The World of Adventure Sports® (WOAS), an action and adventure sports series, will air on Sunday, May 2nd at 5:00 p.m. ET/2:00 p.m. PT.

Pat Parnell of NBC Sports brings viewers the second episode of the 2010 season from Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

For more information, photos and video clips from past episodes please visit the newly redesigned www.WorldofAdventureSports.com

The next episode will feature:

The Oakley Arctic Challenge: Some of the World’s best riders come together for one of the sickest snowboard events on the planet. Created in 1999 by legendary boarder, Terje Haakonsen, the Oakley Arctic Challenge has become an undisputed pillar in the history of snowboard progression. It’s an event that clings to the key values of the athletes and paves the way for upcoming talent and evolution of the sport.

The Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge: 40 teams from all corners of the world will compete in this multi-discipline outdoor adventure race that will test both skill and endurance as they take on the 2009 Abu Dhabi Adventure Race. Teams battle through six consecutive days of grueling competition spanning the remarkable landscape of the Arabian Peninsula. Disciplines include; sea-kayaking, cross-orienteering, running, mountain biking and swimming. With an increase of 50km to the route this 428km race is sure to be the longest and toughest challenge yet.

Red Bull Cold Rush: WOAS visits the mind blowing terrain of Retallack, British Columbia for Red Bull Cold Rush to experience one of the most impressive freeskiing displays on the continent. Over the course of three days, skiers will push the limits and challenge each other in the disciplines of big mountain, backcountry slopestyle and cliff zone. At the conclusion of each day, the athletes gather to watch the footage of their fellow freeskiers and judge them on a ranking system; the rider with the most points at the end of three days is declared the best all around skier.

For technical, whitewater paddling as well as a leisurely float down the river with the family, staying warm is essential. Immersion Research’s bomber Splash Pants allow the lower half of the body to remain dry, comfortable and warm while the upper body does all the work. Even as temperatures are rising as we merge into the summer season, body maintenance can be tricky when water is involved. IR’s Entrant® 4-Layer fabric used to construct these Splash Pants and taped seams throughout make the garmet both fully waterproof, as well as breathable. This means maintaining a cool body temperature while lugging all your gear to the river and staying warm and dry while on the river.

These Splash Pants perform for the paddler. A comfortable neoprene waistband reduces points of pressure, allowing the torso to rotate freely for more power in every stroke. Tapered neoprene ankle cuffs are far more comfortable than the average draw-string closure of a simple rain pant. These also keep water from splashing up the lower leg while in an open boat. For convenience, IR even added a semi-dry pocket to stash important gear and snacks for your river trip.

Best yet, these pants pack down small and can be used for nearly every water activity out there, from whitewater kayaking to rafting to canoeing. Be sure to check out the new plaid color to add style to your adventure.

MSRP: $182 (Limited Edition Plaid – $198)

Gear review by Susan Hollingsworth

What do rollercoasters, a great rappel, fantastic scenery, a first class event and “10-24-1″ have in common?

Adventure Sports Week 2010!

“10 days, 2 races, 1 big party” is their motto, and what a party it’s shaping up to be!

Hosted at beautiful Farragut State Park in Bayview, Idaho (just north of Coeur d Alene), ASW 2010 is promising to be one of the top festivals in the USA this year.

Adventure Racing:

Featured in a full-episode documentary by Outdoor Idaho, The Crux and the Crucible, acclaimed as one of the most enjoyable and fun adventure races in 2009 is back with even more exciting challenges, including a great rappel, world-class single track, and even a rollercoaster will greet the racers over 3 days of amazing racing, June 11- 13.

This year, racers can choose to compete in one, two, or even three stages over three days:

The Midnight Ramble will begin at 6:00 pm on friday evening, and will take the racers over the mountains and lakes of north Idaho into the wee hours.

The Crux will start Saturday morning, and will be one of the most memorable days of racing ever… rappelling, rollercoasters and a couple of mountain to negotiate along the way.

Saturday evening, we will have our famous “June Moon” party before the racers hit the trails bright and early Sunday morning for the amazing Crucible, with a breathtaking kayak, awesome trekking and a challenging orienteering leg.

We will also feature a super fun “Sprint” adventure race – the new “C&C Adventure Challenge,” which will be a shorter, frenetic event for racers of every ability.

The Crux and the Crucible is a USARA National qualifier, and racers can earn points for the Checkpoint Tracker Adventure Series.

Adventure races are only the begining for ASW 2010: Continue Reading

One of the best things about the Sea Otter Classic is getting a first look at all the new products coming out. Here is a quick video showcasing some of Light and Motion’s innovative new bike lights for bike-centric lifestyles. Behold, the Vis360 & Vis180 to be available in a couple months.

Haliburton, Ontario’s wilderness to play host to epic, 24-hour backcountry adventure

‘Navigation strategy and route-finding’, ‘teamwork’, ‘nutrition planning’, ‘sleep deprivation’, ‘mental limits’…these are phrases that have been synonymous with the origins of the sport of adventure racing since its inception in New Zealand in 1989. More recently, however, sprint-distance multi-sport races have taken off in popularity, leaving some of the origins of the sport behind. On June 5th & 6th, 2010, in the wilds of Haliburton, Ontario, ‘old-school’ adventure racing will make its return.

“Short-distance, multi-sport races have been incredibly successful of late as they offer a thrilling outdoor experience that can be had in a few hours. When I came into adventure racing in the late ‘90’s, I was hooked by the ‘bigger-than-life’ type of challenge that overnight or multi-day wilderness events offer. Those haven’t been around for a while and I want to change that”, says Bob Miller, creator of the Wilderness Traverse.

The inaugural Wilderness Traverse will be a ‘back-to-basics’ adventure race where coed and open teams of 3 or 4 individuals will mountain bike, paddle, and trek across a remote region of the Haliburton Highlands. Route choices throughout all disciplines will be abundant, making navigation strategy a key element of a team’s ability to go the distance. The racecourse itself is roughly 130 km in distance and teams will have up to 30 hours to complete it – the winners are estimated to take 24 hours. No support crew is necessary as all gear will be handled and transported by event organizers.

As for who the Wilderness Traverse is designed to attract, the race is for all-levels of adventure enthusiasts who want to push their physical and mental limits in an awe-inspiring backcountry setting, supported by like-minded people on their team. Physical fitness will be an asset but mental fortitude and a team-first attitude will be a deciding factor in who achieves their goals. Continue Reading

The Mountain Designs GeoQuest is Australia’s longest running adventure race and is still growing each year! The 9th edition of the event will lure competitors to the famous subtropical forests, white sand beaches, coastal lakes and estuaries of Port Macquarie from 20-23 August 2010.

International competitors are increasingly being attracted to the Mountain Designs GeoQuest. Registrations have already been received from teams from New Zealand, Japan and even a team from Kazakhstan!

Entries are open at have already sold of 50% of spots.

For competitors, the Mountain Designs GeoQuest 2010 has embraced a newer linear format that is sure to provide teams with the ultimate physical and mental challenge. This style of adventure race allows the race organisers to make the absolute best choices in course planning giving teams the pinnacle adventure race experience.

In the annual pilgrimage of the sport, over 500 competitors, support crew, family and friends will travel to this premier adventure race of the year. The Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park will be the official Headquarters of the event. Not only is a great HQ for an adventure race, but it is also the perfect location to bring family and friends for a short holiday.

Mountain Designs GeoQuest involves 48+hrs of non-stop endurance racing in the major disciplines of trekking, mountain biking and kayaking. Mixed, Male or Female teams of four must navigate their way through an arduous 200+km course that is only revealed to them the evening before the race. The Mountain Designs GeoQuest is held annually on the Queens Birthday long weekend in June (except for 2010). The race is moved each year to a different location with exciting new challenges for the teams.

The Geo-Half adventure race is run at the same time as the Mountain Designs GeoQuest. It covers only half the distance but teams have the full 48hrs to complete it. The legs will be challenging, but with the additional time available to complete the half course, teams have a greater chance to reach the finish line.

Via press release

Images courtesy of Matthew Button

Teamwork

Adventure Racing is one of the only sports in which you actually have to have your teammates with you, doing exactly what you’re doing, glued to your side at all times. That’s why Adventure Racing is just as much an interpersonal journey as a physical one. In the best of times, you will experience moments that will bond you to your teammates in a very special way for life. In the worst of times, you will walk away having experienced the worst aspects of human nature and be left to pick up the pieces of your shattered hopes. In my experience, a lack of teamwork skills is responsible for at least 40-50% of the DNF’s in Adventure Racing, and it is far too important a factor to overlook in any discussion about the sport. So here’s my two cents.

After years of study in what causes a team to rise from “good” to “world class”, I’ve come to the conclusion that the biggest factors are the attitudes and actions of the individual teammates. In the races my team and I have won, we were not the strongest or the fastest, but we were able to create a “human synergy”—an ephemeral quality or “magic” that made the TEAM stronger than the collective training and experience of the individual members. If I could bottle it, I would certainly be a millionaire– but after a good deal of thinking about the subject, I have a pretty good idea of the essential elements required for this human synergy. Here’s the highlight reel:

The 8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy

T Total Commitment
E Empathy and Awareness of Teammates
A Adversity Management
M Mutual Respect
W “We” versus “I” thinking
O Ownership of the Project
R Relinquishment of Ego
K Kinetic Leadership Continue Reading

Renowned explorer, Eric Larsen, today announced the successful completion of the second leg of his three-part Save the Poles Expedition, and sends first Earth Day “Tweet” from the North Pole

After over 500 grueling miles and 51 days on the ice and open water, Polar explorer Eric Larsen just announced that his three-man expedition team reached the North Pole at 7 p.m. MST on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, 2010. To commemorate the event, Eric and his team notified fans and followers of the expedition with real-time updates on Facebook and Twitter upon their arrival, making his expedition team the first to send out Earth Day greetings from the North Pole, an epicenter for the discussion on global climate change.

The North Pole arrival marks the second leg completion of Larsen’s “Save the Poles” first-ever expedition to the South Pole, North Pole and summit of Mt. Everest in a continuous 365-day period. In January of 2010, Larsen and his team successfully completed a 750-mile, 48-day jaunt to the South Pole on skis. If he completes the entire expedition, Larsen will be the first person to accomplish this incredible feat. Now, with two of the three planned expeditions under his belt, Larsen remains motivated to continue his quest to travel to the “front lines” of global warming for the purpose of inspiring global discussion and action, will documenting the changes occurring in these last great frozen places. The Save the Poles expedition is sponsored by Microsoft’s decision engine, Bing, along with other sponsors.

“This expedition will tell the story of these remote places so we can better understand how our actions affect the poles and ultimately the planet,” Larsen says. “We all need to be reminded that we must act now to stop global warming.”

To help tell the story, Larsen has partnered with the Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center and the Protect Our Winters Foundation to produce 12 hours of climate change curriculum to provide teachers with the tools needed to prepare the next generation of students for what will be the defining issues of their time. Larsen will also team up with the Center for Biological Diversity to petition the Senate and President on the need for stronger climate legislation.

A member of The Explorer’s Club, Larsen isn’t new to the world of polar exploration. Larsen completed the first-ever summer expedition to the North Pole in 2006 where he pulled and paddled modified canoes over 600 miles of shifting sea ice and open ocean. In January 2009, Larsen successfully led an international team to the geographic South Pole becoming one of only a few Americans to ski to both poles. Continue Reading

Happy 40th Anniversary to Earth Day! In the spirit of Earth Day, we have recycled this posting from last year. The information is just as valid today as it was last year!

Here are our Top 10 Tips (potentially 11) for making small, REALISTIC changes to your daily life that can help reduce your carbon footprint over the remainder of this year:

1. Change your light bulbs. As your current incandescent bulbs burn out, consider replacing with compact fluorescent bulbs.

2. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth. As a multi-tasker myself…I always apply the toothpaste, then moisten the toothbrush and go around the house doing other things while brushing. Therefore, I eliminate multiple gallons of water flowing down the drain.

3. Consider recycling. A lot of us already do this and curbside recycling has made this even easier. If you do not currently participate, consider picking one or two items this year to recycle.

4. Subscribe to a digital publication. A lot of publications are now producing digital counterparts to their print versions. Only 1 in 4 print copies at the newsstand actually make it into the hands of a consumer. Guess where the rest go?

5. I operate under the premise when making a purchase to purchase better and less often. It may cost a little more up front…but in the long run, you will get better products and have to purchase those products less often. And, when you are ready to upgrade again, consider passing that product onto someone else to increase its lifespan and reduce its potential to end up in a landfill prematurely.
Continue Reading

Climbing

You may not have to worry about doing any climbing in the sprint races, but you will more than likely have at least a rappel in the longer races. In expedition and 24-hour races, you may also have to do an ascent with jumars. Both are very fun and relatively easy to learn.

Training:
*Head to a local gym or adventure racing camp to learn how to rappel with an ATC/Figure 8 and ascend with jumars (a jumar is a device that clasps around the rope and allows you to shuttle it forward, but not backwards–so you can actually climb “up” the rope, supporting your feet in attached “foot loops”).
*Practice with a number of different ascending techniques to discover what works for you. I find that I use two different techniques, one for low angle and one for vertical (“Rope Walker” system and “Frog/caving” system, respectively). It’s just a matter of practice and personal preference.

Tips:
*Buy lightweight equipment. You may be running with it on your body or in your pack for long periods of time
*When ascending, remember to use your legs to push yourself up, versus your arms to pull yourself up.
*Tie a hair band or rubber band around the bottom of your foot loops to keep your feet from sliding out of the loops. Put your foot in the loop underneath the rubber band and then just push down on the rubber band to tighten the webbing across the top of your foot.
*Learn to not only ascend, but train to transfer from one rope to another (around a knot) and continue ascending. This is very common in adventure racing. You may also be asked to do an ascent to rappel transition, which you should learn to do suspended mid-rope. It’s not hard, but there’s definitely a method to the madness.
*If you are new to rope work, sandwich yourself between your teammates in the line-up for ascending or rappelling on your designated rope. That way you have a coach at the bottom and at the top if you need one.
*Tie your hair, maps, compass and the waist strap of your backpack behind you before you get to the rope. Anything that can be caught in your equipment WILL be.

 

 

By some fluke, there was perfect weather. I got sucked into the expo – checking out all the cool new products coming out including Crank Brothers new 2010 Cobalt Line, Light and Motion’s new commuter lights, and FSA/Gravity’s new 2 speed crankset. Some video features to be posted soon about these products. Unfortunately, I missed out on the pro CX Race, but I finally was able to make it over to the downhill course. They were rippin’ down that hill, and here’s a few photos to prove it.

Mountain Biking

Most people considering an adventure race are pretty familiar with mountain biking and what it takes to train for it, so I wont spend a lot of time here. I’ll just cover a few tips that are adventure racing specific:

Tips:
*For sections that are certain to be at night, go big with the lights if the course is remotely technical. The extra weight will be worth the increased speed and safety. We use the Light and Motion “Stella’, which gives us that serious “turn night into daylight” setting as well as two lower levels for the less technical stuff. It’s also super lightweight, so it works great as a helmet mounted light.
*Rig two bikes with tow lines, and all bikes with small hooks to receive a tow. We’ve had great success using retractable dog leashes (for small dogs) as tow lines. Just cut off the latch at the end, tie the end of the line into a three-inch circle that fits over the receiving hook on your bike(s), and zip tie the leash casing under your seat and around your seat tube. Voila! This is called the “Rocky” system, since my buddy, Isaac Wilson’s Jack Russell sacrificed his leash for our initial test run of this system for Eco-Challenge 2001.
*Try to use the same pedal system as your teammates in case you need to swap bikes or bits of bikes for some reason.
*Buy or make a system for easy access to your food at all times. You will probably not be stopping to eat, and not eating on a mountain bike leg is not an option. I use a “bento box” rigged on my cross tube.

Sorry for the delay, AWM is getting so many visitors these days we had to upgrade our server before I could upload anymore photos. I got to ride in the Cross-Country early morning and was pretty beat afterwards – but still managed to check out a few events. The Pro Short Track race was somewhat mind-blowing, watching the racers work their way through the “tunnel of pain” as described by one participant. Even though I saw the Dual Slalom qualifiers the day before, I couldn’t resist checking out the finals. I poked my head into the exhibit area just a bit, saw Shimano’s new 10 speed drivetrain, and the Di2 Electronic Shifters – MUCH more on the exhibit area to come.

Alas – a few pics….

When not trying to smuggle out free Clif Bars and other goodies privy to the “media” folks, I was actually attempting to take photos of the event. I made it to the Dual Slalom, the Pump/Stunt Track, a couple of the demo shows (Ryan Leech – EPIC!!!) Today I’m gonna try and hit up the expo exhibits showcasing some of the sweet new products out, the DH course, short track and maybe head back to the Pump track finals because those guys have some serious style. Here’s a little glance at some of the talent happening here at the Sea Otter Classic:

Beer and donuts! Not quite the elite athlete’s performance supplement of choice, but there it was – a tiny bowl filled with bite-sized sugar donuts followed by cups of delicious beer topped with a good amount of foam. The timing couldn’t have been better, just before we pop up onto the crest of the courses final grueling climb. Being far below anything described as an elite athlete, and riding back with the pack of riders that shotgunned PBRs at the starting line, I couldn’t miss out on such an indulgence.

I thought the race was about over, my body was definitely ready for it, but then we went through a gauntlet of switchbacks on the hillside, and just when I was sure we were rippin’ down until the finish line I spun a bit faster, called, “On your left” passed a rider, and then saw the course make a hard turn back up the hill. The same rider immediately passed me with some well timed single speed humor, calling “Time to gear down.” To make it worse, I slid into a rut and had to step down and push up a little section, with the crowds heckling, “Just shift, man. Where’s your derailleur?”

Then of course, I see Batman and the Riddler, some epic rippers that had shred the course on a tandem. I was sure they hit up the beer and donuts as well. Early in the course I passed another tandem, having something akin to a domestic dispute, “Karl, I can’t change, I don’t even notice that I’m doing it, so there is no way I change it.”

“I don’t want to interrupt your natural rhythm, but we gotta work together, and this is making it difficult for me.”

“Fine. There we have it.”

“Fine.”

Time to down a bit energy gel they were giving out and push ahead to relieve myself of the proximity tension I had encountered. Just me and my Karate Monkey. Stoked.

They say single speeders get off more. And not to knock the positive side of that, but there was a stretch of single-track climbing that had me whincing and wheezing, wishing I had either more gears or stronger legs. In the pre-ride I almost made the climb, and thought during the race the adrenaline would take me the rest of the way. It was overly idealistic and I had to suck it up and start pushing long before I had hoped. This is when all the high school geared grommers caught up with the pack of riders I was with and started zipping past us, spinning away.

There was surprisingly little carnage witnessed during the race, the one steep sandy section I saw on the pre-ride with potential was run without an issue. A guy even came flying past me with a dual wheel slide he caught with his wheels turning right out and onto the singletrack beyond. Humbling.

The very first stretch of singletrack was like a clogged artery, and too thin for any passes. One sharp turn caught the wheel of a riders a few people up, and he went down – front wheel one direction, frame and rider – another. The tailing riders made it through without entanglement and continued along with the daisy chain of riders. If somebody were taking this course seriously, i.e. not shotgunning PBRs at the starting line, they would have spun as fast as they could to get up in front before the first run of single track.

7:30 was an early run. Beer helps at that hour, but some riders were a little grumpy around some of the first congested turns, “Hey, that’s my line” “Screw you, that guy came into my zone,” etc. etc. I hoped they found enough space throughout the rest of the course.

Starting off the Laguna Seca Raceway, had some novelty, but I’d lying if I wasn’t whining to myself about spinning away on my one lonely gear on smooth pavement. But, if Batman and the Riddler can do it on a freakin’ tandem, then so can my Karate Monkey and I.

Navigation

Eighty and ninety percent of the races you will enter will have some kind of navigation or orienteering component. It’s a bit intimidating at first, but once you start learning and have some successes, this is an aspect of the race that you will truly learn to love. And learning the basics is not all that hard. If I can (sort of) do it, anyone can. Good navigating provides an incredible competitive advantage, and most experienced racers will admit that strategy, team tactics and navigation are a far bigger factor in their team’s success than speed. That’s why it’s no surprise that athletes in their mid-forties are still winning the big events! Old age, treachery and good navigation will overcome youth and skill any day. So get out there with your map and compass and become the MVP on your team.

Training:
*First, buy a local topographical map and a beginner’s navigation book, and get the basics.
*Next, attend a course or a camp with someone who is into “speed” navigation. Local orienteering clubs are a great source as are adventure racing camps and clinics.
*Join a local orienteering club and start doing competitions –try to do your first few with someone experienced, if possible, and watch their technique. Part of the efficiency of navigation revolves around where you keep your map/compass, how you hold and remember your location on the map, and how you access all of the information you need to get to the next checkpoint. The end goal here is to not only learn to navigate, but to navigate on the move.

Tips:
*Buy several local topographical maps of your local area and take them with you everywhere you go. You can learn a lot just by being a passenger in a car and practicing terrain association with the map while driving around. You should also do occasional runs with your map and see if you can identify the terrain features as you go.
*Find a way to have easy access to your maps during all events. For hiking, get a map holder that hangs around your neck. For paddling, find a waterproof map case that you can secure directly in front of you and a marine-type compass that sticks to hull of the boat. For mountain biking, create a map platform that’s positioned across your handlebars.
*Make sure that your teammates have at least a rudimentary knowledge of navigation so that they can back you up or cover for you. The best case scenario is to have at least two capable navigators on every team
*If you can find out the “scale” of the maps for your racecourse in advance (most will be 1:7,500 or 1:24,000), practice with maps of similar scale to get a feel for actual distances between various points.

The Gore Bike Wear Tool Jacket has quickly become my go to jacket for chilly early morning rides. Western Pennsylvania has recently experienced above average temperatures after a February of historic snowfall proportions. However, we have returned to our typical springtime weather for the area with early morning temps in the upper 30′s.

When hunched over on the bike, the last thing you want is a cold draft running up your back. I have spent more than 30 hours in this jacket, and at over 6’3″, I have yet to feel any cool air during my rides due to the sufficiently long back. Due to the fact that I have consistently worn a hydration pack on each of these rides, I have yet to utilize the 3 patch pockets on the back (and an additional zippered pocket in the center) except when stashing keys and extra gels on my way out the door. As is typical this time of the year, the temperature has started out on the chilly side and has warmed up to the low-mid 50′s (when the sun is shining which is also a rarity) and the zippered underarm vents have proved pivotal to maintaining optimal comfort. And lastly, it is a softshell…need I say more.

Compete List of Features:
S – XXL

WINDSTOPPER® Soft Shell

Fleece lining

Fleece-lined high, close fit collar

Adjustable collar with easy-to-operate cord stopper for one-handed use

Zip with stay-down slider

Zip tags for easy handling

Zip-underflap

Pre-shaped elbows Continue Reading

It has begun – the 20th running of an iconic cycling event which got its bearings rolling in 1991 with about 300 participants and has since expanded to over 8,500 riders / 47,000 spectators, bringing top riders from around the world -and featuring one of the industries most impressive expos. Adventure World Magazine is looking forward to joining the extravaganza and will be posting coverage of this year’s Sea Otter Classic.

2010 has brought two new non-competitive events to get more people in the action: a Gran Fondo, and a Mountain Bike Tour with rumors of Rebecca Rusch and other pro-riders joining in. Multiple downhill races, road races, short track, cross country – SOC has it all. And then some – with beer gardens, bike demos, stunt shows, Yoga with Ryan leech, beer crawls, product releases (Crank Brothers are rumored to release their previously topsecret spring line of products), live entertainment – just to name a few…

Just snagged this epic video posted by (tgreathead) on the MTBR Forum, another great site for Sea Otter Coverage (http://seaotter.mtbr.com/).

Paddling

Becoming a good paddler is the fastest way to gain a competitive advantage in adventure racing, since it’s the weak link for most of the teams that cross over from triathlon. It’s very easy to gain a 10-15 minute lead in an average two hour paddle if you’re good—a feat that’s almost impossible to accomplish on mountain biking and running legs. Paddling sections can be anything from a nice flat water cruise on a lake to class IV whitewater and six foot ocean swells, so get out there and practice in as many situations as you can find. Just remember to always take a buddy with you and stay within sight of one another.

Training:
*Start by contacting a good local paddler and learning stroke technique and water safety (especially how to get your booty out of and back into the dang boat when your world turns upside down). A good rule of thumb for stroke technique, at least initially, is to paddle with your arms locked completely straight throughout the entire stroke. This forces you to use your torso and midsection for power (via the back and forth twisting and untwisting of your body, much like a washing machine rotor) versus relying on your manly arms (which will be limp, lifeless, and useless to even a little girl within thirty minutes).
*Paddle with a group whenever possible. The best-case scenario would be to find a local k-1 training club (flat water Olympic kayaks) or ocean racing team. In California, this isn’t too difficult!
*Join an outrigger canoe club to supplement your kayaking and help with your strength Continue Reading

By Yishai Horowitz
2010 San Luis Mountain Run

It was cool and grey, but fast racing weather on dry, well-marked trails. After the pre-race meeting, everyone lined up along the start-tree, flanked by proud Salomon flags, and the airhorn signaled the start throughout San Luis Obispo valley. Runners took off, just as a fine mist began to fall, but the kind of mist that motivates, not dampens, spirits.

The first racers approached the finish, laced with volunteers ready to take their bib tags and hand them a blue Fluid finisher water bottle for a job well done. Kevin Koeper, 31, broke his course record by completing the rugged 10k in 39:57, with Scott Peterson, 42, another past race winner, following him at 44:24. Our first woman finisher came in not long after: Carin Serba, 24, finished in a blazing 48:35 – all smiles and thumbs up.

Despite a reputation for a grueling 10k, there’s plenty of fun for everyone. The trail isn’t just tough, it’s beautiful – along Laguna Lake, across the flats, up the hill and winding its way around one of the more stellar peaks in the valley though grassy single track, tree shaded trails, and rocky fire road. Our youngest racer, Cruz Godar, 9, came in at 1: 48:25, and our oldest, Nova Poff, 73, finished in 1:30:09. Racers enjoyed after-run snacks provided by House of Bread (a San Luis-based bakery) along with more traditional fare such as oranges and bananas.

Awards were held promptly at 11:00 am, with great prizes like shoes from Salomon and SOLE footbeds. All in all, it was a great launch for All Out Events’ 2010 race season. We’ll see you next year for our fifth-annual race!

Images courtesy of Tim Wagner Photography

Raid La Pineda Platja is the oldest of the Spanish adventure races having been run every year since 1999. With a reputation well known by all the Spanish adventure race teams and with a desire for international expansion (last year several French teams joined the Raid La Pineda Platja) to show them the level and quality of this Adventure Race.

Continuing with this international expansion of the Raid La Pineda Platja adventure race, the organisation invites other international teams from outside Spain to join the Raid at no cost … for FREE!

The Raid La Pineda Platja Adventure Race takes place in the beautiful area of Costa Daurada, 100 Km. to the south of Barcelona, in Catalonia, which comprises both, mountain ranges and coast line, the stream of the Ebro River and other impressing sites such as the climbing area of Siurana.

To make the participation in the Raid all the most attractive, among the prizes are a free entry to the the Bimbache Extrem (the AR World Championship event 2010) in Spain.

We encourage all adventure race teams to come and taste some of the Spanish difference.

For more details please visit the website: www.naturetime.es or email raquel@naturetime.es

Via press release

This article appeared in one of our 2008 issues and is by Adventure Racing icon Robyn Benincasa. We will be posting the remainder of the articles in the coming weeks.

Adventure Racing 101…You Know You Wanna Try It…. (Part 1)

Ok, you know darn well you’ve wanted to try “that crazy Adventure Racing stuff” for a while now. And this is your quit-being-afraid-and-get-out-there official quick start guide! One word of advice before we start. Run NOW! Before it’s too late! Adventure Racing is the most addictive sport you will ever try, and once you get sucked in, there’s no going back. So you may as well sell your aero bars, completely clear out your garage to make space for scads of new gear, cut back on your hours at work, give away your tangerine Speedo, invest in some duct tape, and call all your closest pals—‘cause you’re about to enter a world where anything and everything is possible. Your course is often limited only by your imagination, and you will learn way more than you ever wanted to know about yourself and your teammates, for better and for worse. And you may never want to come back. Still in? Do I hear a “heck yeah!”? Ok, let’s do it. But when you find yourself eventually standing at the starting line of Primal Quest or the Raid Gauloises questioning your sanity, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Here’s an overview of the sports involved, a brief training plan for each, and some handy tips that we old timers had to learn the hard way….

Hiking/Running/Scrambling:

Many of your races will start out with a run that turns into a hike or scramble, so you’d better be ready on all counts. Hiking and running muscles are very different, so you need to train both, and practicing scrambling (on as many different types of terrain as you can find, including wet, slippery stuff) is the key to gaining that competitive advantage on the roadies.

Training:
*For a race of 12 hours or less, you should follow a ½ marathon training plan, but do most of your runs on trails, if possible.
*For a race of more than 12 hours, you should follow a full marathon-training plan and use the same guidelines. Continue Reading