AMEN!!!

If you find the coed rule limiting, maybe have a look at the way you recruit and treat female teammates. I personally won’t race on a team that treats me like I’m there to fill a quota. Treat me like an equal teammate; one who you value and enjoy racing with, and it might be a different matter. Having trouble finding women for your team? Here’s a hint. Don’t approach them by saying “hey, we need a woman, any woman, to do this race, and you’re a woman. Wanna race with us?” I find this to be a problem in many coed sports. The women are recruited to fill the requirement, then are ignored, sidelined, or marginalized while the men take over the whole process, like their female teammates don’t even matter. Many times the women aren’t even given a voice on the team. I don’t play co-ed Ultimate anymore for this reason – it’s not fun to not be valued. The coed rule should stay put; it’s part of the sport of adventure racing. Men who can’t figure out how to be good teammates with women just don’t belong in the sport. Spend the time to invest in your female teammates and you won’t feel limited by the coed rule any longer. Just think of it as another part of the adventure – you had to learn navigation and develop fitness, now develop the skills needed to recruit talented women to your team, and keep them!

I’ve been competing in Adventure Races for over 10 years. I am not an organizer but I have done volunteer work on several. I have a few issues with the list.

1. So what about the name…Football is a stupid name too but it sticks.

2. Many races allow GPS for post race tracking and emergencies. Learning to use one is no different than using a map and compass.

3. Many of the shorter races can’t be set up until the day before. In these, marked courses with an added rogaine section solves most problems. You say pay the extra…see number 14.

4 & 10. I feel like that has been happening for years. I remember the days of carrying fleece hatchets and hats in the middle of an Arkansas summer. It has gotten much better.

5, 8 & 9. I’ve always felt the mental part of adventure racing, oops, AR to be a major component of the race. this goes with UTMs, Map & Compass work and sometimes even dealing with dated maps.

6. I believe they are trying to level the playing field. Due to fit and expense dong that with bikes would be tough.

7. That’s great when it’s available but in some parts of the country it doesn’t run 365. I’ve done a 7 mile plastic boat drag before, not fun.

11. Good point!

12. I haven’t done a race in 5 years that didn’t have different divisions including solo, unisex and masters. The problem is the awards get more expensive as the number of cats increases.

13. Ropes courses are usually one of my favorite times of a race except when they bottleneck. A simple rappel will do.

14. Most race organizers I know work on a wafer thin margin. Since the sport is not enjoyed by spectators it is near impossible to get a cash sponsor. That alone is what is killing the sport or at least holding it back.

15. None of those work for 80% of the races I’ve done. I like, “A cross between a walk through Hell and a walk in a park, nothing else is so empowering. You should try it.”

From an outside perspective (not a racer, not a race director, but married to both) I can tell you that one reason AR is not more popular is because it’s an all or nothing sport. As adults most people want to go to practice once a week and the play the game once a week. Not train 3-5 days a week and spend an entire weekend driving, racing and driving home. Especially since they cannot include the entire family by inviting them to cheer them on, etc. It’s the nature of the beast. Not likely to be fixed, and certainly high up on the list of “problems with AR.”

Interestingly, I started doing triathlons a few years ago and a friend pointed me to an AR company and now am planning on how I can afford to do one next year. A little volunteer work as well as pointed birthday and Christmas gifts and I think I am there. Yes there is a cost factor, but there is a cost factor in any activity you pursue with a passion. I was actually surprised to see just how many races are available, but that’s the point, I hadn’t been exposed to any literature about them. The thing that could help significantly is getting the word out.

I certainly agree that we need more “crazy loonies” to join in the fun. But “Square” above has a good point. Perhaps AR is something that only a few can weave into a life full of work and family commitments. You are certainly doing your part in growing the sport by continuing to write about it — thank you. But for it to succeed, reaching out to find new racers should not only be the job of race directors, but of all racers.

My 2 cents (in brief response to the ‘points’) I raced all the international ‘biggies’ from 1996-2002, and directed ARs from 1999-2005

1. I wouldn’t worry about the name. It’s such a broad term, no one outside of the sport knows what it is anyway, even with explanation.

2. Indifferent about GPS, one still needs to be able to ‘route find’ (if it’s a REAL AR), doesn’t really matter. Brains are always better than electronics.

3. it’s always a good idea to have a ‘3rd party’ to pre-run the course

4. AR is NOT a simple sport, let’s not dilute it. Maybe this is why it needs a new name?

5. UTMs – totally disagree. It’s back to brains, let the more skilled plotters benefit. BUT, we would always check the plots prior to sending racers out for them (if they chose to have them plotted). The
issue here is that the Race Director should make the points in/on an identifiable spot, a highpoint a trail intersection etc.. NO random spot in the middle of a homogeneous field.

6. Boats – I feel equal boats is a better way. Let the better paddlers shine not the better engineered boat. IF we could have figured out how to do equal bikes we would have – nearly impossible.

7. Whitewater is great, if only it wasn’t such a force of nature. Many races (including ours) have had whitewater, it’s an added expense to keep super safe _ can’t have a ‘cheap’ race and high-skill-
required elements as well.

8. Yes, always good maps.

9. UTMs are not vague, clues should never be subjective

10. Gratuitous mandatory gear is silly, but we always told folks that we hope they never have to use their mandatory gear, but if there is an emergency, they will be happy for every bit of it. As Race
Directors one has to prepare for when the SH*T hits the fan, not ride the hope it never does.

11. Yes, volunteers should know the general rules, the cutoffs etc..

12. Depends on how you define AR. AR used to be only Co-ed, then many (men?) complained. At it’s core it’s a TEAM sport, co-ed. Back to how one defines the sport I suppose.

13. Ropes – add diversity, skill and strategy to a team’s race ‘plan’ – not a great element for under 24-hour races, but great for multi-day events.

14. Entry fees can be astronomical, but my memories of the sport are not the money spent but the character earned from each event, and all the really beautiful places I traveled to. PRICELESS

15. AR is nothing like the “amazing race”, an “ironman” – it’s a personal journey through nature with teammates using human powered modes of travel, problem solving, and mental strength one never imagined
they had. OK, maybe that was a few more than 2 cents…..

hmmm…another rant on how to improve on, grow or “mainstream” a tiny, fringe activity… I got into AR (notice I use the correct and “cool” name) after a mediocre pro triathlon career…it offered some really fun team aspects that had been lacking in my solo racing since the old college cross country days…and it was pretty laid back, while still having the element of competitiveness I craved…and, in 1998, it was just seeing an influx of fast (but well past their prime) ex-pro endurance athletes…It was super fun to go to China for instance, and race kids like Kenny Souza, Mike Pigg and Paula Newby Frazier in a far more laid back and easy going fashion than back in the triathlon days…Unfortunately, the sport progressed and the powers that be (as far flung and disorganized as they were/are) wanted “legitimacy” and most of all, sponsorship…so there came all manner of rules and regulations…This finally culminated (in the south at least) with a funny exchange about what constituted a trowel…I found it amazing that there was really a serious discussion revolving around why a plastic spoon with the handle cut off either was or was not adequate for burying poop, and therefore classified as a trowel by the RD…

I found myself getting overly concerned with this ridiculous minutia as well, and I kinda came to the conclusion that if you could win or lose a race based on something like how many Ibuprofen tablets you carried or whether your blinkie light was functional at the finish, then maybe I was going to move on to stuff that was more fun.

The fact of the matter is, the very nature of the activity precludes standardization. The sport preaches ingenuity, teamwork, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking & strategy…Once you start limiting everything to make it consumable for a wider public, you have changed the sport…the Balance Bar series, for instance, had little in common with Eco-Challenge….where-as a sprint triathlon and the Ironman are, at the end of the day, similar. The finisher of the sprint race can envision the Ironman…the Balance Bar finisher can’t comprehend a multi-day experience…it’s apples and oranges…and you can’t regulate it into a relatable package.

As for sponsor dollars? Bottom line is, we are never getting the media focus and TV revenue back in any meaningful way…Burnett invented reality TV with this sport…but, it has evolved far beyond even him now…and the folks at home would much rather watch Snookie get beat down again than watch Team Raidlight paddle 5mph or jog through a tough trek…after watching all but naked models starve themselves on a desert island for 10 seasons, AR just isn’t compelling enough for a large audience (and its ad revenue) anymore. I still love mucking around in the woods, and I’m sure I’ll jack out the entry fee for another AR at some point…but, my expectations for what the sport will or will not become stay pretty modest.

Spectators are a key missing element to AR, it’s almost impossible to ad them however due to the secrecy of the course, times when teams will pass, etc. etc. The Ausable canoe marathon is widely called the world’s toughest spectator sport, draws thousands of people to drive from bridge to bridge all night long to follow the race. It takes planning, but by making the spectator part of the event it has made it wildly popular for a sport that normally has the same problems of AR.

As a race promoter I agree with most of your points. Here are my responses to each:

1. The name is what it is. In Central and South America the events are often called “multi-sport” but to me multi-sport can be anything and doesn’t define the sport or illustrate the difference between our sport and triathlon.

2. GPS…hmmm, I don’t really know what a high end hand held GPS can do so I can’t decide, but your point seems valid. Personally I think there will be few kids today that can read a map when they grow up.

3. I have had people vet portions of the course, but our profit margin isn’t going to allow us to pay someone. If we do then your point #14 goes bye-bye. We have made mistakes in the past and we now use mapping software and GPS to confirm the correct location of all CPs.

4. Simplify the sport, I TOTALLY agree. Nothing was more irritating than having to buy kick bike for the 2004 primal quest. Most teams left them behind on Orcas Island.

5. No UTMs, we don’t require UTM plotting because we try to make our events beginner friendly. It would be easy to produce an accurate UTM sheet if the course was checked for accuracy using GPS.

6. Boat Choice; We allow teams to bring their own boats simply because we don’t have the resources to provide them. I agree with RetiredARcompetitor, let paddling skills be the deciding factor. I would go so far as to say that if the best cycling team in a race had to use the low end bikes of another team, they would still kick butt over most of the field. The same is not at all true in paddling.

7. White water please…okay for expedition events requiring skill and experience, but the skills needed to safely negotiate white water would be prohibitive to new racers. In my opinion, white water is the most dangerous discipline in AR and I believe PQ is lucky no one was killed or seriously injured in Montana.

8. Good Maps; Agree 100%. We used 1:40,000 MyTopo waterproof maps for our first expedition and decided that in the future we’ll stick with 1:24, 000 (if we have enough entries and can afford it).

9. Clues are only a backup in case a team is unsure of their navigation. I agree they should be simple so as not to confuse less experienced teams.

10. Mandatory Gear; We have the shortest mandatory gear list I’ve ever seen. Spot devices have made it far less likely that teams will have to fend for themselves for long in the event of an emergency and allow us to limit the gear required.

11. Inform volunteers…it sounds so simple but the truth is many volunteers have never participated in AR and really don’t understand why this information is so critical. They come and go during the event and nod their understanding even when they’re confused. The confusion can be minimized by making all information clear in the rules of travel given to all teams before the event begins, sticking to those rules and cut-offs as much as possible, and when there are changes make sure that they are in writing and that every team captain signs that they understand and acknowledge the changes.

12. Co-ed Rule…IMHO the co-ed team is the basis of AR, and should be encouraged. There is something to be said for tradition. We allow all male but only co-ed teams are eligible to win prizes. I do not like events that have so many categories that it seems everyone it top 3 in some category. We do not allow solo and have only allowed two person teams to race “unranked”.

13. Ropes are usually a part of an expedition and 24 hour events are meant to be stepping stones towards racing in expedition races. Therefore, I believe that ropes should be included as long as the ropes section is meaningful and interesting.

14. We try to keep fees as low as possible and even say that you get more hours of racing per dollar at our events. If anything we have been pricing our events too low. We spend a lot of money on feeding racers and volunteers before and after the event, replacing rope, purchasing top quality maps, gas used travelling to the course to pre-run every leg of the intended course as well as other routes teams might take, permit fees, insurance, publicity and prizes. That’s not even all of it. I don’t know of any race promoters on the west coast that make a decent hourly wage putting on adventure races. I enjoy producing the kind of event that I’d want to race, and my reward is talking to the teams after and reading the race reports following the races.

15. I like your treasure hunt analogy, I might try that one out for awhile. I don’t think that many people can understand the challenges involved, the adversity we face and overcome, and the teamwork and determination that we have all discovered within ourselves while competing in adventure races.

While it is an interesting read, there are a few things i disagree with. gps should not be allowed, if you want to do a triathlon, do a triathlon, a gps just allows dumb (sorry to be blunt) people to compete/ survive till their batteries run out. same with utms, these are skills that should be mastered for outdoor travel. race directors or ar web sites that want more participation could/should come up with learnable and accessible navigation instruction information to make it easier for prospective racers. coed teams should be the standard, not just a bunch of “dudes” stomping around in the woods. i think intelligence, social skills then endurance should be the order for a well functioning ar team.

by the way, the term adventure racing is just fine, if your friends are all up into “snookie” and have never heard of ar, you need to broaden your circle of friends. to get ar out to the public, i think the race director needs a pr person specifically for that job. hype the race in the media before the event, direct possible spectators to websites. then when the race starts, brief them at the start or via the internet/twitter to spectating locations. it could be like a live action geocacheing event.

thanks for posting this story, and if you would like follow our similar discussion in Michigan at the following address http://www.infiterrasports.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2038&sid=c4aa5bc0c7d5fc106a543ea44b816c93&start=45

This is bound to be a great discussion, good article and a lot of people have valid points as well.

It won’t let me add my comment, maybe because it’s too long-winded haha. But the talk about Primal Quest Montana and people “almost dying” is total crap. I answer it here since it won’t accept my text: What Adventure Racing Needs, and Why The Whitewater at PQ Montana Was Awesome

I love this sport! Especially when it involves kayaks.. I also agree that allowing the gps kinda defeats the purpose of the activity.

Dennis
http://www.portablekayaks.com/

An interesting article and some valid points – some which I agree with (well vetted courses, informed volunteers, simplified course rules/gear lists) and some which I would not be so keen on (allowing GPS, removing coed as the premier category). It’s good to have a healthy debate.

My question is, do we really need to have AR grow into a mainstream sport? I love a healthy level of competition, however the major personal appeal of AR is getting out into the bush with my team mates and challenging ourselves using an array of vastly different skills. I don’t need hundreds of other teams out there to do this, nor do I need a million people at home to know what is happening and what it is all about. The satisfaction of racing comes from “nailing” a good race, not from the prize vouchers or a token piece of sponsored gear at the end if you manage to crawl onto the podium. I quite enjoy trying to explain AR to the uninitiated and then walking away knowing that they still didn’t really get what it is all about.

The only major advantage of growing AR in my opinion is that there would be an increase in the number of races to choose from. Perhaps it is a little different racing in Queensland, Australia, but I pretty much race every event on the calendar and still can’t get enough (one 48hr race, two 24hr races and a handful of sprint races and rogaines every year).

And to address a couple of other points raised in the article: I’d say yes to more ropes and more whitewater, but surely race directors are limited on the terrain available? Getting permits to an area with great trails to ride AND off track trekking AND whitewater paddling AND rope work must be near impossible. I feel that AR should be achievable by novices to the sport to allow the satisfaction of crossing the line as a ranked team – rogaine elements and bonus/non-mandatory CPs are perfect for this. I also don’t feel a central governing body for AR would actually be a good thing, provided some better informal communication between race directors. The diversity in races (eg length, marked vs unmarked maps, boats provided, etc) serves to keep the “adventure” in adventure racing, however I suspect this is a whole other debate in itself.

Ultimately, as has been highlighted by others, the inaccessible nature of AR in itself will always be a limiting factor on the growth of the sport, and that’s the way I prefer it.

Thank you for stepping up and making suggestions. Just that is very appreciated. My thoughts:

1. “AR” doesn’t make sense, there really isn’t much “adventure” in this sport, “multi-sport” is the truth but it won’t sell, so “Adventure Race” it is.

2. GPS – This is how people navigate now. Might as well join the club.

3. Vet the course – Would be a huge, huge help, but this comes down to quality control by the individual RD. I quit AR because of bad experiences with this.

4. UTM – Nobody has even heard of this except when required to do it to enter an AR. Keeps people away for no reason; makes experienced people feel superior for no reason.

5. Your own boat – tricky, because we don’t want people to spend their way onto the podium. OTOH, what self-respecting athlete would ever touch a rubber ducky? BYO for sure.

7. Whitewater – if the area has it, let’s see if you can run it. If you can’t, go fishing instead.

8. Good maps – OK.

9. Clues – Absolutely. It’s a friggin’ race, not a darned guessing game. Let the athletes race each other.

10. Mandatory Gear – We used to joke it should be called the “Equipment Challenge”. Ridiculous piles of stuff; experienced outdoor people are put off.

11. Inform Volunteers – Basic QC by RD’s again.

12. Co-ed – whew, very tricky, but I fully support reverting to standard categories (Female, Male, Mixed). At the top level, you are SOL unless you have one of the top women, which is limiting to many.

13. Ropes – this is so bogus the sport loses credibility with climbers. OTOH, if you have a deserving course, throw it in. Just do it after the field has stretched out so no one has to stand there for an hour.

14. Fees – Another RD call.

15. Pitch – Just remove the sappy hyperbole and I’ll be happy. No “ultimate”, “primal”, “conquer”, etc.

I think the #1 thing holding adventure racing back is the craziness factor. As long as articles about the sport involve people bragging about not sleeping for days and hallucinating it will never be popular. That’s just my opinion, but I do feel like I’m exactly the type of person that would need to become interested in AR if it were going to grow, and that’s what puts me off it. I’ve heard of a few events that have enforced rest time essentially in that the stages can be completed in less than a day and you can’t complete more than a stage in a day. I’m convinced that if AR is going to grow it will have to move in that direction. I actually think this is required for both the top and bottom levels – beginners don’t want to hallucinate, and I would imagine that companies would consider it risky to sponsor an athlete that literally goes crazy when they’re competing.

Also – marketing. After the race someone needs to go through all the footage, edit it into something that people will want to watch and put it on youtube. A month ago I got interested in the idea of AR again and started talking about them to friends; not to convince them to train just for conversation – but this is the kind of thing that spreads awareness. So I went looking for videos to show them what adventure racing was. I suggested some search terms and we ended up watching videos of starting guns – people walk/jogging away, or people walking up hills, or people talking about what the course is like. Check the primal quest youtube channel and imagine trying to get someone excited about ar from that compared to say the leadville 100 bike race http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAFN0baVpfE&feature=fvst. I know that every person I’ve shown that video has wanted to go mountain biking immediately. The videos dont need to have that high of production values but they need to be that exciting.

I’m impressed by the comments above. Racers are passionate about their sport. The majority may not want changes to the defining elements of AR. Here is one possible future for AR

You want the sport to take off? You need to mimic triathlon. Triathlon’s success isn’t due to it’s ease of entry or attainability. it’s due to the hundreds of shorter-distance events that exist. Easy enough for ANYONE to try out, get their feet wet, and decide if they like it or not. IMO, adventure racing veered horribly off-course when the sport became more about RD’s advertising how few people actually finished the event.

Go back to the roots. More short and intermediate distance races. Figure out ways to get more people involved. Make it something that anyone can try. Once they get the bug, they’ll be back for more.

The sport needs to be less about making it soo hard you can’t finish and more about growing the base. I’m not saying there’s not a place for the primal quests and expedition style races, but the sport can not subsist, as history has proven, on those events alone. If the sport is to thrive, make it more accessible to joe smith, and his friends.

A well-timed cri de couer from a racer who’s been there and done that. I’ve been racing in AR since…good Lord…1998 (Hi-Tec, anyone?). I’ve been the media director of gigantic races (Primal Quest) and been a race “director” — of the infamous BAAR Brawl.

Stephen brings up some excellent points. I don’t agree with them all (especially on the subject of navigation), but most of them are well thought out and trenchant.

Unfortunately, I’m one of that first generation of racers who have faded away from the sport simply through burnout. There’s not much you can do about that, but as long as devoted directors like those at the Gold Rush keep putting on excellent races, there will always be an audience.

This is a much needed discussion. As a racer, volunteer and director who’s been in AR for over 9 years, I can say this
1) AR is NOT a triathlon. It’s a team sport. It’s about having an adventure. It is sad to see that it has become way too competitive. This is the turn off for beginners and why certains choices are made when putting on the event.
2) When I started, teams had to supply all their equipment, learn the skills and supple their own support crew. Hell, some of my best memories were when we were at a TA. This was back in the day where there weren’t many races going on, races had huge feasts, live bands and a few prizes if any at all…and there were over several hundreds of people at them. Go figure.
3) If we want AR to grow, we need to do what Barnett did. Racers need to volunteer and do PR work as well instead of trying to get sponsors. You get the people and sponsors will follow.

As another golden oldie of the sport I continue trying to hang on to the passion & excitement of past expedition races. Unfortunately most original AR junkies have moved on to other less gear intensive & affordable sports. We don’t necessarily need AR, we crave challenge & love the aspect of exciting endurance events. The recent direction of AR includes a few questionable race directors who chose to ignore any form of protocol or legal obligation to acquire land permits, backing from local authorities, medical staff, reliable volunteers & appropriate safety procedures. They tout their events as “rouge training sessions” & expect the participants to support their reckless behavior. All form of “adventure” is lost in the insanity of hiding from the authorities. These directors give what’s left of AR a bad name & make it impossible to work through the proper channels to get legitimate events endorsed on any level. Don’t get me wrong, there are several 6 – 24hr events out there keeping the sport alive. But at the expedition level in the US, be careful what you sign up for…

Broadening the sport means more money for race promoters. That’s where flexible categories are useful.

My team would love to see 12-18 hour races. We have jobs, love the races, but can’t really justify driving 6 hours to a sprint race (and don’t like that distance anyway) and can’t take off enough time for a 24+ hour event (though we’d love to race in that distance).

As for gps, make that part of the sprint class for beginners, sure, but not for the longer distance races.

We like self-sip ported races, b/c it’s hard to find someone who wants to go along to drive the car around and sit on their hands for hours.

This is what I’m talking about with racers. Racers really need to think of the bigger picture. Volunteer and promote. Be a support person, take pictures, video, prepare food, give first aid for people (and equipment), walk the dog, read an AR book…heck, build a fire by just rubbing sticks. Just because you’re not racing doesn’t mean you are doing nothing. Go without the racer getting high feeling for a couple of races and support the cause. AR really used to be a lot more fun and interactive. I liked meeting people from all over and getting their story.

What a great article and insight into the situation of AR. THere is always so much talk about AR among racers and all towards growing the sport to increase participation. As a female racer I admittedly biasedly disagree with abolishing the coed element. We have one of the few sports here where teams strategical decisions and teamwork so often triumph over physical prowess, where women can be just as strong as the men, the fact that only one women is needed per team of 4 guys means it should be easier to find one ; )There is also an increase in the category “couple” in races on continental Europe so it is also catching on in other endurance sports (ultra and mountain marathons/runs)

Great article, thanks to everyone giving input, too. As part of an event production company that does AR events, getting these discussions going is important. AR is fun, and most people can do a sprint if they’re reasonably fit, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be as popular as triathlons one day (because, lordy, THAT isn’t fun :D).

My only desire is to allow Adventure Racing to grow sufficiently to sustain itself and offer 1 or 2 world class events each year. I participated in trialthon from its inception in San Diego for 12 years and did up to 17 races per year. I felt the sport lost a lot of its essence when it added the standardized Olympic distance events. You lost the races that were shaped by their geography and had a hilly long bike or an unusually long run. It became a sport where you were trying to shave a minute off your PR for this or that. I eventually lost interest.

Triathons success has helped the professionals to race and support themselves, but they are not even on the same level as professional cyclist from an income level. All triathon gained was more specialized gear, larger races that sell out quickly, and various parasites that offer coaching for each speciality to allow a middle of pack athlete finish in the middle of the pack.

I wish AR allowed someone like Rebecca Rush to continue to participate on a reasonable level or provided challenges to Mike Kloser and let the “local elite teams” get some gear and expense reimbursements to let them compete and give the rest of us something to strive to achieve in the next race. I have gained my information from the local elite teams to help me graduate from each distance and feel they are the core of the sport.

I personally feel that the essence of Adventure Racing requires at least two people and navigation. Coed and 4 person mandatory races are definitely a constraint as it is difficult finding anyone who wants to race 24+ at your expected level of competitiveness. I think the Checkpointzero championships have a good idea limiting awards to coed teams, but allowing more people to compete. Obviously, the world class events must remain coed, but if you have 10 teams competing it probably is more of a local event. Also, I agree that that the sport would be well served with some schedule management, but currently its seems to be a “summer sport”.

Navigation and sleep management is why I do AR. It is the key to the sport and and it needs to be mastered to participate. However, my first sprint AR barely required a map and it progresses as you move up levels. It is a skill I struggle with, but understand that it is the right of passage to mastering the sport.

I like that most people do not know about or understand AR. I see a lot of same people at every race and they are some of nicest people that I have met in any sport. There seems to be very little ego in the sport, but it is filled with some great athletes and some other teams that just like to give it a go at their own pace. At the end of the race we all seem to enjoy the event to the same degree.

Some of the recommendations listed are in contradiction with each other. For example, “pay a vetter” and “lower the costs”.

Having participated and assisted on a few AR, here are some hints I would give:

Orienteering clubs would vet an AR course for free. The more knowledge and culture of how an orienteering course is designed, specified, clue sheet described, etc, is spread to other organizations outside the small strictly-Orienteering club community, the better. Orienteering is navigation in foot-only races. AR is navigation in foot-bike-boat races. AR and O clubs should join forces and help each other. Many racers in each camp cross borders and participate in events offered in both communities. Sure, there are some cultural differences, as the AR folks are a bit more boisterous, love a mass start, and feel better in a team than rather than solo, but the essentials are the same: find flags with just map & compass. Have a vetter from a nearby O club check the AR course. Offer the vetter a free entry to a banquet. Share the love for the sport, make joint announcements for future events, and both camps will benefit from increased attendance. AR folks will learn how to prepare clue sheets according to IOF specs (International Orienteering Federation), learn how to use a free software tool called Clue, make a foot race more interesting and navigationally challenging, with more route choices, rather than just a trail run with a few just-off-the-trail CPs. The O folks might organize a 6-hr or 12-hr event for the AR folks in mind, or tailor an event more for the AR audience, maybe with mountain bikes (MTB-O), canoes (Canoe-O), other (Extreme-O, Night-O). Share equipment: the AR folks never heard of SportIdent and e-punch, and RouteGadget. Want to put a race with 70 CPs but you only have 25 flags? Borrow the rest from your neighbor. Often, the AR results don’t event include split times between different transition areas. Have participants carry GPS-tracking recorders so that route can be downloaded and uploaded on shared map display to foster community discussion and exchanges of lore. Both AR and O communities have their personal contacts with local parks and knowledge of permit procedures. Share the knowledge, share the benefit. Lots of AR races seem to much weighted on just sheer athleticism rather than smart navigation, giving very little incentive for folks in the 40+ and 55+ age groups, who prefer wits over physicality. At orienteering rogaines of 12 and 24 hrs, the BIGGEST group of participants are in those older age groups, so why not try to achieve the same for AR races ? for that goal, I would eliminate the cash prizes, as they raise the event fees, and the older folks are not interested in winning, but participating. “Don’t just be a spectator, be a participant”. At one rogaine, whose entry fee was below $50/person, the prizes for the various age brackets where home-made ceramic projects made by one of the volunteers (he finally got rid of all the stuff accumulating in his basement), but it was nice, as almost everyone got something, a tangible token to prove that something was achieved, and it wasn’t a standardized distance triathlon-like event, with stop watches and personal-bests, but a walk into the wilderness, crossing streams, and smelling the scent of hemlock trees.

Some great feedback here! After digesting everything, I want to add a few more of my own thoughts to the list. Please see Numbers 16 to 22 in the article above. A few more points to consider on the road to making AR an even better sport!

I was thrilled to read this article, and I sent Stephen an e-mail to say so. I’m even more excited to read all the comments which I neglected originally!

I’m almost 100% in agreement with Stephen on any of the bigger issues. I noticed some GPS hate above, so if anyone wants my opinion on that feel free to read it here.

I don’t believe making AR mainstream is reasonable in our generation. I think that making it sustainable should be the first step.

Having recently completed the CPT Nationals in Moab, I find it surprising that the series organizer is one of the first to applaud this article while violating several of the suggestions. Here are a number of examples:

4) Simplify the Sport – What’s the point of starting a 28 hour race with a 30 minute riverboarding section? Hardly anyone owns a riverboard and the extra gear (board, fins) were more nuisance than benefit to the race.

5) No UTMs – Every point had to be plotted, with the vast majority of UTMs not handed out until the race began. There is some benefit to not giving away the entire course the night before the race (believe it or not, some teams figure out ways to cheat), but hand out maps with CPs already plotted.

6) Boat Choice – The only boat options were the rentals, and everyone would tell you they left a lot to be desired.

9) Clues – There were none.

11) Inform the Volunteers – This had to be one of the biggest disappointments of the CPT Nationals. First, there was no pre-race meeting for racers to ask questions. Second, volunteers were not given vital information either. For example, volunteers could not clarify vague time penalties (were the ropes section penalties one hour or three?) or whether points were mandatory or had a time penalty.

17) Don’t Hide the Flags – Most flags were in great spots, but there were a couple that were no more than ankle high. A little reflective tape for night wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

21) Standing In Line / Bottlenecks – For the top teams, this was the biggest frustration with Checkpoint Tracker. By setting up the ropes course (tyrolean traverse and rappel) as the last points of a score-O section with a specific time cutoff, racers of all levels are bound to bottleneck. Some top teams had to wait nearly an hour and missed a second time cutoff. Setting up the course so that the ropes could be done at any point in the score-O would have alleviated the bottlenecks and anger.

22) Changing the Rules – For Checkpoint Tracker, they designed the entire series to be a point total based on finishes in races through the entire season. This was even confirmed on the race site after qualifications were removed. Without an announcement or any notification, the entire Checkpoint Tracker points rankings were thrown out and prizes awarded solely based on this one race. That sucks, but it’s even worse to tell racers after the event is over!!! My condolences to team WEDALI, who was the only team to earn a perfect series points total, but was shut out of all the prizes as a result of the rule change.

Last, I would like to add one addition: timely race results. There are races that have taken a month to post results. Checkpoint Tracker had an award ceremony, but results were not known for another four days!

The premise of the sport is great and I love adventure racing whether you call it AR or by any other name. Still, race directors need to see the race through the eyes of their paying customers in order to grow the sport.

Maybe a grassroots movement can rally around an adventure racer’s “Bill of Rights”? Allow me to take a first cut at it. We, the adventure racers, understand that every race is unique and creative in it’s own way, but we demand the following from all adventure race directors in all races:

1. We must know our standing in the race. When we finish the race, we immediately want to know if we won or what place we came in. We understand that some teams might be disqualified later for certain reasons, but no team that finishes behind us should somehow move ahead of us. During the race, at various points, we want to clearly understand where our current standing is and how far behind (time) we are to the teams ahead of us. It should be so clear that any fan can understand this as they check real time standings. This is the essence of a race. If you cannot provide this, it is not a race, but something else. (Yes, this eliminates ROGAINE-style finishes and hundreds of variants currently in use.) Additionally, provide split-times of the race, in a way that is useful and easy to understand, in a timely fashion to the participants and fans.

2. Your race should be finishable. Vet your race and ensure that enough people can actually finish your course in the time you allow. If not, than your race has essentially become a ROGAINE-style finish or some other variant, and you have violated rule #1. Hint: Allow for quick, on-the-fly, modifications to accommodate changes to weather conditions or unexpected faster or slower lead teams.

3. Be reasonable on the mandatory gear. Packing the correct gear for the race should be a personal choice, for the most part. Give suggestions, but do not demand every last gear detail. Specify mandatory gear items that directly contribute to safety, and nothing else. Allow us to be creative with our gear choices. If teams are found to violate such important mandatory gear and have compromised their safety, that is probably grounds for disqualification, not some weird penalty.

4. No queues. Don’t make us wait in a queue for anything, but especially during the race.

5. No more divisions. Allow us to be creative in how we build our teams in order to win (gender, age, skills, etc.), but do not create divisions. If racing in a team of 8 is somehow advantageous, so be it – there is probably something odd with how you designed the course in such a case. Note: If there is sufficient danger on the course, we understand that solos might be disallowed.

6. The start is the starting line. Our time is precious. We want to arrive at the race and line up for the start like in a race from any other sport. That’s the start. Don’t make us “check-in” 12 hours before a 24 hour race and have us spend hours in gear check or working through maps before the race even starts.

7. Keep point plotting to a mininum. Do not make us spend too much time, if at all, plotting coordinates during the race. This is primarily a physical race, not a test of how “detail oriented” or “quick with a UTM grid” we are, or that we remembered to pack a workable writing instrument.

8. Checkpoints and flags/markers should be reasonable to find. If you must include ROGAINES in the competition, place flags in reasonable and understandable features, and do not hide flags. Do not make it a test of our eyesight, a competition of the power of our lighting at night, or an element of dumb luck. If it is a manned location, your volunteers should not have to be a racing expert to find the correct location.

9. Don’t short course us past the fun stuff. We understand that short courses are necessary, but don’t short course us past the fun stuff that we spent our money on. Hint: Slower teams prefer to skip long treks, bikes, or part of ROGAINES, not ropes courses or other special disciplines that they don’t often get to do.

10. Keep it simple, stupid. When you design your course, the logistics, the rules, etc., say “keep it simple stupid” to yourself, over and over. Hint: if you are overwhelmed with a lot of questions before and after the race, there is room to improve. If volunteers need to answer questions they don’t know the answer to during the race, no doubt there is room to improve.

I completely agree with “KISS”, but as a new race promoter it is not as easy as one might hope when dealing with all the red tape and politics that go into obtaining permits and permission to host a race. Most of the tedious rules that we are required to subject the racers to are not set by us. Instead of poking my eyes out with a dull spoon, I view it as part of the adventure, and that helps me get through it. I truly have a deeper understanding and respect for what other promoters have to go through to put on a race. What I can promise is that we will do our very best to keep it simple, but please know that often times our hands are tied. For those of you who are interested, we are BigMountainAR.com, and we will be hosting 3 affordable races (6-9hr, 12hr, 24hr) in the Colorado Springs area this coming 2011 AR season. We hope that you can make it! By the way, my thoughts on the name are, if I tell someone AR, they are just going to ask me what AR stands for, then I will just have to explain Adventure Racing regardless.

PS. One of the obstacles we are currently running into with organizing our races, is the kayak issue. If anyone has of knows of anyone with a fleet of inflatable kayaks (solos and tandems) please send them our way. They would be able to keep all profits generated from rentals, and we would do all the leg work and accept all liability. If you do know of a source, please have them contact us through our website www.BigMountainAR.com. Thank you!

Great comments.
As a promoter and racer for years I have done a few things here in the midwest.
1. Have a short 3-4 hour course and long 6-12 hour course to attract all levels.
2. I changed my gear drastically to a few required items and then a Highly Recommended list.
3. UTM is the favorite around here. We do orienteering events in the winter to teach people for the next season.
4.We don’t have white water so we do creative things like building rafts or using canoes on the rivers and lakes.
5.My divisions are pretty equal across the board unless it’s a National Qualifier. We are seeing more women’s teams because of our off season clinics and fun easy events to teach different skills.
My 2 cents. I think the sport has a ton of potential yet at least in the midwest. Keep on keeping on and help people stay healthy and doing things they never thought was possible.

Proposal: try to do a race yourself, then we will come and write you not 10, but 100 advices to follow…..