The adventure racing season is now in high gear for the US and Canada, and select teams are distinguishing themselves with top performances at some of the season’s early signature races.  In March at the two-day “Endorfin Fix” race in West Virginia, the Eastern Mountain Sports team came out on top against a very competitive field.  Things really picked up in May, and we saw the CheckpointZero team win at the Atomic AR in Georgia while Team Granite won in commanding fashion at the NYARA “Longest Day” race.

Just one week into June, and two more big races yielded two new teams to this list of winners:  Virginia’s “Equinox Traverse” race was won by the Tecnu Extreme team from California, and Ontario’s “Wilderness Traverse” race was won by the Canadians on Team Untamed New England.

What, you might ask, do all these victors have in common?

In August, these teams will converge on the US/Canadian border to race at the AR World Championships qualifier, the Untamed New England.

To be completely accurate, the CheckpointZero team is joining with the Eastern Mountain Sports team to form a single juggernaut named “EMS / CheckpointZero” — and the Canadians will race as ATP/Salomon instead of “Team Untamed New England.”  Joining these two teams, along with Tecnu Extreme and Team Granite, will be Team Kinetic from Quebec — the 2nd place finishers in New England in 2009.  The teams that tied for 3rd place last year at Untamed New England, NYARA and Berlin Bike, will also be back to compete for the podium.  As if that wasn’t enough, the 2nd place team from 2008 in New England, Canada’s Running Free team, will also be racing after skipping the 2009 edition.

Trekking at Untamed New England 2009

In the words of a cable tv infomercial, but wait: there’s more!  A Danish team, Skandia Key Experience, raced to 10th place at the World Championships in Portugal last year, and they’re making the trip across the Atlantic to experience the competition in North America.  Team Spirit, one of Canada’s most experienced and successful teams, has come back from years of retirement to race in New England in August.  GOALS ARA, one of the Eastern USA’s top teams who famously recorded a DNF (Did Not Finish) in New England 2009 have vowed revenge and have entered two teams instead of one into the race this year.

Examine the 12 teams I’ve named in this article:

1. Eastern Mountain Sports / CheckpointZero (hybrid team of winners from other races, including the 2008 New England winning team captain Jeff Woods)
2. Team Granite (convincing winners at Longest Day race in New York)
3. Tecnu Extreme (convincing winners at Equinox Traverse in West Virginia)
4. ATP/Salomon (aka Team Untamed New England ‘Maple Leafs’, the 2009 New England winning team and recent winners in Ontario of the Wilderness Traverse race)
5. Team Kinetic (2nd place 2009 Untamed New England)
6. NYARA (tied for 3rd at 2009 Untamed New England)
7. Berlin Bike (tied for 3rd at 2009 Untamed New England)
8. Running Free (2nd place 2008 Untamed New England)
9. Skandia Key Experience (10th place at AR World Championships in Portugal in 2009)
10. Team Spirit (winners of Raid The North Extreme and competitors all over the world, been racing since 1997)
11. GOALS ARA 1 (considerd one of the Eastern USA’s top teams)
12. GOALS ARA 2 (considerd one of the Eastern USA’s top teams)

Ropes Section at 2009 Untamed New England

These dozen teams form an impressive field, a staggering field, and I’ve skipped mentioning the other 30 teams who have amongst them competed in places like Patagonia or Ecuador, and are no strangers to expeditions such as PrimalQuest or adventure race podiums.  While not every team in the race is considered elite, this 2010 Untamed New England race looks to be an absolute barn-burner where just to finish in the top 10 would be a major accomplishment.

There’s still time to get in on the action!  Online registration is open to a few more teams — but just a few — at www.UntamedNE.com.

You can also see the full roster of teams and other race details at the official race website.

Related posts:

1. Untamed New England Leg 5 & Finish
2. Untamed New England Announces Course Outline
3. Untamed New England Leg 3
4. The Untamed New England Dust Starts to Clear
5. Untamed New England Slide Show (Part 1)