2010 AR World Series Preview (part 6)
Untamed New England is the mid-August race in the circuit of Adventure Racing World Series events. One disclaimer before I continue: this race is near-and-dear to my heart as I’m closely involved with the organizing of Untamed New England. I am biased. The race is, however, next in line for my preview of the entire 2010 ARWS schedule of events and so I am skirting the line here between commentator and promoter. On the bright side, I do know A LOT about this event! Let me turn my focus, then, to August and what’s in store for the AR World series . . .
Untamed New England is Moose Country
The Untamed New England adventure race takes place in a special corner of the United States, far from cities, highways, and the rush of normal life. This race takes place along the border of the US and Canada, and thousands of acres of untouched wilderness form the backbone for this event. Wildlife is also abundant; the largest species in the deer family, the moose, are found in large quantities here and teams at Untamed New England come across these large mammals every year — bear encounters are not unheard of, most notably when UK team EnduranceLife reported bushwhacking up a ridge and seeing a large bear about 75 meters away along the same ridge, to quote them, “it was the real trowser filler” for their 2009 race!
Navigation Ranks High at Untamed New England
Time and again, teams comment that navigation skills are the key ingredient for success at Untamed New England. This race features lots of off-trail orienteering and winning route choices often include long bushwhacks over mountains, through bogs, or across rivers. For 2010, the navigation-emphasis looks to continue as the race organization has made no secret that there will be a team orienteering relay on the course.
Another interesting dimension to Untamed New England is that support crews are not permitted — it’s possibly the only race in the World Series that doesn’t require teams to have a support staff and vehicle dedicated to shuttling gear around. The terrain the New England race travels through is remote and doesn’t have sufficient space for large transition areas and big groups of support staff; in some sensitive race areas, environmental requirements prevent everything except the core safety staff from access. This makes the race more accessible to teams traveling from far away, since they don’t need to bring additional people as their support crew; it also ratchets up the intenstity since teams will not have people catering to them at every transition area. The race prides itself on this remote and self-sufficient dimension, and this forms part of the challenge that is Untamed New England.
Ropes at Untamed New England
This race is North America’s only World Series event, so Canadian and American teams looking to qualify for the World Championships have only this chance to do it on their own home turf. This makes for a particularly steep level of competition and with 24 teams already signed up for the event (see the list of registered teams here), all signs point to a field crowded with talent at the 2010 edition. The ATP/Salomon team is returning to defend their 2009 victory; runners up in 2008, Running Free, and the USARA national champions Team Granite will challenge for the podium. The GOALS ARA team will be looking to redeem their DNF from 2009 (and are fielding multiple teams this year). There will be some strong international teams in New England in August, too — teams not yet on the race roster. Untamed New England 2010 looks to be a wild race on many levels this year!
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