What is Adventure Racing ?
Adventure racing is a multi-disciplined race event that combines two or more disciplines, including orienteering and navigation, cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills. Typically a race asks a team of people to navigate their way through a course using foot, bike and boat travel. The team must complete the events together and they must complete the challenges in the order set out. The disciplines employed vary from race to race.
Adventure Racing events also vary according to length. An expedition event can span ten days or more while sprints can be completed in a matter of hours. An expedition event would focus more on navigation and orienteering, while a sprint would feature minimal navigation and occasionally involving games or special tests of agility or cunning.
The sport of Adventure Racing is growing in leaps and bounds daily in popularity. Adventure Racing is one of the few sports where just completing a race is often considered a victory. Another driving factor in Adventure racing is the emphasis that is placed on teamwork, rather than individual achievement.
AR Disciplines
The vast majority of adventure races include trail running, mountain biking and (ideally) a paddling event. Navigation and rope work are also featured in all but the shortest races, but this is only the beginning. Part of the appeal of adventure racing is expecting the unexpected. Race directors pride themselves at challenging racers with unexpected or unusual tasks. Races often feature:
Paddling: kayaks, canoes, out-riggers, rafts and tubing;
Traveling on wheels: Mountain Bikes, kick-scooters, in-line skates, roller skates;
Beasts of Burden: Horses and camels;
Catching Air: Parasailing, hang-gliding;
Covering Terrain: Orienteering, mountaineering, coasteering, swimming, canyoneering;
Learning the Ropes: Ascending; rappelling, traversing (including via zip-line).
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