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Apologies if this has come up before in the old forum.
It seems that Adventure Racing (AR) is not a respectable endeavor for many triathletes. Does it seem to you that many triathletes look down their noses at AR?
Is there anyone else out there into "multi-multi-sport" (I noticed Mr. Demerly's page on AR at bikesportMI)? Do find it becoming more "mainstream" in Triathlete circles?
The thing that really gets to me is that AR doesn’t have a good catch-all website… like triathlon has Slowtwitch. All AR websites seem to never be updated, have shoddy write-ups, or both. Perhaps someone could use the Slowtwitch website backbone to come up with a good site (hint hint Slowman)?
Comments?
Burns
I think AR is an emerging sport still trying to find its identity but getting very close to that. AS that happens, I think the AR crowd is emerging as a very different group than the triathlon crowd, although there is some overlap. Personally, I see AR as the next step in endurance sports, but at a terrible cost to the environment. It is still young though: When I say "I did Ironman" People are like, "Oh, I've heard of that." But when I tell them "I've done Raid Gauloises, Desert Cup and Marathon des Sables" Their response is "Ah, what?". It's funny too, I just got over a long cold and a bad break-up and got back into training big time. When I walk into the gym on a cold morning with 40 pounds on my back having just walked 5 miles to get there for a workout people are like, "AHhh, Why are you doing that?" They don't get it.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
I do both IM/tri and AR. Also plan to do some Xterra. I like the idea of mixing them all up. I ama midpack age grouper and so I don't typically win my age group.
I have teamates that have more AR experience than I. It would seem that the fitness aspect that we are used to focusing on in tri's - is not as significant in AR unless you are at the very top of the game. Specifically, a team of excellent orienteerers that are slow or out of shape - can most probably compete and beat a team of well conditioned athletes that get lost.
Also - my sense is that the paddle, not unlike the swim, is probably not the discipline to spend your training time on.
I also think many AR folks look down their noses at tri - as it is predictable and boring. To my knowledge there is no single ruling body such as USAT - and that is the way they want it. It is a growing changing sport and I hope that it always is.
Tom: Have you written any articles about your Adventure Racing experiences? I'm sure many folks (myself included) would find them very interesting if you did.
I personally love both, although I know triathletes who can't stand AR and AR'ers who can't stand tri--and fail to realize how much their sports originally had in common. Both endeavors originated because endurance athletes wanted to push themselves further, to see just how far they could go. Over time, they've rather obviously drifted apart, but I hope both are here to stay.
Of course, I chose to become an Airborne Ranger, I choose to train outside--preferably off-road--throughout the Kansas winter, and I also liked the weekly Lover's Point swims through the kelp in a sleeveless wetsuit when I was living in Monterey, but those experiments in pain are another matter...
Ben H
Christian, Husband, Father, Ranger, Triathlete