(Picture:- Two years ago the Sanlam Painted Wolves shocked the adventure racing world by coming 4th in the 2016 World Championships. Can they match or better that position this year?)
Two well known local adventure racing teams – Merrell Adventure Addicts and Sanlam Painted Wolf – are ready in the starting blocks of the Adventure Racing World Championships (ARWC) on Reunion Island, and over the next week ‘dot watchers’ will be monitoring their progress online (click here for the page), no doubt with much excitement and more than a little nail-biting. The Merrell Team includes Graham Bird, Grant Ross, Tracey Campbell and Hanno Smit (who has only just finished fighting the fires that threatened his home and timber business in Elandskraal), whilst the famous Collins brothers Mark and John are running with the Painted Wolves, along with Andre Gie and Robin Owen.
This exceptional event will welcome 65 international teams from 21 nations to a spectacular start line on the Indian Ocean Island (a French territory). Reunion has a tropical climate, dense forests and active volcanoes and teams will compete on a non-stop course between 5 and 8 days, over 450km with disciplines including trekking, MTB, kayaking, packraftng, caving and canyoning.
The very best adventure athletes in the world will be attending, including nine teams in the world top 15 ranking lead by the current title holders and world number one team, Avaya (New Zealand). The top French team are Naturex, 4th in the ARWS ranking, and other qualifiers who have won a World Series race this year are Bones (United-States), Tri Adventure Antelopes (Australia), Columbia (Spain), BlizzarTri-Adventured Movistar-Terra Aventura (Equator),
The AR World Championships is a race without comparison, an intense competition for experienced athletes and enthusiastic amateurs who are motivated to take on the challenge. Adventure races offer an immersion in nature that is unique and appeals to strong human values – versatility, autonomy, dynamism and generosity – all essential for a team to progress to the finish line together.
Patron To Start the Race in a Volcanic Crater
The start of this exceptional sporting event will be in the village of Hell-Bourg, in the Cirque de Salazie. This is one of the main volcanic craters on the island and Hell-Bourg is listed among the ‘most beautiful villages in France’ … the only one not on the mainland. It’s a spa town with lush vegetation and heritage architecture, surrounded by the steep rock walls of the crater.
The race will be started by its patron, Jackson Richardson. Born in Saint-Pierre on Reunion Island, Jackson is a former handball international who was voted the best player in the world in 2001 and was a flag carrier at the Olympic Games in Athens. He has generously decided to support and invest in the race and will be present all through the event.
You can see a video interview with him here. https://goo.gl/5UkVmE and find out more about the race at www.raidinfrance.com
About the Adventure Racing World Championship
The Adventure Racing World Championship (ARWC) has been held each since 2001. It gathers the best teams from the AR World Series, which unites multi-sport raids from around the world. The series currently includes; Raid Gallaecia in Spain, Expedition Africa in South Africa, Cameco Cowboy Tough in the USA, XPD Expedition in Australia, Raid in France in France (this year, ARWC organiser), Huairasinchi in Ecuador, ITERA in United-Kingdom, the Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge in Belize, Expedition Guarani in Paraguay and finally, the Nordic Islands race in Sweden. Each one of these rounds qualifies the winners to the grand final, the Adventure Racing World Championship (ARWC).
For more information on the AR World Series:
Website https://arworldseries.com/
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/arworldseries/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/arworldseries/
Twitter https://twitter.com/ARWorldSeries
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/arworldseries
#arworldseries #arws #adventureracing #dotwatcher
Released 6 Aug 2018 by Rob Howard of Sleepmonsters, re-written from Raid in France
