and how does it compare with triathlon? sorry, i don’t know anything about it. googled it and still can’t understand it. “orienteering?” wtf is that? looks like it contains elements of triathlon, like running and mt biking, but a lot of other crap like “navigation” climbing and paddling.
seems like way too much stuff for me! i can’t even try one if i wanted to since there are none in my area.
Adventure racing kicks ass. You think an Ironman is tough, try a 36 hour adventure race.
I don’t consider it the red headed step child to Triathlon. I think they are entirely separate and there are a lot of Adventure races in the Triathlon off season as a off season training tool.
Also, you can be a great road cyclist and a crappy MTB biker. You can also be a great runner, but strap a 20 lb pack on ya and you can suck. Plus there is navigation involved and you can gain tons or lose tons of time not knowing how to read a terrain map and navigate especially if night nav is involved.
And don’t think you can go in an dominate an AR race cause you have base and speed. There are some serious adventure racing teams out there that can easily compare in base and speed.
HTFU training … Lake of the Ozarks at night in freezing rain running up 20-30% grade slopes 9 hours into a race and you only half way done.
orienteering is basically navigation wilderness using a map and compass, it can be really difficult but it is really cool once you get good at it. Adventure races usually have a sort of set route with checkpoints and athletes usually are in teams and have to do certain things between checkpoints, for example, there may be a section of mountain biking that is 40 miles, a section of hiking/running that is 50 miles, a section of mountaineering and then a section of kayaking. THe equipment is usually held at checkpoints, but between checkpoints athletes are self sufficient (or should be) and must complete the course with the entire team. You can’t leave people behind. I did one adventure race in Utah when I was first getting into multi sport training, I ended up leaving the group and hiking through the Utah desert at night because the people on my team (whom I had never met in person until the day before the race) were total idiots. SO you have to have a good team. I collected my gear and drove home. I never did another adventure race, but one of these days when my pockets are a bit deeper, I would like to try again.
and yes, Ian Adamson is a tremendous athlete, I think he holds/held the world record both for distance kayaking and Mtn Biking. also a very accomplished ultra runner and mountaineer.
The way our local race works (www.bonkhardchill.com) is the night before the race the RD gives you a list of coordinates and the specified order / mode of transit between them, you plot them on a topographic map, and then rush to get some sleep. The race starts at a varying time each year. Some of the checkpoints need to be done in order, some can be done in any order; its not necessarily faster to follow the shortest distance first - the hills may really slow it down. You need to have a pack with required gear, if its warm all of the gear goes in the pack, if its cold you’ll end up wearing most of the gear. Ours is trekking, mountain biking and canoeing. Our race is either two or four person teams and this year they added an eight hour race, as oppsoed to the 18 hour. Its a lot of fun, but when the sun goes down it gets hard as hell. And the other poster is right, being a fast roadie means very little when you’ve got a pack on your back!
Ditto. Adventure racing makes triathlons look easy. There are more disciplines, races can be much longer (1 week+ for Primal Quest), and if you didn’t pack it, you will go without. That means all gear – food included. Also, if you’re hurt, you can’t just stop at the next aid station/med tent. The team element makes it an entirely different type of race – as IRONLOBO mentioned.
I’ll preface this by saying I think adventure racing seems like it would be really fun and I have an enormous amount of respect for adventure racers, but I think it is where triathletes go when owning gear for only 3 sports no longer satisfies! All the adventure racers I know here in Boulder have SO MUCH gear!!! I can’t imagine what travelling to one of these races must be like?! How much does it cost to take a kayak on a plane?
and a way to move enough of this stuff for a team around the world.
Yes, there is lots of gear needed but it really is a cool sport. The race I entered was a week long and I left on the 5th day, not because of how hard it was (which it certainly was) but because of the stuff going on within the team, nobody wanted to hear what I had to say about what was going on (even though I was often right when they wouldnt take my advice which ended up costing us TONS of time) after 5 days of that I got so angry that I just left.
Oh, I agree… It seems like a really really cool sport. I just get worried about the gear-head in me!
I can’t believe the workouts that the adventure racing crowd do. I was talking to a friend on New Year’s who had done an ‘easy’ 2 hour run in the snow followed by a long mountain bike ride on the day before New Year’s.
believe me, adventure racing looks cool, but the gear is what’s holding me back. i used to windsurf. travelled with “coffin bags” filled with 4 boards, sails, booms, masts, etc. about the size of a car. too much stuff. gets very old shleppin that shit around.
Do you recall how much the airline would charge you for your windsurfing gear? I am just curious… maybe I won’t feel so bad about forking over the $100 for the bike on the way to my next race!
I was really int o mountaineering, canyoneering, fastpacking, kayaking and then I got a chance to join up with a team out of northern California for a race in southern Utah. Seemed sweet and I had a Mountain bike and all the gear at the time. Shortly after that I moved to ABQ and got into triathlon, the mountain bike got stolen, the kayaks sold, I still have my climbing gear and whatnot but I don’t have so much flexibility in my job these days to put in all the training then split for 10 days to do a race, wish I did, I don’t. I can however fit in 20 hours a week of training and get a friday and monday off work to go do an IM so it isn’t that bad. I just don’t have the time I had once. (don’t get me wrong, I get 4 months off a year) but advebture racing is tuff man, you have to be a proficient biker, ultra runner, kayaker, climber etc, etc to be able just to finish a race.
don’t get me goin…i remember traveling from sfo to brazil for a race. cost me $500 to florianopolis and $350 back. i greased palm on the return leg to get a discount. this was about 12 years ago!!
"Do you recall how much the airline would charge you for your windsurfing gear? "
yep. $100 is chump change compared to what i had to pay to ship my windsurf gear around the world. we are really lucky. it was all the $20 bills flying out of my wallet to all the airport/bus/taxi shmucks to help with the shleppage. no way i could do it alone.
sad to say, but that’s one of the biggest reasons why i quit. too much freakin gear. and i was as addicted to windsurfing as much as i’m addicted to triathlon now. one day, i just gave up. it was almost cathartic to get rid of every last piece of equipment. i still have great memories.
wouldn’t adventure racing be more of the same shleppage? i think so. better stay away.
**“orienteering?” wtf is that? looks like it contains elements of triathlon, like running and mt biking, but a lot of other crap like “navigation” climbing and paddling. **
“it seems like adventure racing is the ugly sister to triathlon”.
Above is to quote cyclisto.
As someone else said you should have done some more research firstly!!!
I used to do kayak/bike/run more than swim/bike/run and have always been fascinated by adventure racing also.
Am still getting to grips with what it is all about because I think it has been evolving over the past 20 years or more.
Because it looks so cool I made an events page out of it for my website and here is a link:
It looks to me like a certain amount of the equipment is provided for this adventure race. The team work looks to be what it is all about. I reckon it looks great and I see there is a world champs with qualifying events.
Have made a link in my websites calendar to the official event organiser.
The above link has some of my favourite images of sports event!!
I’ve done about 20 or so Adventure races with most of them taking between 4-8 hours…like all triathlons are not Ironman, all AR’s are not Primal Quest/Eco Challenge…
With all due respect to the other posters there are MANY Adventure races that are not that tough…and that is a good thing…
The other interesting thing about AR is that Adventure Racing is whatever the Race Director designs it to be for that race…it usually involves paddling, orienteering/trekking/trail running/ and Mt biking but it can involve many different formats and lengths of each leg…
And as far as how tough Adventure Races/racers are…Me and wife have won the two person division in about 5 races we have done at local races and I am only a decent 50 year old triathlete and she is a solid but not great 32 year old trail runner/mt biker…to give you an idea, we just ran a half marathon in October where we both finished in just over 2 hours after winning our 2 person coed division at our states biggest sprint adventure race over about 10 other 2 person coed teams (no age divison)…
yeah, navigation is key in many races…I took up Orienteering 5 years ago and I pretty decent at it…so we beat more fit teams because we navigated well, You can totally screw up and cost yourself 30 minutes in a 7 hour race if you are not on top of that…
want some facts on the aerobic demands?..
AR race completed 7:29 Avg Heart Rate 140
Half Marathon done in 2:03 Avg Heart Rate 162
my max is apx 185 or so…so you can see its not that tough…
BUT…a fantastic adventure for those getting bored with tri’s and doing it with your spouse/GF and doing well is awesome…
not so much the ugly sister as the high-maintenance one… adventure racing takes too much time and money for most. It’s basically a sport for the idle rich, those with independent means and no day job: and the ultra-fit poor, living out of their trucks, also with no day job. This overlaps well with the upper end of triathlon…
Too much like the Army for me, I’d probably get flashbacks and start hunting people down…
