Team Thule Adventure Team Wins Adventure Racing World Championships

The Adventure Racing World Championship is still ongoing in Costa Rica, but as I write this, two teams have crossed the finish line, claiming first and second place respectively. The winners of the race, and this year's world champions are Thule Adventure Team, who finished in 168 hours,  27 minutes. That translates to a little more than seven days or non-stop racing. Second place went to Columbia Vidaraid, which came across the line at 171 hours, 34 minutes. Right now, it appears that Adidas TERREX Prunesco is in position to claim third place, although they aren't home yet.

The race got underway last weekend with the four-person, coed teams facing a 700+ km (435 mile) course designed to test their endurance, skills and determination. At the time, it was thought that the top teams could potentially complete the route in about 4 to 5 days. But, it turns out that was a very optimistic estimate. Thule is perhaps the best team in the sport today, and it took them 2-3 days longer than projected.

As is typical in adventure racing, this course mixed trail running, mountain biking and paddling. It started on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and finishes on the Atlantic Coast. In between there were miles of rainforest to cross, rivers to kayak and mountains to climb.

Congratulations to Jackie Boisset, Mimi Guillot, Stuart Lynch and Albert Roca, the athletes who make up Team Thule. This win continues a great run for the team, who have been very tough to beat on an international level over the past few years.

Adventure Racing World Championship Set To Begin in Costa Rica

The Adventure Racing World Championship is set to get underway in Costa Rica this weekend when coed teams of four take part in this year's Costa Rica Adventure Race. The official start of the event is scheduled for Sunday, when a field of 60 of the best AR teams from 26 different countries line up at the starting line.

The race is scheduled to last up to nine days, although the winners are projected to finish in just four. It will begin on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast and end on the country's Atlantic side. In between, the competitors will run, bike, paddle, climb and raft through 700+ km (435 miles) of dense jungle and mountain terrain.

The Costa Rica Adventure Race is the final event on the AR World Series calendar for 2013. The teams that are competing in the race have all had to qualify by racing in other ARWS events throughout the year. This event will crown this year's world champs, with teams such as Seagate, Adidas TERREX Prunesco, and the Thule Adventure Team expected to be in the mix. It should be quite the event for fans of the sport and be sure to check out the Costa Rica AR website for regular updates and team tracking.

All-Female Adventure Racing Team Eyes ARWC In Costa Rica

Last year, the all-femaile adventure racing team of Ducati Bicycle Rideaway made history when they not only competed in, but completed the AR World Championship in France. That was a first for a team consisting entirely of women. This year, the girls are back and aiming to do it all over again in the ARWC to be held in Costa Rica this November.

The team, which now goes by the name of AdventureOfSweden.com, consists of Jeanette Aviander, Carolina Andre, Kristina Carling and Linnéa Grahn, is the only all-girl team competing in Europe and is one of the few in the world. Traditionally in the sport of adventure racing, the coed teams consist of three men and a single woman. Occasionally those numbers shift to two men and two ladies and rarely do teams have a single male racer with three females. A squad entirely made up of women is practically unheard of.

Despite this gender discrepancy however, these four women simply love racing with one another and are looking forward to competing at the ARWC again this year. When they do go to Costa Rica to compete, they'll be followed by adventure filmmaker Randy Ericksen who will document their race from start to finish. That should definitely prove to be an interesting film.

Good luck girls!

Video: Mammoth Media Reel 2013 Inspires Adventure

Mammoth Media is a company that specializes in making beautiful short films, often about the places and activities that we love so much. Last week they released the video below showing off some of their skills, while simultaneously giving us a glimpse at some fairly spectacular settings. The clips were shot on location in places like Costa Rica, Switzerland, Alaska, Africa and more. The reel is suppose to serve as an online resume of sorts, but it is also a great inspiration for adventure. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

MAMMOTH Reel 2013 from MAMMOTH on Vimeo.