New to Adventure Racing?

Adventure Racing is one of the fastest growing sports in the UK and is quickly gaining momentum as more and more people discover it. It combines different outdoor sports, but the three main disciplines in the majority of races are:

- Trail running
- Mountain biking
- Navigation

None of these will be of a highly technical or difficult nature, so anyone can have a go.

Many newbie adventure racers still have practically no idea how to read a map and some of the best began by borrowing a bike, but they thought; “I could give that a try”, and they did. If you’re thinking the same you’re an adventure racer at heart.

One defining factor that makes the combination of these sports an adventure race is navigation. You have to navigate from checkpoint to checkpoint and there are some advantages to this for the beginner. The quickest don’t always win for a start, but more importantly courses are often designed so you choose which, and how many, checkpoints to go to. So in your first race you can just do a few, and gradually build up. Everyone competes together, but at their own level, and there is always lots of incentive to raise your level and get one more checkpoint.

You can race solo, in pairs or teams of three & four, so team work is vital. The locations change every time and most courses are off-road on woodlands, heaths, moors and mountains, though there are some urban races too. For those who love the outdoors it takes you to all the best places! So, it’s an outdoor sport that lets you go anywhere and do anything with any number of friends. No wonder it’s so popular!

Who gets involved? And Why?

There is no such thing as a typical adventure racer. They come from a variety of sports; running, mountain biking, team sports, orienteering, triathlon, climbing and mountaineering. The sport attracts people from a huge variety of backgrounds, with vastly differing fitness levels and a wide range of ages that come in all shapes and sizes. Adventure racers tend to have a base level of fitness, enjoy the outdoors and have a taste for doing something different, fun, challenging and adventurous on the weekend!

What will you get out of it?

- Physical challenge – you can push yourself as hard or as gently as you want.
- Mental challenge – navigation, tactics and route choice.
- New challenges – never kayaked, navigated or mountain biked before? What a great place to start.
- Fun – you must be able to laugh at yourself and others (when you get horribly lost, capsize etc. You’ll be pleased to know that even the very best in the sport get lost every now and again!)
- Friends – there is no better way to spend the afternoon or weekend. If you race with your partner/spouse, you can really test how strong your relationship is!
- Dare to be different – have a great story to tell in the office, at the running/ triathlon club or gym on Monday!

There is no central governing body for adventure racing, which means searching for and finding information on the sport can be difficult. The advantage of having an unregulated sport is that it allows race directors to put on unconstrained, truly adventurous races, however if you are new to the sport you will need to study the calendar, race reports and visit race organizers websites to see what the races involve.

Where to start?

There is only so much research, reading, talking and procrastinating that you can do! It’s time to stop yapping and take that leap of faith. This means getting off your butt, filling in an entry form and turning up to your first race – you won’t be disappointed.

At the majority of adventure races many of the competitors will be competing for the first time, and you’ll quickly find adventure racing is a very friendly sport with no egos and not burdened with a win-at-all-costs attitude. Races are used to helping beginners and you’ll get plenty of friendly advice.

Turning up to a race can be a frightening and intimidating experience. All those marshals with bright jackets, photographers taking pictures, competitors in race bibs, the flashy bikes, the super-fit looking athletes, the fancy pieces of kit that you never knew existed, expensive trainers, lightweight Goretex jackets, other racers sounding all knowledgeable and experienced, the list goes on.

The expression, ‘All the gear and no idea’ is a good mantra to have when pitching up at race – unless, of course, you’ve got all the gear and absolutely no idea!!

The thing is not to be put off and to ask for help if you need it. Please remember it is a sport where there is a lot to learn and even ‘experts’ with years of experience make mistakes. So expect to make mistakes on your first outing … and be prepared to laugh at yourself when you do. If you are an adventure racer at heart you’ll quickly realise every race presents a different challenge and every mistake can be learnt from.