Release: The Adventure Racing World Series had one of its busiest schedules ever with teams from all around the world competing at races in Spain, Australia and the USA in an intense 3 week period of competition in September. The elite teams were making their final attempts to win a place in the AR World Championships in Costa Rica in December, while those chasing them were taking the chance to experience the challenges and emotions of Expedition Adventure Racing in their part of the world.
Out of This World Racing
After hosting the 2011 World Championships and taking a break last year, XPD Australia was back with a course set in the Flinders Ranges of Southern Australia – and for those who took part it was an unforgettable experience. The 700km course, set by AR World Series owners Craig Bycroft and Louise Foulkes, took the teams into remote areas of outback Australia with the highlights being the crossing of Lake Frome, and scaling the impressive and intimidating ‘Big Wall’ at Moonarie.
Lake Frome is below sea level and is dry salt pan most of the time, and it offered teams an otherworldly experience of searing heat, nerve testing isolation and a navigational challenge unlike any they had experienced before. The experience was best summed up by Team Rubicon in their excellent blog. The ascent and descent of the ‘Big Wall’ was another nerve jangler as the teams ascended and descended 380m on the great red rock wall, enjoying exhilarating exposure and expansive views across the plains of Wilpena Pound.
The end of the race was affected by strong winds curtailing the kayaking, and the eventual winners were top Australian squad Team Mountain Designs in a time of 122 hours 08 minutes.
Weather Extremes
Before XPD had finished Bimbache Extrem had begun in Platja d’Aro on the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia, Spain. This is another race which had hosted the World Champs and was returning to the calendar, and in contrast to XPD the weather challenges here were the cold and wet conditions the racers experienced as they rode high up into the Pyrenean mountains. The tough course and the weather forced several teams (including the race favourites) to withdraw or shorten the course. The winners of an exciting race for the finish line were the French team Absolute Raid Rodez, completing the 570km course in just over 83 hours.
Shortly after the racing in Australasia and Europe finished, the Gold Rush Mother Lode Expedition Race began in the High Sierra mountains of California, USA. Teams and athletes from Paraguay, Denmark, Sweden and the U.S.A. began the 4 day unsupported race after parts of the course had been threatened by a major wild fire. It didn’t impact the race, but a storm which caused heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures did. The snow fell in the latter part of the race and it was Team Bones from the USA who coped best, using some clever tactics to shake off the pursuit of the Swedish team SWECO. The win booked a place for Team Bones in ARWC Costa Rica, and they are very experienced racing there, so will be a team to watch.
This completed the line up of 8 qualifiers for the World Championships and they come from 8 different nations. (Ecuador, New Zealand, UK, Sweden, Spain, France, USA and Australia.)
Revised World Rankings
Following the completion of the series for the year, the World Rankings for teams have been revised. Not surprisingly some of the series winning teams have jumped up, with Bones moving into 11th place and Mountain Designs into the top 20. The top 8 places remained unchanged, but there will surely be some major changes after the World Championships in Costa Rica where points are multiplied by 2.5x.
Looking Ahead
Several races have already announced their dates and locations for the 2014 series. Open Adventure (organisers of the Sting in Stirling in 2012) are taking Expedition Racing back to Wales in 2014 with the ITERA race in August, while Expedition Africa have announced they will be staging next year’s race on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape in May. Untamed New England have also announced their 2014 race will be in an area known as the 100 mile Wilderness in the Appalachian mountains.
Next season will begin with the Godzone Adventure Race in New Zealand and end with the 2014 World Champs in Ecuador in November.
For more details on the AR World Series see www.arworldseries.com
Promo video for the AR World Champs in Costa Rica.
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ARWS Calendar 2014
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