by Jess Evans
May 4, 2018
I am sure many of us who participate in adventure racing get this question quite often. I try to answer it but my answer always feel inadequate. On the surface, an adventure race is a team endurance activity that requires using a map and compass to navigate your way around a course to pick up checkpoints. Each leg of the course may have different athletic disciplines, such as biking, trekking, and paddling, that the team must use while collecting the checkpoints.
Another key aspect of adventure racing is the effort of planning for the race to execute it successfully. Because there are so many possible modes of transportation, the gear list can be quite large. When I am preparing for a multi-day race, there is the food planning, the gear staging planning, and the physical comfort planning. You must do a lot of thinking before the race even begins.
Ok… that seems simple enough, but adventure racing is much more than the disciplines and the planning! I think the team is one of the key elements of the adventure race. It is the team dynamics which helps the team move through the course. If you have a dysfunctional team, your not getting very far very fast. It is the team camaraderie that helps with the success of the team. There is a special bond between the teammates. As a team you are relying on your wit and will to get through the course together as much as your gear and your physical fitness. There is truth in the saying “your team is only as strong as the weakest link.” Your team is like a series of links chained together. The team can only take as much as the weakest link. As a team, you must support each other to get the entire team through the race.
When I race with a team, sometimes one of our goals is to be in the top five or qualify for the National Championship, but most often our goal is to successfully complete the race with smiles on our faces and hopes for the next race. What is adventure racing? Maybe the best way to answer that is to get out and try one.
