Meet the RD: REV3 Adventure

The second NAARS Prestige race of the season is a little over three weeks away! The REV3 

Shenandoah Epic is set for Saturday April, 20^th and will surely been a fun weekend for all in attendance. 

The great thing about REV3’s race is that it is truly suited for all levels of racers – beginners and advanced.  Set in the beautiful forest of Shenandoah State Park, the race will provide wonderful scenery as teams run around collecting as many points as possible and completing team challenges.  Registration is open until April 15^th, so there is still time to get signed up and have the time of your life doing something good for your body and mind!

Mark Harris, the race director, loves sharing his passion of Adventure Racing and introducing people to the sport.  Mark recently took some time and answered a few questions about his role in AR- here is his story.

How did you get into adventure race production?

Both Mike Spiller and myself started putting on local adventure races with a focus on families and getting kids outdoors about six years ago.  We both love the outdoors and have a passion for adventure racing and being able to put on fun events that mix biking, trail running, and navigation for youngsters was something that we enjoy doing. With a partnership with REV3 in the past 2 years, we have been able to reach a larger athletic audience.  In the next 18-24 months we have plans on expanding into trail running and mountain bike events.  This year we have established a new trail series and will be hosting 5k Glow Runs at numerous cities this summer. Our dedication to quality and ensuring that we put on fun and exciting event are our primary goals.

What are the biggest challenges you face as an RD in your area?

Safety and permitting. The safety of our competitors is our biggest challenge and concern.  By its very nature adventure racing, mountain biking and adventure sports have inherent risks.  Ensuring that we can provide the safest environment without being overbearing is very hard.  It leads to many sleepless nights.

Being able to balance a quality course and getting the permission from land owners, state authorities and federal authorities is challenging. This summer we are hosting a 3.5 day race in Wyoming and permitting for the course is a monumental tasks.  We are working with over 10 agencies and about 8-10 private land owners.  Getting everything to sync up is time consuming and mostly out of our control.  Contingency plans for route access are a necessity in the event a permit or access is revoked at the last minute.

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

For any of our races, competitors can expect a fun and challenging race that is geared toward beginner and expert racers.  We have taken part in many races that are either too hard and demoralizing or cater only toward elite racers.  We make sure that our courses can be completed by beginners and newcomers and still provide a challenge for the top teams in the country. 

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

We have invested heavily in an ePunch system.  We think this will prove a better experience for spectators and athletes by proving quick and accurate race updates and final results.  Having the digital systems also allows us to focus on other elements of the race rather than tabulating and calculating scores from traditional pin punch

passports which are very time-consuming.  Our epic weekend will see 180 teams racing so having a quick and accurate way to tabulate results is almost a necessity.  The ePunch system will help us grow our events without timing and scoring becoming a bottle neck.

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

For shorter races general physical fitness is a must.  Get out on a bike and lay down some miles.  Practice your mountain biking skills and improve your technical skills through practice. 

Get the right gear. It makes all the difference especially in longer races. 29" wheels and a hard tail bike will really help biking efficiency. For longer races (12 hours plus) the number one thing is nutrition.  I have seen so many teams have to bail because they have not been eating and drinking throughout the race.  At 2 AM it is the hardest thing to keep eating and drinking when your belly just feels rank. Second to that is team chemistry.  There is no point in doing this stuff if you are not having fun.

Meet the RD: American Adventure Sports

After an exciting start to the The North American Adventure Racing Series (NAARS), the series continues with the Prestige Race, the American Adventure Sports Yough Xtreme on April 27^th, 2013.  This race is held in beautiful Ohiopyle State Park in western Pennsylvania as a 5-hour (Sport Class) and the 10-hour (Elite Class).  Only the 10-hour race will count towards the ranking points for the series. 

This challenging adventure race includes mountain biking, trail running, kayaking and orienteering for approximately 30 miles (for the Sport Class) or 60 miles (for the Elite Class). This "sprint" race is suitable for beginner, intermediate and advanced adventure racers and promises you the thrill of a lifetime.

Teams of one, two, three, or four people will be trekking, orienteering, mountain biking, kayak paddling for a combined 60+ miles.

Doug Crytzer, President and Founder of American Adventure Sports, is the Race Director of the Yough Xtreme AR. He has been producing high-quality, and challenging Adventure Races since he started the company in 1997. Here is part of his story.

What are the biggest challenges you face as an RD in your area?

Definitely the weather - it's ever changing and unpredictable. That’s why it is so important
that our athletes be prepared for any situation when competing.

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

Ha, ha. This is a fast tempo race that's lots of fun. Even though it’s one of the oldest
sprint races in the country, it’s always a challenging and beautiful course.

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

Though the Yough is held in the same park every year, it’s a different rac

What advice do you have for training or just from general experience in
the AR world?
In adventure racing, the fastest team doesn't always win and the slowest team doesn't always lose.  You must race with your teammates, don't race your teammates - team synergy is a force multiplier. You also have to control the mental aspect of the race by avoiding the highs and lows emotionally.

e every time. The entire course changes creating a need for a new strategy each year. 

And remember that being lost, getting a flat or swamping a boat, doesn't mean your race is over. Train like you race. Who Dares Wins! And of course, Body maintenance, body maintenance, body maintenance!

NAARS Maya Mountain Adventure Race

Greetings –

We hope this newsletter finds you well. We have arrived safely back in the U.S. and have spent the last week reflecting on our experiences and how lucky we are to have the opportunity that now stands before us. Belize and its people have provided us with incredible inspiration, and, since our return, we have been hard at work transforming our experience into action. There is much to do!

The Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge (MMAC ) has taken on a life of its own. What started as a typical adventure race production has developed into a testament of one of the last truly unspoiled corners of the world. On our first trip to Belize in February 2012, we were introduced to the beauty of the Maya Mountains and its people. When we returned in November of 2012, Friends of Conservation and Development (FCD) director, Rafael Manzanero, unlocked for us the secrets of the Chiquibul and the Mountain Pine Ridge and, with them, the possibilities they contained for an epic adventure race. We knew we’d come to the right place.

During this last visit to Belize, we set several goals for ourselves including routing the course, testing individual segments, deepening existing relationships to understand how we might mutually benefit from a world-class event, and securing new Belizean partners to provide logistical, operational, and media support for our endeavor while starting to generate local interest. Due to the warm receptions of Belizeans, as we’ve grown accustomed to, we were more successful than we could have hoped.

We started the week meeting with Ian Lizarraga, Chairman of the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) and Nancy Marin from the Belize Film Commission (BFC)/NMProductions to forge a partnership for financial support of the MMAC. After gaining a better understanding of BTB’s own goals and initiatives to boost adventure tourism in Belize, we are now hard at work drafting a detailed grant proposal to obtain matching funds from BTB to produce a feature documentary of the race. Aside from providing compelling, adrenaline pumping coverage of the event as teams race non-stop across 220+ miles of jungle wilderness, the film will showcase the natural beauty of Belize and the opportunity for adventure that exists within its borders. We truly believe that supporting each other will help us all achieve our goals.

The talented film crew from Aphelion Entertainment and Curbside Productions, who accompanied us on this latest trip to Belize, captured hours of amazing footage that included sweeping vistas, majestic scenery, and candid interviews. NMProductions additionally helped facilitate filming on location in Belize – a tremendous asset that allowed us to maximize our time. Curbside’s Dan McBride and Aphelion’s Justin Holt are now working on creating a trailer that represents our vision for the documentary, which we will be submitting along with the grant proposal later in March when we return to Belize to continue work on the MMAC.

Every seasoned race director knows that it takes an army to successfully produce an adventure race. When hundreds of sleepdeprived racers are spread out over hundreds of miles of remote wilderness, communications and safety are critical as well as having the trained staff and volunteers who provide them. While in Belize, we were lucky enough to connect with Loyda Martinez and Sargent Thomas Rivars representing the Belize Disaster and Rescue Response Team (BDARRT). As an NGO focusing on skills training for emergency response in both urban and wilderness settings, BDARRT will provide both ropes management and medical response for the racers should any emergency present itself. Loyda and Thomas additionally introduced us to Major Charlton Roches, the Operation and Training Officer of the Belize Defense Force (BDF). Major Roches and his resources will provide communication capabilities over the race course as well as additional medical response capabilities.

Although we dedicated a lot of time to securing these partnerships, we also were able to cover a great deal of the course by vehicle, on foot, and by boat. Aside from setting off on a few of our own expeditions to vet the proposed routes, Raul Rodriguez and Misael Romero at Hidden Valley Inn (HVI) graciously opened the doors of their 7,300 acre jungle paradise to us and lent us guide Rick for an amazing day that showed us even more beautiful locations for this epic race. Situated along the banks of the Macal River, Blackrock Lodge shared with us their stunning views of Blackrock Canyon and tranquil environment which attracts some of the world’s most beautiful birds (and some pretty adventurous travelers). Do we sound excited yet?!

The possibilities were expanded even further when Brian Woodye at the Institute of Archaeology/NICH granted us access to Belize’s magnificent Mayan ruins which will allow us to connect the race with the cultural heritage of Belize and its people. And of course, this was made possible by Major David Harvey at the British Army Training Support Unit Belize (BATSUB) who first unlocked the Maya Mountains for us by providing us with quality maps that previously seemed nonexistent.

We have accomplished a great deal, but there is still more to do. We will be returning to Belize in just a few weeks to work further on routing the course, finalizing checkpoint locations, securing sponsorship, and formalizing a detailed operational plan. We continue to work with the AR World Series to have the race sanctioned as an AR World Championship qualifier for 2014. We are also working on producing a race packet so that we can provide prospective racers with as much information about travel and accommodations as possible to aid in their race planning. We are happy to announce that Cahal Pech Village Resort overlooking beautiful San Ignacio will serve as the host hotel for the race.

As a result of our hard work to date as well as the support of our partners as detailed above, the Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge promises to be an epic event. We have been overwhelmed by the beauty and hospitality of Belize and its people, and are so grateful to have the support of these skilled individuals and their organizations. While we have been successful in our quest to deepen the relationships with our partners, we are even prouder to say that many have also become close friends. At American Adventure Sports, we measure our success, not in dollars, but in the relationships that we build as we grow our business and our family. It is impossible to value the relationships we've made in Belize - they have not only enriched our lives but they also now provide the foundation for turning our vision into reality. Moreover, we hope that we are all moving towards a unified vision and a common goal of enhancing environmental awareness through adventure and making this world a better place.

Stay tuned!! There’s so much more to come on the Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge!

- Doug, Julia, and the AAS Staff!

Meet the RD: KanDo Adventures

The North American Adventure RacingSeries (NAARS) kicks off with ThePalmetto Swamp Fox Adventure Race held on Saturday March 15, 2014.  This race, produced by KanDo Adventures, will be held in the Francis Marion National Forest north of Charleston, South Carolina.  Racers will travel across land, swamp and water seldom visited by man since the elusive Swamp Fox, Francis Marion.

Designed to cover approximately an exciting 55-60 miles, with a finishing time between 10-12 hours, Solo racers and teams of two, three and four members will face some of the most challenging obstacles that nature has in this region.  Racers will be required to plot UTM COORDINATES (Orienteering) to locate check points while KAYAKING/PADDLING (Approx. 10-12 miles), MOUNTAIN BIKING (Approx. 20-30 miles) and TREKKING/RUNNING (Approx. 15-20 miles).

The Swamp Fox course is lineal in nature but all points can be collected in any order within each element…

ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE OF THE SWAMP AND PROVE THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CAN’T!

Be sure to check out this preview of the Palmetto Swamp Fox

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qScYxDMcNDc

Steve Morrone is the Race Director for KanDo Adventures and has been passionate about bringing Adventure Racing to the South Carolina area for a decade.   Here is part of his story.

How did you get into adventure race production? 

I was an adventure racer and at the time SC only produced 1 race a year so we had to travel outside of the state to find good races.  Also, the location where my team trained was a perfect location for an event so when I made the statement that "someone" should produce a race there, I was told "Yeah!  When are you gonna start?"  That was 10 years ago...

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

I would imagine like anywhere, finding sponsors that help offset the cost of the events are hard to find.  Marketing is the second most difficult thing especially for those directors who have a passion for the sport and a full time position somewhere else.

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

One Excellent adventure!  No matter whether their racing in our Palmetto Swamp Fox Adventure Race, Charleston's Mazing Race or ANY event that KanDo Adventures produces, racers will experience the best adventure in the region!

What is the biggest change from last year’s race?

Fresh new terrain to explore, new challenges to overcome and to experience an adventure of a lifetime.

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

Follow the KanDo Adventures motto and the words my Marine Corp Drill Instructor Dad taught me which are, "There's No Such Thing As Can't!" Never admit failure, push through the hard things and always remember, this is great stuff!  Great words to live by!

For more information about KanDo Adventures and Steve's other races, visit www.kandoadventures.com or his Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/KanDo-Adventures.

For all things NAARS, visit www.NorthAmericanAR.com or www.facebook.com/northamericanar.