Adventure Racing World Series

The Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS)[1] is an endurance racing season where adventure racing teams compete in a range of disciplines including, for example, navigation, trekking, mountain biking, paddling and climbing.[2]

Format

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Mixed gender teams of four competitors compete in a series of up to a dozen non-stop, multi-day expedition adventure races held in locations spread across the globe. These races culminate in the staging of the Adventure Racing World Championships, the winner of which is crowned World Champions.

The competition's format provides that each of the individual events of the World Series function as a qualifier for the World Championships. The top two finishing teams in each event secure the opportunity to compete in the World Championships. The field of event winners and second place getters is then supplemented by the reigning world champions, who are given the right to defend their title, and a selection of wild card entrants round out the number of starters.

The actual World Championship race rotates each year. One of the qualifying events is singled out and designated as the World Championship event and this event provides a dramatic conclusion to the end of the World Series racing season.

In addition to the World Championship race, points are assigned to results from each of the qualifying races in the series to determine a World Ranking. Points are allocated on a team's best two results in a calendar year over a two-year period (with heavier weighting given to World Championship results), with the ranking cycle periodically refreshed every 4–6 months.

History

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The Adventure Racing World Championship was the brainchild of Geoff Hunt and Pascale Lorre, long-time adventure racers who sought to "lend badly needed structure to the sport".[3] Hunt and Lorre's vision was first brought to fruition in Switzerland in 2001 where 41 teams contested the Discovery Channel World Championship Adventure Race[4] with the controversy-plagued event eventually won by Finland's Team Nokia Adventure.[3] A team from New Zealand, including Kathy Lynch, came second that year,[5] US Team GoLite (became Nike ACG the following year) was 3rd.

After a two-year hiatus the Adventure Racing World Championships was next held in Canada in 2004 and has subsequently been held every year since.

In 2011 management of the race was passed to the Australian event management company Geocentric Outdoors.[6] The 2011 World Championships - won by Thule Adventure Team - were staged at the XPD Expedition Race in Tasmania, Australia, where 90 teams drawn from 21 countries made for the largest starting field in the event's history.[7] This is testament to the fact that the World Series hosts some of the best expedition adventure racing teams in the world and "continues to grow and become more prominent".[8] Geocentric Outdoors also instigated a number of new initiatives for the world series, including standardized equipment lists and logistics across the races, restrictions on mixed nationality teams at the World Championship race each year as well as the introduction of the World Series ranking system. These initiatives have encouraged larger international fields at the various races by lowering the logistical barriers for participation and rewarding participation in multiple events.

In 2012, the World Championships was held at Raid in France and were won by Team Seagate from New Zealand.[9] The title of World Champion returned to the Thule Adventure Team at Costa Rica in 2013, before again being reclaimed by Team Seagate in Ecuador in 2014. Despite having never won a World Championship, Spanish team Columbia Vidaraid held the number-one position in the World Series ranking through 2014 and 2015 due to their string of wins in World Series qualifying races in addition to their second-place finishes in the 2013 and 2014 World Championships. Seagate regained the top position in the rankings in 2016 after dominating at the incredibly demanding 2015 World Championships, held in the Pantanal in Brazil, as well as in the Shoalhaven area of Australia in 2016.

In the absence of a world governing body, and after the cessation of the dominant world level events in the mid 2000s like the Raid Gauloises (Raid World Series and World Championships) Eco-Challenge, Primal Quest, and Outdoor Quest, the Adventure Racing World Series remained as the only series in the sport.

World Championship results

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Year Country Race World Champion Nationality
2001 Switzerland Discovery Channel World Championships Team Nokia Adventure Finland
2004 Canada Raid The North Extreme Nike ACG Balance Bar USA
2005 New Zealand Southern Traverse Balance Vector New Zealand
2006 Sweden Explore Sweden Nike PowerBlast USA
2007 Scotland Wilderness ARC[10] Nike USA
2008 Brazil Ecomotion[11] Orion Health New Zealand
2009 Portugal Portugal XPD[12] Helly Hansen Prunesco Britain
2010 Spain Bimbache Extrem Buff Thermocool Spain
2011 Australia XPD Expedition Race Thule Adventure Team Sweden
2012 France Raid in France Team Seagate New Zealand
2013 Costa Rica Costa Rica AR Thule Adventure Team France
2014 Ecuador Huairasinchi Explorer Seagate New Zealand
2015 Brazil ARWS Brazil Seagate New Zealand
2016 Australia XPD Expedition Race Seagate New Zealand
2017 USA Cameco Cowboy Tough Seagate New Zealand
2018 La Reunion Island Raid in France Avaya New Zealand
2019 Sri Lanka ARWS Canceled
2020 Paraguay Expedición Guaraní Canceled
2021 Spain Raid Gallaecia Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team Sweden
2022 Paraguay Expedición Guaraní Team Avaya New Zealand
2023 South Africa Expedition Africa Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team Sweden
2024 Ecuador Huairasinchi ? ?
2025 Canada Expedition Canada ? ?

2015 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
GODZone Adventure Race New Zealand March 2015 Seagate New Zealand
Tierra Viva Chile April 2015 SAFAT Sweden
Raid Gallaecia Spain May 2015 Haglofs Sliva Sweden
Expedition Africa Swaziland June 2015 Merrell Adventure Addicts South Africa
Expedition Alaska USA June 2015 Tecnu USA
Cameco Cowboy Tough USA July 2015 Tecnu USA
XPD Expedition Race Australia August 2015 Mountain Designs Australia
Raid in France France September 2015 Raidlight France
ARWS Brazil Brazil November 2015 Seagate New Zealand

2016 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge Belize February 2016 Team Adventure Medical Kits USA
GODZone Adventure Race New Zealand April 2016 Team Yealands Family Wines New Zealand
Tierra Viva Chile April 2016 2 DSN 74 Hoka France
Expedition Africa South Africa May 2016 Team Featherbed Painted Wolf South Africa
Expedition Guarani Paraguay July 2016 Columbia Vidaraid Brazil/Spain/UK
Cameco Cowboy Tough USA July 2016 Team Adventure Medical Kits USA
Huairasinchi Ecuador August 2016 Fairis Ecuador
ITERA Expedition Race Ireland August 2016 TEAM FMR France
Raid in France France September 2016 Seagate New Zealand
Xtrail Expedition (Demonstration Race) China September 2016 Thule Adventure Team Sweden
XPD World Championships Australia November 2016 Seagate New Zealand

2017 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Expedition Guarani Paraguay March 2017 Cyanosis South Africa
Huairasinchi Ecuador April 2017 Terra Aventura – Finalin Ecuador
Raid Gallaecia Spain May 2017 Naturex France
Expedition Africa South Africa May 2017 Skylotec Adventure Sweden
Xtrail Expedition China June 2017 Seagate New Zealand
Raid in France France June 2017 Lozere Team2Raid France
Cameco Cowboy Tough World Championships USA August 2017 Seagate New Zealand

2018 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge Belize March 2018 Bones USA
XPD Expedition Race Australia April 2018 Tri Adventure Antelopes Australia
Expedition Guarani Paraguay May 2018 Columbia Vidaraid Brazil
Expedition Africa South Africa May 2018 Blizzard Russia
Expedition Oregon USA June 2018 Leki Sweden
Huairasinchi Ecuador June 2018 Movistar - Terra Aventura Ecuador
Nordic Islands AR Sweden/Finland August 2018 Swedish Armed Forces Sweden
Shenandoah Tough USA September 2018 Mountain Race Company USA
Raid in France World Championships La Reunion Island, France December 2018 Avaya New Zealand

2019 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Expedition India India March 2019 Naturex South Africa
Expedition Guarani Paraguay April 2019 Columbia Vidaraid Brazil
Expedition Oregon USA April 2019 Quest AR USA
Raid Gallaecia Spain May 2019 Team Yeti Denmark
Huairasinchi Ecuador June 2019 Columbia Vidaraid Brazil
Nordic Islands AR Sweden/Norway July 2019 Swedish Armed Forces Sweden
ITERA Scotland August 2019 Lozere Team2Raid France
Expedition Africa Rodrigues Island September 2019 Greener Adventure Cyklekraft Sweden
Adventure Race Croatia Croatia September 2019 USWE Sweden
Sri Lanka World Championships Sri Lanka November 2019 Canceled* -
  • Canceled due to 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings

2020 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Patagonia Raid Argentina February 2020 Columbia Vidaraid Brazil

Canceled races (due to COVID-19):||Expedition Africa, Adventure Race Malaysia, ITERA, Raid in France, Adventure Race Croatia, Expedition Oregon, PC 12 AR, XPD Adventure Race, Nordic Islands AR, Huairasinchi, Expedición Guaraní World Championships

2021 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Huairasinchi Ecuador December 2020 Team Movistar Terra Aventura Ecuador
Expedition Oregon USA May 2021 Columbia La Jolla IVF Spain
PC 12 AR Colombia June 2021 Team Bosi Colombia
Nordic Islands AR Sweden June 2021 Swedish Armed Forces Sweden
XPD Adventure Race Australia July 2021 Resicon-Thought Sports Australia
Huairasinchi Ecuador September 2021 Team Movistar Terra Aventura Ecuador
Raid Gallaecia World Championships Spain October 2021 Swedish Armed Forces Sweden

Canceled races (due to COVID-19):||Expedition Africa, Adventure Race Malaysia, ITERA, Raid in France, Adventure Race Croatia, Patagonia Raid

2022 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Panama AR Panama February 2022 Brazil Multisport Brazil
Expedition Africa Lesotho April 2022 Estonia ACE Adventure La Sportiva Estonia
Expedition Oregon USA May 2022 Vidaraid USA/Spain
Adventure Race Croatia Croatia June 2022 Swedish Armed Forces Sweden
Expedition Canada Canada June 2022 Bend Racing USA
Raid in France Australia July 2022 400 Team Naturex France
Huairasinchi Ecuador August 2022 Fairis-Proflora Ecuador
ITERA Scotland August 2022 Racing Denmark Denmark
Expedition Guarani World Championships Paraguay September 2022 Avaya New Zealand

2023 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Legend Adventure Race Australia February 2023 E-dog and the JJ's Australia
Adventure Race Croatia Croatia May 2023 Swedish Armed Forces Sweden
Expedition Canada Canada May 2023 400team Givaudan Sweden
Endless Mountains AR USA May 2023 Bend Racing USA
PC 12 AR Colombia June 2023 Vidaraid Spain/USA
Huairasinchi Ecuador July 2023 Andes Racing Ecuador
Nordic Islands AR Faroe Islands August 2023 NIAR Sweden
Expedicion Guarani Paraguay August 2023 San Juan Aventura Argentina
Expedition Africa World Championships South Africa October 2023 Swedish Armed Forces Sweden

2024 Adventure Racing World Series

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Race Country Dates Winner Nationality
Legend Adventure Race Australia February 2024 Blunder Bus Australia
Tierra Indomita - Vulania Chile April 2024 Vidaraid Spain
Expedition Ozark USA May 2024 ? ?
Malacara Expedition Brazil April 2024 ? ?
Adventure Race Croatia Croatia May 2024 ? ?
Expedition Africa Namibia May 2024 ? ?
PC 12 AR Colombia June 2024 ? ?
Rajd Beskidy Poland June 2024 ? ?
Raid in France France July 2024 ? ?
Expedicion Guarani Paraguay July 2024 ? ?
AR Panama Panama August 2024 ? ?
Expedition Oregon USA September 2024 ? ?
Expedition Africa World Championships Ecuador November 2024 ? ?

References

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  1. ^ The Free Dictionary, 2011.
  2. ^ Science Daily, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Swift, 2001.
  4. ^ "Discovery Channel World Championship Adventure Race TV Special". IMDb. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Multisport: Heroes make a year of it". The New Zealand Herald. 9 January 2002. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  6. ^ Sleepmonsters, 2011.
  7. ^ AG Outdoor, 2011.
  8. ^ Adventure Junkie, 2011.
  9. ^ Explore Compete Live, 2011.
  10. ^ Scotland, 2011.
  11. ^ Xtreme Sport, 2008.
  12. ^ Xtreme Sport, 2009.

Bibliography

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Alpine Quest