Home > News

‘We Were the Mandatory Gear’: 4 Women Talk Their Roles in Adventure Racing

Support us! GearJunkie may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

This 3-minute short follows four badass adventure racers as they complete a race. They happen to all be women.

Adventure racing, like many sports, was male-dominated for a while. So much so, that having a woman on the team was “mandatory.” Now, the sport has grown more diverse and more inclusive.

Four adventure racers — Chelsey Magness, Sonja Wieck, Jennifer Hemmen, and Renee Metivier — speak to the gender dynamics of the sport as they race at Bend Racing’s LaPine Loop Race. (You may remember seeing Hemmen from team Curl and Wieck from Team Iron Cowboy in this year’s popular Eco-Challenge TV series.)

This film is short, but it gets the point across: Women are totally capable of adventure racing, and they can bring so much more than just their gender to a team.

“Mandatory Gear” was filmed by Scott Almendinger McGrath, Tim Cowley, Chip Fieberg, and Jason Cornell.

World’s Toughest Race,

Eco-Challenge Winners: Who Finished, Who Won the 'World's Toughest Race'

The Eco-Challenge adventure racing series aired in the '90s, and after 17 years, it's back. These are the Eco-Challenge winners and the teams that finished the 'world's toughest race.' Read more…

Fly Fishing Film Highlights Kayla Lockhart, Mayfly Project

A new fly fishing film from Redington shares the story of Kayla Lockhart, an angler and mentor from the Mayfly Project. Read more…

Subscribe Now

Get adventure news and gear reviews in your inbox!

Join Our GearJunkie Newsletter

Get adventure news and gear reviews in your inbox!