by Jess Evans
June 19, 2018
It is always a thrill to be moseying along at my typical race pace and be passed by one of the top teams during a leg. I get to whisper, “oh look who just passed us?” and sometimes I ask “where are they going?” I think that is yet another reason why adventure racing is so great. Often the courses are designed in such a way that slower teams get to travel intermittently with the elite teams. All levels of teams will be criss-crossing on the course as they make their way to the finish.
I had the opportunity to race the AR World Championship in 2017 on the 361° Adventures team. Adventure Enablers held the ARWS Championship race in Casper, Wyoming. This was my first time racing among international teams that were “old pros” at the AR World Series. These teams had done races around the world, and they clearly demonstrated their hard won knowledge through their gear and ease at the race start. When my team and I were at the pre-race gathering to prep and deliver all our gear and bins, it was quite a site to see teams and gear everywhere. I was not intimidated by these “professional” teams, but I was in awe and giddy. I could have gawked at them all day.
Once the race started, I was sure we would never see those teams again. However, we had the luck of being short coursed and were jumped ahead of many teams that were still trudging through the second trekking leg. This put us back in the fray with teams who were going to complete the entire race course. It was fun for me to see them. They were covering more ground at a faster pace than us, but we were rolling right along with them for a while. I marveled at their speed and drive even as day three was ending, and we still had 3 more days to go.
In a well-planned adventure race, teams go through the course together and often finish close together no matter what their experience and fitness level. Only the number of checkpoints punched and the miles traveled to get those checkpoints separates them, but everyone is together supporting and congratulating each other all the way through to the finish.
