Professional and amateur adventure racing teams from around the world will converge on Nord-Pas de Calais, a picturesque region in the North of France for five days of competitive stage racing from June 23rd through 27th. Organized by adventure racing legend Karine Baillet, Le Grand Raid features the standard AR disciplines in accessible format with a reasonable entry fee. A considerable cash purse has attracted top international teams to commit ahead of time, and the racing is sure to be competitive.

• British team the first to ever retain trophy in ‘world’s toughest and wildest race’
• Almost 600km of racing in the wilderness of Chilean Patagonia in over six days
• Conditions in Darwin Range too much for five teams and maybe more

British team Helly Hansen-Prunesco became the first in history to retain the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race title on Monday morning when they crossed the finish line on the Beagle Channel after six-and-a-half days of exhausting non-stop racing through the spectacular wilderness of Chilean Patagonia.

Check out some of the images from days 1-3 of the Wenger Patagonia Expedition Race. Selected photos are by Walter Alvial, Tony Hoare and Will Gray.

The race started, like all good races, with a bang—this particular bang came from a Chilean policeman’s pistola. The beach was empty of teams long before the bullet fell god knows were. Getting to this point however was far from easy.

At a quarter past noon of Tuesday, February 19, began the 8th version of the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, the most demanding adventure race in the world, and that this year will cross Tierra del Fuego and end in Puerto Williams, the world’s southernmost city.

Reigning champions Helly Hansen-Prunesco are fresh and ready to begin their bid to retain the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race title in Chile, but several rival teams are facing an uphill battle after a mid-air emergency and a backlog at Santiago airport caused havoc just getting teams to “the end of the world”.

After six days of climbing volcanos, traversing rivers, fighting wind swept plateaus and scorching dry heat, Javier Montero (CRC) has secured his third consecutive overall win at The Coastal Challenge. Stage racing newcomer Margaret Phillips (Canada) took first place in the women’s division.

Cesar Ortega (CRC) finished second and first-time multi-day adventure racer Ty Stevens (USA) took third place overall. The six-day expedition race through Costa Rica’s must rugged and surreal mountainous range showed why you can’t expect what’s ahead on the trail.

Seven-month training schedule paying off for daycare teacher on day five of The Coastal Challenge

While race leaders continue to push forward in their quest for race champion on day five of The Coastal Challenge, Shannon MacLeod (Canada) has already won the race in her mind.

After seven months of training with running coach and professional endurance athlete Jen Segger, MacLeod reached her goal on day two.

American Ty Stevens takes risk, second place on fourth day of The Coastal Challenge

American Ty Stevens came into his first multi-day stage adventure race looking to finish with a decent time. After taking second on day four of The Coastal Challenge, he now finds himself in competition for second place.

Flatter terrain and cooler weather made for a faster course on the third stage of the Coastal Challenge Tuesday morning, allowing for Judith Abbot (Canada) to lengthen her lead in the women’s division.

With a strong finish on day one and taking first place on day two, Abbot is poised for her first adventure race win.

American Ty Stevens overtakes third place, increases lead on day two of The Coastal Challenge

Despite heavy overnight rains making for tough muddied trails and more than 12,000 feet of elevation change, Ty Stevens (USA) took a hefty lead over fourth place runner Victor Zuniga (CRC).

Two-time champion Javier Montero of Costa Rica is in position to take an unprecedented third win after stage one of The Coastal Challenge, a six-day adventure race in Costa Rica.

While un-matched in the previous two races, Montero will have his toughest challenge yet with newcomer and local Costa Rican Ceasar Ortega. Ortega trailed Montero by less than three minutes by the end of the stage with a finishing time of 02:41:45.

After a night of sleeping in the car and several hours of following Goggle Maps to the wrong spot over and over I managed to find the right spot on Lake Mead. 24 adventure racers unloading boats,getting bikes ready,and all those last minute “things” you need to do before a race . This is why I like filming and not racing. I don’t have that pre race nervous feeling. I always hated waiting to start. When I am filming I start the minute that I get out of the car. Plus I like to annoy people and how annoying is it for someone to stick a camera in your face while you try to put the wheels on your bike.

The Desert Winds Adventure Series has been providing quality adventure races for teams from all over the United States since 2007. This year, The Desert Winds will be producing its first expedition length race September 18th – 25th 2010 in the Mojave Desert just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. This 310 mile (or 500km) race will consist of trekking, mountain biking, rappelling, desert navigation, paddling, and surprises throughout the incredible terrain.

The Fresh Choice Southern Lakes Women’s Triathlon and Duathlon will be staged at Lake Hayes on February 27 for the 18th consecutive year with indications for a strong field. The event attracts women from as far as Invercargill, Dunedin and Christchurch to compete as individuals or in teams.

Our last race for the year got off to an auspicious start when our team mate Jacob Roberts called to say he’d come off second best with a car while out biking and had a broken shoulder. Luckily for Jacob he didn’t look as bad as his bike or we’d have been at his funeral.

On today’s biking stage, when many teams anticipated a strong challenge from their nearest rivals, the violent wind that arose during the night proved to be their most persistent adversary.

GEELONG’S Grant Suckling employed the wisdom of his little girl to win the Lorne Anaconda Adventure Race on Sunday morning, crossing the line before a crowd of 3,000-plus spectators, just 30 seconds ahead of arch rival Perth’s Sean O’Neill.

Since early yesterday morning, the teams have been struggling against the relentless heat and endless dunes of the Rub Al Khali. The leading teams completed the 120km at around 9h30 this morning – they were followed by a long string of teams throughout the afternoon.

At 07:00 this morning the teams left the camp at Liwa Dune for the first day of a gruelling 120km trek through the Rub Al Khali – the legendary and unforgiving “Empty Quarter”.

After a restorative night spent bivouacking on an island north of Abu Dhabi city, the teams set off early this morning for the long paddle back to Corniche Beach.

With the technical verifications completed, the 40 teams competing in the 3rd Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge are ready to take the start tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock for the first day’s racing.