General

In April, South Africa’s adventure racing website – www.AR.co.za – turned 10. That’s 10 years of listing events, covering races, posting articles and race reports. In this decade, adventure racing locally has been through many evolutions and generations of racers.

When we do not succeed, friends and family console us with words spoken to reassure that the journey is more important than the destination. This stands true for every sport in which we participate, where we enter to experience the journey; the race, environment and challenges.

While answering another ‘what is adventure racing?’ question, I mentioned two people and described them as “good racers”. My colleague asked, “What makes them good racers?.” This is a great question because there is a distinction between being a good athlete and a good adventure racer.

In adventure racing, the standard four-person team format specifies that at least one member must be of the opposite gender; and usually this results in a 3:1 male-female composition. As a result, it is not uncommon to hear women jokingly referred to as ‘mandatory equipment’. But, in this male-dominated sport, women bring far more to the team than additional X-chromosomes.

If there’s one thing more difficult and challenging than doing an overnight or multiday adventure race, it is getting to the race. Finding teammates, recruiting support crew (assisted events) and coordinating team gear, support equipment, catering, booking accommodation, transferring entry fees is an administrative nightmare.