Meet the RD: David Adlard Expedition Idaho

How long have you been producing this race and what is your favorite memory form hosting it over the years?

Race Director David Allard

Our first event was in 2011, and was hailed as one of the best expedition length races ever, with perhaps the greatest finish in AR history. Getting every team across the finish line in prime time in the midst of an 1800 person blues and brews festival brought tears to my eyes, as well as to the racers. Mimi from Team Thule (the 2011 champs) said “this is a finish I will remember for my lifetime!”

What makes your style of race production unique?

We really focus on the details, and on making the event as racer-friendly as we can… we go way above and beyond to do things like have hat food at the TAs, getting their gear where it needs to be on time,  great swag/awards and more.

Why should participants choose your race as part of their schedule? 

This is going to be an OUTSTANDING, epic expedition over some of the most amazing territory in the world. Also, teams from this year’s ExpId get first dibs at slots for next year’s Expedition Alaska, which is shaping up to be perhaps the greatest race in AR history!

What are the best terrain features in your state?

Where do we start? Untracted mountain wilderness, rivers, lakes… it is an awesome venue!

How do you think adventure racing compares to mudder events, why should athletes try real adventure racing?

There is no comparison. True AR, especially longer races, is a true test of every aspect of an athlete, including teamwork. Mudders are fun, a true AR race can be life changing.

Can participants expect any changes you’re willing to share from past years events? We are keeping the amazing finish, and will do everything we can to get every team to the finish line, but the course will be completely different from the 2011 course, aside from the start/finish… ;)

Any advice for first time racers?

Practice your perseverance, and realize that perpetual forward movement will get you where you need to go. This will be an epic adventure you will remember for your lifetime!

Learn more about this 7 day adventure at: http://expeditionidahoadventurerace.com/

The Race Organizing Team: Expedition Idaho

THE RACE ORGANIZING TEAM!

We are truly blessed to have one of the most experienced, awesome teams in the world to help put this race on!

This is how we can put on such a huge project and still make sure we take care of the details!

Dave Adlard – Race Director

Dave is the president of Perpetual Motion Events, and is the race director of ExpId, Adventure Sports Week Idaho, the upcoming Riverside 24 Hour Relay (www.r24relay.com), and is the meet director of the Great West Gymfest, among other events. A two time Ironman finisher, he has also completed many adventure races from 6 hours to over 5 days. He is also an experienced mountaineer, saber fencer, chef and author. He currently lives in North Idaho, and spends his free time biking and trekking the wilds looking for cool race courses.

Mike Kloser – Co-course designer and asst. race director

Mike is one of, if not THE most successful and experienced adventure racers of all time, as well as mountain bike world champion and several time national champion in several disciplines. Mike was a key part of designing the very successful ExpId 2011 course and is back helping with ExpId 2014! We are blessed to have him as a part of our team!

Here are some of the other key folks – we will flesh out their bios over the next few weeks!

Pete Claydon  - Media, communications (England)

Kraig Becker – Writer of “The Adventure Blog” -Social Media

Ammi Midstokke – Author – Social Media

Rick McCharles - Writer of Besthike.com amongst others. Social Media and website design

Lisa Adlard - Volunteers

Deb Lawson – On course TA support

Paul Moyer – Computers and tracking

Steve Bristow - On course support

Corey Haustein - TA Crew chief

Many more coming! 

Meet the RD: Brent Freedland & Abby Perkiss GOALS ARA Cradle of Liberty

How did you get into adventure race production?

 Bill and Anne Gibbons, Founders of GOALS Adventure Racing Association have been producing sprint, 12 hour and 24 hour races for the past decade. It all began on our living room couch, watching Eco-Challenge, saying to each other…”that is so cool!”. Then Bill tried to find some local races, there were none to be found. Using our 25 plus years of organizing large groups, working with a variety of personalities, coordinating running and teaching at a search and rescue school - we put all of that skill together to form the production side of GOALS. Bill has raced at a variety of other adventure race venues, which gives him a great perspective of both sides of the playing field. In the beginning we were doing it all. Within the past few years we have been very fortunate to have some wonderful course designers join our all volunteer team. Brent Freedland and Abby Perkiss directed the Cradle of Liberty 24 Hr race in 2012 with rave reviews from the participant racers. Their attention to detail is phenomenal, and this year’s race course will not disappoint!

Brent: I began directing races five or six years ago with one of my teammates from GOALS ARA. We started with a sprint race, and after directing a couple of shorter events my teammate and wife, Abby Perkiss, and I decided to take the next step and direct a longer event. We took on the Cradle of Liberty 24 hour adventure race in 2012 and the rest is history! Our good friends Rodney and Amy from NYARA always say that we as racers should give back to the sport, our organizations, and our friends by volunteering and organizing events, and I agree whole-heartedly with that sentiment.


Abby: I co-directed (with Brent) my first race, the GOALS Savage sprint, in 2010 or 2011. It was a great experience, applying everything we'd learned as racers and getting to see a race course from an entirely different vantage point. We had a blast designing that race but we ended up not being there to direct it, because we had committed to racing ourselves the same weekend. The 2012 Cradle was the first time I got to see the race from beginning to end - from concept to design to implementation - and I discovered a real symbiosis between racing and race production - being a seasoned racer allows you to envision a course in a unique way, and designing and directing an event changes your perspective when you're competing.

2. What are the biggest challenges you face as a RD in your area?
Brent: Other than the typical permitting issues that all RDs face, it can be challenging in eastern Pennsylvania to find large enough tracts of "race able" land for a quality event. My partner in crime, Abby, and I feel strongly that we always want to offer racers something new and something interesting, and due to numerous factors, it can be difficult to do this at times. We have lots of interesting ideas for future events, but many of them require significant travel for us during scouting adventures which adds further challenges to us as RDs.

Abby: Without going into more detail on the unique issues in the eastern half of PA, I second Brent's response!

3. What can participants expect...that you're willing to share?

Brent: The last time we directed the Cradle in 2012 we utilized a number of small semi-urban parks. It was a whole lot of fun to design and race, and to maximize the small tracts of land we had available to us, we placed well over 100 checkpoints. I've never done a race like that as a racer: an urban event with so many points to choose from, and ultimately I think our racers had an amazing time and were surprised at how much enjoyable land is hidden away in urban Pennsylvania. This year we set our sights on a more rugged and remote course, and we believe this will be the most "epic" feeling course in GOALS ARA's history. We may not have 130 or so checkpoints this year, but we still have more than average, I'd say, so teams will have plenty to look for while traversing some fantastic and very diverse land. When we tested the course with a local racer, he remarked on how varied the course felt. In short, not only will the course feel more wild and challenging, it will be beautiful if you take the time to enjoy it. Racers can expect some fantastic vistas, some wonderful single track mountain biking, opportunity for significant off-trail navigation, some amazing natural features, and as Abby and I teach history, at least a few interesting historical relics. Oh, and while racers will essentially be in the woods the whole time, we did manage to find one fine-dining establishment on the course, and I think it's better than 2012's fast-food stop!

Abby: I think you can tell a lot about what a racer values in a course, from the courses he or she designs. Anyone who competed in our 2012 race will likely tell you that Brent and I like a high concentration of checkpoints, challenging navigation, unique features, and a healthy degree of route choice. Though this course, as Brent said, should feel quite a bit different in terms of the terrain and location, racers can still expect these broad characteristics throughout the event. And yes, we've got a great food option awaiting teams mid-race!

4. What is the biggest change from last year's race?

Brent: The terrain. Being within an urban environment, 2012 teams were challenged more by distance and strategy considering the number of checkpoints we placed. It was a demanding course since it was longer than many 24 hour events, but the terrain was less daunting. This year's course will include more significant off-trail travel (if racers choose) and some significant ascents and descents. But we promise those climbs will be worth it!

Abby: Yes, this year's race should feel a lot more "wilderness-y" than our last one. Teams will travel through more remote areas and will see pretty varied scenery and conditions across the course.

5. What advice do you have for training or just from general experience in the AR world?

Brent: Get some hill repeats in. Sharpen your map-reading skills. That said, don't be afraid to jump on board! We have several options for teams who might not be as fast or who can't get in as much training as they'd like, so teams should still have a great race even if they can't get to every corner of the course. We feel confident that it will be a memorable event and we hope that racers like it as much if not more than our event in 2012!

Meet the Race Director: Grant Killian & Untamed New England Adventure Race

1. How did you get into adventure race production?

I raced for a few years, and became disappointed by the quality of some other events. There would be no navigation, or poor attention to details, or just not a good value for money.  I told myself: "Jeez, even I can do better than this!" and it turns out I was right :) It turned out making a high quality race a reality was another fun way to enjoy the outdoors, our friends, etc.

2. What are the biggest challenges you face as a RD in your area? 

There's the normal issue with permits and sponsors -- the US is at a big disadvantage in this regard versus many other countries. Personally, the toughest challenge is time management and making time to enjoy family and other things in life ALONG WITH adventure racing. It's a sport that demands a lot of attention.

3. What can participants expect...that you're willing to share?

For the 2014 edition of Untamed New England, I'll give you a NAARS scoop: this race course is enormous, physically the largest we've ever done with big cross-country legs in every discipline. Big paddles combining many waterways; big treks combining mountain summits with lots of navigation and strategy; big bike legs -- the first bike leg is around 75 miles, I think, and if you consider a map of Maine and imagine where you could be after 75 miles, your jaw drops. The course is split into 5 distinct legs and each "leg" is an adventure race in itself. One "leg" combines paddling, biking, and trekking, another combines paddling and biking, another is trekking and packrafting, and then there's the "kitchen sink" leg that folds together biking, trekking, whitewater rafting, and packrafting into a single "leg."


4. What is the biggest change from last year's race?

The biggest change this year vs our previous expedition is that for 2014 it's no-holds-barred. Have you seen our race roster? We have a dynamite international field and fully 10 teams could compete for the top 10 positions in the AR World Championships, so we set a course worthy of the challenge. In 2012 we set a high bar in terms of epic sections with lots of strategy and challenge; for 2014, we've built on that to push the envelope. In 2012, there were professional guides in the whitewater boats; in 2014, we're going to see how teams handle smaller whitewater rafts in a self-guided manner (Raid in France did this quite successfully a couple years ago, and I think teams will love it). In 2012, the race course had 3 mountain summits; in 2014, there are 7. In 2012, we had a collection of 12 race maps that were 11x17 in size; in 2014, to encompass the full area, we've got multiple sets of large maps that teams will use to navigate to the finish line. I think 2014 will, succinctly, set a new standard for us in terms of rugged cross-country traverse race courses.

5. What advice do you have for training or just from general experience in the AR world?

If you are serious about big multi-day races, and by "serious" I mean you want to go and compete at your best (whatever that means for you), you need to shift your whole thinking when it comes to "training" but always recognize that this is supposed to be fun. Find ways to incorporate being active into your normal routine. By this I mean consider running the 4 miles to and from the gym instead of driving there and back (and that will add an hour or two to your workout); don't drive to the grocery store if you can ride your bike instead, and get practice hauling a load back in the form of all your groceries; sit on an exercise ball at your desk instead of a conventional chair; when you're paddling your kayak, take the seat back support OUT so your core gets more exercise stabilizing your body when you paddle; when going for a trail run, intentionally leave the trail and work in some bushwhacking and travel over uneven terrain. These are all specific examples of how to make your exercise more intense or to incorporate more fitness into your daily routine. You need to incorporate being active as a way of life, not just something you do between 6 and 7:30 PM on weeknights.

Learn more about Untamed New England Adventure Race and how to follow the event as it goes on!

Meed The RD: Ronny Angell and the Blue Ridge Bear Fix

1. How did you get into adventure race production?

I was an adventure racer for 6 years, mainly racing Odyssey Adventure Racingevents and through those years I was volunteering at all of their events I wasn't racing and eventually came on as a staff member. In 2004 Don Mann approached 2 other couples and my partner and me as asked if we would be interested in buying Odyssey. I had been a welder for 20 years up to that point and was debt free for two weeks! I was like what an opportunity to do what I love and continue creating events that changed my life. So we bought Odyssey and I was SO lucky to have Joy Marr stay on my staff and teach me ever thing she knew about adventure racing design and production. Through the pass 9 years of race production,producing over 150 events, I have learned  a lot long the way and  I have made some mistakes!!

2. What are the biggest challenges you face as a RD in your area? 

Finding new areas to produce races. I like to show racers new places that hasn't been seen before. The challenge is connecting all the beautiful areas I know with out crossing private land and/or long paved road sections. Most of the land owner are good about giving us access but it can be challenging to track them down. I love single track mt. biking and finding miles of it to add to a race can be tough at times.

3. What can participants expect...that you're willing to share? 

Well I like to show case the areas natural beauty the best can. So at times that beauty requires people to go up! So elevation gain and loss is very common in our events and I like to structure the race so the racers really have to think and strategy so it's not all about who's the best athletes. At times I am limited with my permits where I can and can not go so I have to require teams to go a certain way or route, but I try to work around that the best I can to give the racers options.

4. What is the biggest change from last year's race? 
Probably it would be, not so much biking dominate (Did I mention I love biking) and more trekking sections with challenging off road navigation(most favorite next to biking). I'm sure racers will encounter a long trek or two.

5. What advice do you have for training or just from general experience in the AR world? 

Try to be well rounded in all your disciples. Train your weakness and maintain your strengths. Dial in your nutrition before race day and have food variety! Mental toughness and adaptability are your biggest assets. Build your team around personalities first and skill and athletic ability second. It will create a better race experience for everyone. Once everyone is tried, true personalities come out and sometimes that can't be worked through were if you are a good team that works good together and communicates well you can over come athletic ability. Everyone at some point will be a Rock Star and a groupie. Last would be ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE! STOP AND "SMELL THE ROSES" from time to time!

Learn more about the Odyssey Blue Ridge Bear Fix in 2014 below!

http://www.oarevents.com/events/2014/Odyssey_Blue_Ridge_Bear_FIX_2014.shtml

Expeiditon Idaho: New to the NAARS

Expedition Idaho will be held August 10, 2014!

Expedition Idaho first event was in 2011, and was hailed as one of the best expedition length races ever, with perhaps the greatest finish in Adventure Racing history. We really focus on the details, and on making the event as racer-friendly as we possibly can. This makes our race production very unique and different then others, also, we go above and beyond to do things like have hat food at the TAs, getting their gear where it needs to be on time, great swag/ awards and more.

This is going to be an outstanding, epic expedition over some of the most amazing territory in the world. Also, teams for this year's Expld get first dibs at slots for next year's Expedition Alaska, which is shaping up to be perhaps the greatest race in Adventure Racing history.

There are so many awesome terrain features in our state, such as the untracted mountain wilderness, rivers, lakes ect. There is no comparison to mudder events to adventure racing. True adventure racing is loner races and is a true test of every aspect of an athlete, including teamwork. Adventure racing is not only fun but it can be life changing to people.  

This years course will be completely different then previously, aside from the start/finish. Advice for first time racers, practice your perseverance, and realize that perpetual forward movement will get you where you need to go.This will be an epic adventure you will remember for your lifetime.

Expedition Idaho 2014, mandatory gear is highly recommended to bring with you. Expedition Idaho is a 500+ mile, 7 days “Human Powered” multi-sport adventure race through the mountains, lakes and wilds of North Idaho’s beautiful panhandle. It features what many say is the finest finish line experience in the world, as well as many more extras that are above and beyond what one would find or expect in other races. It features, trekking, kayaking on various bodies of water, mountain biking, ropes work and more as the athletes navigate by map and compass over some of Idaho’s most remote and beautiful terrain.

Weather: Usually hot and dry, but as with any weather in North Idaho mountains, “Mixed” would be a fair way to describe it… you will experience everything from heat to cold, to rain, to wind to snow… Snow?  Yes, if this is a “normal” winter, you WILL likely encounter some snow, though it shouldn't be significant enough to really make a dent in your progress. No snow gear required at this time.

NAARS 2014 Series Update

Hello Everyone,

I hope this finds you all doing well and in good spirits. We would like to thank all of you for your support in building such positive energy  for the sport of adventure racing in 2013. It is hard to believe that the The Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge is only a few short months away, and we will soon be starting another season of the NAARS. We have already seen an increased interest in race inclusion for 2014 from across the U.S. thanks to all of us working together.  Our crew is excited for yet another year and the opportunity to  learn and grow. The 90 minute Docu-Adventure following TeamSOG in the 2012 Season will be airing around the Holiday season on NBC Universal Sports. We will provide more information on dates and airtimes as the air date approaches.

Some of the major subjects that have been thrown around by different RDs that we feel are directly relevant to our sport are:

A.      Having a non-profit governing body. USA triathlon, USA Cycling and  USA Running have all been directly responsible for the unprecedented growth of their sports. USA Triathlon has seen a 300% growth over the last decade. It is imperative that any governing body for our sport be NON-Profit.

B.      GPS?! Everyone has it, it is nearly impossible to officiate its use or (non-use), and it brings a map to your device.

NAARS would like to facilitate a chat session among Race Directors on this and other subjects in late November. If you would like to participate or if you have suggestions that you feel would help our sport continue to grow, please let us know by emailing info@americanadventuresports.com to provide you a date, time, and invite to the chat room.

From a logistics stand point, Gnarly Crew Media has rebuilt the NAARS website for 2014 in hopes of making it cleaner, the results submission process more streamlined, and make the rankings easily accessible for racers. Basically, we think it’s a lot better and welcome any feedback for improvements that we can make upon the platform prior to our series' start in March of 2014. As always we will be trying to get SWAG out as quickly as possible this season with the hopes that our sponsors provide the items upon schedule.

 With the addition of new sponsors already, we have been enabled to offer the Regional Championship races over $5,000 worth of gear including a bike rack from the folks at Kuat and a $300 certificate for the winning coed elite team to use towards the 2014 Championship produced in the Badlands, ND  by Andy Magness of ENDAR. Prestige and Prime race inclusion will both still be available as well with the same premise as last year. You can review all the perks of each sanctioning level under to Directors page on the new site. The race addition process for the calendar is now open along with the new race results submission form. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns, we look forward to working with all of you again in 2014 and hope to see you in Belize racing or volunteering. Please contact Doug at doug@americanadventuresports.com if you are interested he can help/hook you up with pricing for traveling and/or competing.

Best Regards,

Ashley Reefer

Director of Business Development

American Adventure Sports

ashleyreefer@americanadventuresports.com