal XPD Race: 7 teams have reluctantly withdrawn – out of the 59 that started.

The title holders – New Zealand’s “Orion Health” – are still well placed in front, closely followed by the North-American “Nike/Beaver Creek”.

Some time ago, we did an article on the Borneo Eco-Challenge adventure race. This was in the early days when we were just discovering adventure racing as an extreme sport. The Borneo eco-challenge was obviously a popular event as we have subsequently received many requests for further information.

This event has not had a recent re-run. However,  ESPN STAR Sport Event Management and associates have come up with a new event:  the Perak Amanjaya Eco Race 2009.

This is rather a last minute alert, but the whole race is a little bit last-minute anyway, which is why this year it is invitation only. However, the organisers intend this to be an annual event so bookmark it now for next year…

The race is due to begin on the 2nd December, completing by the 6th December, 2009 and promises to be an adventure race classic. It will include such disciplines as Trail Running, Kayaking, Mountain Biking, In-line Skating, Abseiling, Canyoning, Rapelling and Swimming… and the state government of Parak, Malaysia, will be hosting the event.

Location, location, location. Don’t we hear that so often? Well, this event is definitely in a beautiful location. It begins in the Royal Belum State Park (rainforest) which is the largest continuous forest complex in Peninsular Malaysia and which crosses into Southern Thailand. It is estimated to be as old as 130 million years, making it older than the jungle of the Amazon or Congo – sorry, I can never resist a little history! Needless to say, some areas of this magnificent forest are being plundered by loggers… when will we ever learn?

This region receives about 2,200 cm of rain per annum – so expect it to be wet! It also has its fair share of big cats, venomous snakes, elephant, Sumatran rhino’s plus a whole host of other bird and wildlife.

Banding Island as seen from Tower House

The race starts at Banding Bridge which is the gateway to Royal Belum Rainforest. A quick run across the bridge and then an abseil down to the lake sets the event off to an exciting start. You then swim to a pontoon, get a kayak and paddle across to the lake shore where you will have to carry your kayak along a jungle trail to the next stretch of water where you will kayak back to the island, leave the kayak and run back to the bridge. An in-line skate across the bridge will bring the first day to a close.

Day 2 starts at the foot hill of Taiping Hill where there will be a trail run to a waterfall. After canyoning down the waterfall competitors will run to Taiping Lake Garden (the first public garden established during the British rule in Malaysia), and in-line skate under the Golden Raintrees. From here there will be a mountain bike ride to the Kampung river mouth for another kayak to Kuala Sepetang and final run on the boardwalk to finish at the jetty of Kuala Sepetang.

Day 3 will be a rest day but also a transfer from Taiping to Pasir Salak where the race will continue.

Pasir Salak is the place where modern Malaysia took shape. It is where the independence movement against the British began and where the first British  resident of Perak, James W.W. Birch, was murdered on 2nd November, 1875. The rebellion of 1875 in Pasir Salak sowed the seeds of nationalism, which manifested itself in the form of opposition to colonialism, and to the formation of a Malayan Union, which ignited the flame of independence.

Today Pasir Salak is an historical site whose purpose is to remind the younger generation of the events there and the fight against colonialism in Perak, and also to remember the struggle and the sacrifice of the warriors to uphold the dignity of the race and country.

So, after yet another history lesson from me, I shall continue with the matter at hand – the eco-challenge adventure race:

Day 4 kicks off with a mountain bike ride up to the beautiful Ulu Geruntum, which is the raft starting point. From here you white water raft down to Kampung Jahang…

run to the cave entrance to start the caving section…

and finish with a run to the finish line at Kampung Tengah.

Day 5, the final day, starts at Pasir Salak with a mountain bike ride to Teluk Batik, kayak to Teluk Segadas at Pangkor Island, rapel down the rock, run to Teluk Dalam beach, swim in the sea in front of Teluk Dalam and finally finish at the beach of Teluk Dalam.

For 2009 this event is open to teams of 2 persons only – male, female or co-ed; only 20 teams are invited and again, for this year, it is an ‘invitation only’ event. Teams are coming from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Finland.

For those of you who would like to enter but wonder what on earth your better half (!) is going to do whilst you’re battling your way through the jungle (if your better half isn’t battling through it with you) … remember that glancing reference I made above to the type of fauna to be found in the Royal Belum National Park?  Well, I then came across this little list – and please bear in mind it is not a final list, of what sort of flora and fauna can be seen and enjoyed in the Royal Belum Rainforest:

247 species of birds
100 species of mammals
170 species of butterflies
251 species of moths
51 species of land snails
36 species of aquatic and semi aquatic bugs
25 species of cicadas
24 species of amphibians
21 species of lizards
23 species of snakes
23 speices of freshwater fish
7 species of freshwater and land turtles
62 species of moss
64 species of ferns
46 species of palms
30 species of gingers
3000 species of flower plants
3 species of freshwater decapod
44 species of wild fruit trees

Apart from that there is the Taiping Lake Garden which, at 222 acres, is the biggest urban parkland in Malaysia, designed and built about 130 years ago in the remains of an old tin mine. It has beautifully laid out ponds, lakes, and reputably, the best zoological gardens in the whole region. And then there’s the spectacular beach of Teluk Dalam and the beautiful island of Pangkor. Just a few of things one might see and do out there. No-one could possibly be bored…