Sep 2004 The North Face Challenge (12hours). 2 UPM teams (me in foreground), crossing one of the many river sections in the race route. (photo courtesy of Nards)

Introduction to Adventure Racing

Adventure Racing 101
(Romi Garduch Sep2004)

“Ready, get set…. TAKBO!!” And the race is on. Hundreds of extreme athletes, weekend warriors, newbies and wannabes have entered the arena of a recently popularized sport known as Adventure Racing, a.k.a. Eco-Challenge. This is a sport of many sports, a challenging mix and match of various disciplines, a torture and test rolled into one, and a package of fun and excitement of a sport adventure.

Running a 10-km event may be fun, cross-country biking in Sagada could give you a boost of adrenalin rush, kayaking the swells off the coast of Verde Island may offer you the thrill, and fast-hiking the mountains of Sierra Madre may test your utmost endurance. Imagine combining these disciplines, and throw in some more flavoring mix of rock climbing, rappelling, river tubing, course orienteering, etc - and what do you get… Extreme challenge, fun and adventure!

In The Beginning
Adventure racing is a young sport. It started when those bored athletes got tired of their routine and tried to put some variety in their sports life.
The Kiwis, living with their reputation as crazy extremists, started the alpine marathon in South Island in New Zealand. That involves a grueling race across miles and miles of mountainous alpine terrain. Then later on, they mix that with skiing, then biking, paddling – and adventure racing was born. Word-class endurance athletes slowly crept into the scene and began competing in international 10-day 500km Eco-Challenge races. Soon the world started watching with shock and awe, in big disbelief, that humans can actually go on and on for several days without, or with very limited, sleep and food.

Soon after, given the natural yearning of athletes for self-destruction by expanding their limits and breaking personal records, all sorties joined the bandwagon. Be them an ultra-marathoner, iron-man tri-athlete, long-distance cross-country biker, multi-day expedition kayaker, elite military special force personnel, and generally, the whole line up of those who hate an 8-to-5 job, clean bedrooms and sparkling toilet seats.

The Local Scene
In the Philippines, we’ve seen the fast growth of this sport this recent past 3-4 years. We did have minor climbathon and mixed-sport events a decade ago, but the big boost came in when international racing events landed our soil 5-6 years ago. Examples are; the 600-km International Elf Adventure race which was held in Leyte and nearby islands, then International Action Asia Adventure race in Subic, recently AXN introduced their own version, and then most recently, North Face Challenge came in. The local versions, which are at times more unforgiving, inevitably dominated the sport scene; Habagat Adventure, Urban Jungle, Enduro, Montalban Challenge, and a lot more. Athletes used to wait and queue for registration, now with overwhelming choice of how to get dead and wreck, they just choose a race based on their mood and schedule. A few became race bums showing up on every races, bringing home medals on good days, and eating dust on bad ones.

With the introduction of shorter race involving course distance of 30-50km, corporate weekend athletes and so-so wannabes, as well as sport strugglers soon plunged in to get their taste of some real adventure. Of course they all did some crash course in basic ropemanship, semi-technical biking, and some paddling that could actually propel a small boat. The good news is, now everybody can try to have fun and adventure in racing events. If you can run some distance - don’t mind if you’re only used to treadmill, if you can handle a bike, paddle a bit, swim a little, climb a decent wall, rappel slowly but safely – then you’re on. Just bring along a not-so-rookie teammate, ‘coz your team might end-up in a middle of the jungle, 50 kilometers from the race course.

Adventure Racing 101
Adventure racing is predominantly an endurance sport. Most sections of the race will involve activities that will require good stamina. Example is to run 8km from point-A to point-B, then bike 30km to point-C. To add an element of fun, organizers would normally include technical sections where you’ll need skill more than endurance (read: REST) such as Tyrolean traverse or Abseiling, or even ‘surprises’ such as game cards, dart throwing, kid’s obstacle course, and other creative crap.

-Teams
Racing teams are normally composed of 2-4 (or even 5) members. Most races in the Philippines require 3 members with mixed gender composition. Some also cater two categories; mixed, and all-males. Support teams are sometimes required. These so-called support crews help bring/retrieve gear in the transition areas. Designated transition areas (a.k.a. ‘Logistics Point’/LP, Transition Point/TP) are points in the race where change of gear are required – normally a change of sport discipline. Example, point-X to Y is to run a mountain trail towards the highway road, then to point-Z will require the use of bikes. This point-Y is the LP, where racers retrieve their bikes and helmets, of course the support crews have to be there first to drop the stuff. Although the course is designed that support crews get there first (there are short-cut routes for them, and they use motorized vehicle), it’s still possible that racers arrive earlier with no transition gear for them. Waiting means losing precious time. Race officials may also give them time penalties.

-Format
Before the start of the race, organizers will advise participants what discipline and skills, as well as gears, are required for the race. But the format and sequence are not revealed until the night before, or the morning before the start. That’s the element of surprise.
In a race, a change of discipline is always a welcome ‘rest’ since the alternate use of muscle group will allow your body to recover and rest even for a little while. Running roads and trails for 2 straight hours is no mean feat for a long race, and extending that to another 2 hours could mean early cramps and exhaustion. A transition to say, sea kayaking, will allow your leg muscle to rest, while continuing to move to the next point using your upper body strength. The key challenge for the organizers and course directors is to find that right sequence and sport combination, so as not to over-exhaust the participants, or worse, to make the race too easy and unchallenging.

The course is normally plotted in a map, with various so-called control points (CP). CPs are nodes connecting point 1 to point 2. A CP that requires a change of gear or equipment is also called an LP (Logistics pt). CPs are established along the race route to ensure that racers are passing through the right path (and not short-cutting the race), as well as to put more control in the race by limiting possible routes - primarily for safety and management reasons. For a short race (30-50km), there could be as much as 15-30 or more CPs. Multi-day versions such as Habagat, Guimaras Challenge, etc… will probably have 40 and more, and with longer in-between-CP distances.

More Tidbits
Race ‘passport’ is required for all racing teams. It indicates team name and members, and it’s where the CP marshals put a stamp, confirming that the team actually passed through them. This is later on checked (stamp, time, penalties) for determining scores and winners.
Mandatory equipments are checked pre-race, as well as in LPs. Penalties are given if some of the required gears are missing, or marshals may not even allow participants to perform certain exercise with the required gear. That could easily mean disqualification (DQ) from the race.
Getting lost is a normal spice of the adventure racing life. Patience, mental toughness and good self-induced morale boost are needed to overcome this challenge to continue to finish the race. It’s not also uncommon for a race course to have flaws and glitches. Sometimes the numerical coordinates or bearing (compass direction) given are simply wrong or with few degrees of deflection. Even straight line distances are sometimes off by few hundreds of meters. The tip is to have patience to try to find the CP using available data, then a good spying and asking-about if that fails.
Personal hydration is very important in any endurance sport. Participants should always carry at least 2 liters in his water pouch, or even more if the next re-fill is deemed far, or weather is desert-hot. It helps to drink mineral water, or mixed drink, as you may find distilled or purified water unappetizing and ‘useless’ after a few hours. Nutrition and energy is also important, better pack in those E-bars and chocolates so you can munch a bit while catching up your breath, you may even stop by a sari-sari store or carinderia for a quick stomach reload, if time permits.

Personal Battle Plan
Participating in a short race event doesn’t mean deciding now and playing tomorrow. The race, although generally safe, has some portions which are inherently dangerous due to its technical nature. Examples are rock climbing, rappelling (or other rope skills), mid-sea paddling, and even off-road biking. The race course are most of the time tough for beginners and without the respectable level of stamina, a newbie may just find it too much for him/her and may decide to quit even before the half mark of the race. The key is to build the necessary basic skills and endurance before tackling a beginner’s race course.

-Mountain Biking
Riding a bike may sound simple, especially if your nanay just ask you to buy suka from a local store. Road biking in the metropolis however, will at least require some proper handling skills on how to dodge street vendors, tricycles, and how to compete for a lane with cars and big trucks. Riding over flyovers could also be tricky if you haven’t mastered the art of climbing big bumps. And of course, mini-jumping in sidewalks will help you move rapidly even with peak-hour traffic jam.

Mountain biking poses a more serious need for preparation. There’s no better exercise than to hit the trail. Off-roads and mountain trails with up-hills and respectably dangerous down-hills require some practice and experience. Endurance requirement is also different, especially on up-hill sections. The best bet is to join an experienced group – who can unselfishly guide and teach interested learners. All local area will have its group, but a good start is your local bike shop, they will surely know of some trip schedules, or will at least link you up with friendly strangers. Be sure you at least pre-train riding your bike on road, continuously for at least 3 hours (preferably 4-6), so you don’t pester them with cramps and breather stops. The key to joining the group is to learn proper handling skills such as speed control on down-hills, proper uphill gearing and pedaling, bail-out techniques, riding positions, and even minor bike repairs. As you progress, aim for a longer ride – say 4-6 hours. That should be a good enough prep for a short race.

-Trail Running and Hiking
Ah this one is easy. If you can run roads and treadmills, you can run trails. The difference is the ups and downs of the trail. Ups – that’s where you’ll probably walk while panting, cursing and soak-sweating, and downs – that’s when you start cracking your knee. The key is to develop strong cardiovascular power on up-hills -normally though mountain hiking; as well as to learn safe down-hill running techniques (ex. using support poles, knee braces, proper stepping and foot-leg control). A good prep is to sustain a run for 1 hour, then longer as you progress. If you can run 15km straight, coupled with a good experience in hiking up-hills for 3 hours – chances are, you’ll survive the race. Less than that would mean a good chance of experiencing cramps and fatigue during the race.
Most adventure racers in the Philippines are mountaineers and hikers, so if you know of one, you can beg and plead for a simple hike tour, probably somewhere in Batangas or Laguna area. It will not hurt if you join an outdoor club, it’s a mine of expert resource and of opportunities to learn outdoor skills. And a good place to find your next boyfriend or girlfriend.

-Climbing and Rope-works
Most races here, especially the Fun version, are generally safe, with a few glitches from time to time. It helps if you have the proper awareness on safety. Falling down from 30 vertical feet is already high enough to break your aging bones.
Wall or rock climbing section in races is generally simple and easy. Well, it’s easy if you ever tried climbing walls. A good prep is to visit the local crags, if you can comfortably climb a relatively flat-vertical 40ft wall 2 times in a row, chances are - you’ll be fine in the race.
Rappelling, a relatively short vertical distance (say 60ft and less), is easy – again if you already tried how to rappel. There’s normally no tricky rappel stunt in races, probably just longer in a tougher race, but generally it’s straight forward and standard (i.e., no advanced rappelling techniques such as Aussie, lizard, firefly, heli, or rescue). Your best resources for this are the instructors in climbing gyms, or, those people in the mountaineering club you recently met in a Reggae party. You must not perform a rappelling exercise in a race if you haven’t tried rappelling before the race. Tyrolean traverse may be safer and easier to learn on-site, but it’s a lot more dangerous for you to try to rappel without previous hands-on experience.
Knots! Oh boy, back to boy/girl scout lessons. The good news is that, normally, the marshals are helping out on the race (presumably to avoid injury and later on, legal suits). But then again, it doesn’t harm to learn a few knot tricks with your gym instructor or friends. An 8-knot is a good start. And you’ll probably survive the race even with the knowledge of, just that.
Slings and cow-tails (with karabiners) are normally required if there are rope-works. This one is easy, just bring with you CE-rated (read: STRONG) mini-ropes or strings, or even flat-web slings. This is normally used for anchoring (-clipping for safety), or safety backup line, one end with a karabiner attached to your harness, the other end (or 2 ends) on the safety line or anchor/s.

-Swimming
You don’t know how to swim?! Geez…! And you want to race?! Fine, ok you may join, but make sure that the swim section is very short (say 300m or less), and that organizers will allow you to wear a floatation device. Some racers have done that in the past, so maybe the race rule is forgiving enough to allow you as well. Better yet, learn how to swim.

-Paddling
Short races may or may not have this. If it has, it’s probably as short as 3-5km. If you’re planning to join a multi-day race (race distance of 100km and above), better hone your paddling, as well as your swell-&-surf handling skills before you venture out. Some races have a paddling leg of 20-30km (2-3CPs of paddling exercise). The best start is to join the Dragon Boat team, they have very good training format. Ah, you’re working and have no time for that crap, ok – during your holidays in Boracay, or Batangas, or anywhere with good flat-water sea, rent a kayak or a banca (from local fisherman), and teach yourself how to paddle. Well, it will help if you ask the bankero or the kayak owner for some tips. Just don’t go far as the wind might blow your soul away to the next uninhabited island.

-Tubing
Man, don’t worry, just ride it. Memorize a good music tune as you may need it when you get bored whizzing in the river with a faster-than-a-snail current.

-Orienteering
This is a skill on how to navigate using topographic map and a compass. It’s how you find your way from one point to another, using known positions in the map and proper direction-finding. GPS or global positioning system (techno gadget that displays coordinates, relative location, etc.) is not normally allowed in the race so learn the basics. Orienteering is mostly the make and break of the race. If you get lost and not able to find your next destination (a.k.a. ‘Control Point’ / CP), you lose precious time and energy. In short races, CPs are normally easy to find, but sometimes it includes a section on some short-distance orienteering exercise. There’s no other place to learn this but through Race Workshops, or a drinking-cum-training session with a friendly mountaineer.
Simple tip, you don’t have to master this on your first race, just make sure your teammate knows how to navigate. Just learn along the way.

-Miscellaneous
There are, of course, other sports or skill set that may be included in the race package. Some past races, for example, required walking on stilts for a fun section, or riding paved road with roller blades, or even riding a tri-bike or local kariton. It may be ideal to become an expert in all skill set and disciplines before the race, but the nature of the game is really to provide something unexpected and challenging, making the race more exciting and a fair game to everyone. The tip is to improve on the weak disciplines, and maximize on the strengths, try to team up with compensating and complimentary strengths and weaknesses. For example, a strong biker can push the team forward during the bike section, and the other member could be a strong rower – leading his team in the paddling portion.

Adventure Gears
· Race backpack.
For a multi-day race, this could be a 5-10liter small backpack which has an inside-pouch provision for a hydration plastic bag (ex. Platypus). This should be big enough to allow possible carry of additional gear such as harness-sling-karab set, helmet, bike tools, head-lamps, emergency jacket, and even food and extra bottle of water. For shorter race version, a small ‘kamelbak’ type would suffice. These small packs have enough space for a 2-3li plastic hydration bag, plus minimal set of tools or food-bits. Other gear would have to be externally clipped or attached if necessary.
· Outfit
Race shirts or singlets, or bibs are normally provided. This is the ‘uniform’ so participants are easily identified. There is no ‘standard’ bottom-wear so this really depends on personal choice. Anything comfortable as long as it’s non-cotton; it should also be quick-drying, and breathable (i.e. no under-coating in fabric). Some people use running shorts, others prefer board-shorts, and some use cycling shorts/pants. Shoes will depend on the terrain. Short urban races may dictate you to use running or cross-trainer shoes, but a race set in a rougher terrain may require trail shoes. Trail shoes (ex. Salomon, ACG Nike, etc.) are normally designed for off-road; durable material but light-weight, it should provide good traction, it has hard outer soles, and may even be ‘water-through’ (water can be squirted out, unlike the waterproof shoe version, ex. Goretex). Socks? If you’re even wearing one, just make sure you have a polyester liner to prevent cotton-cuts. A thinner non-cotton trekking socks is also a good bet. Wet socks are common in races, so thick socks will just absorb more water.
· Bike set
The race brief will specify what type of bike is needed, either road or mountain or hybrid. Road bikes are normally lighter, more rigid, with thinner wheels (less than 1.5”, sleek tires) and generally designed for speed. Cross-country mountain bikes are more for rugged terrain built for durability and off-road capability. Tires are thicker and provide good traction, good front, and optional, back suspension, and impact-rated frames and handle bars. Rated road or crash helmets are mandatory in races to avoid serious head injury. Bike repair tools such as chain tool, tire changing tools, Allen wrench set, tube patch, pumps, extra inner tube are all must-haves. Stopping a ride due to damaged bike could mean quitting the entire race, so better to be equipped than sorry. Flashing tail-lights, as well as head-lamps, are also required if you expect night rides.
· Climbing gear
This includes a CE-rated seat climbing harness, 1 locking karabiner for harness, descending/belaying and ascending devices (as needed) such as 8-ring, ATC, ascender, etc. Cow-tails are normally being required for safety reason. It’s a short length of sling (rated string or flat-webbing) in ‘V’ fashion, with the main end attached to the harness, and the 2-ends with a karabiner each used for attaching to anchors and safety lines.
· In-Water Disciplines
Water exercise could be dangerous, especially if performed mid-sea, or in deep or rough river system. PFD, or personal floatation device, is necessary to prevent drowning, or exhaustion due to treading and struggling. Goggles are normally optional and may only be useful for long-distance swim. Boats and paddles are always provided by organizer so no need to worry about that. You may need to carry waterproof dry bags or pouch to protect cell phones, wallet, picture of your dog, etc.
· Orienteering
You just need a good compass. The best bet is the Silva-type (flat transparent plastic, about 5x4 inches square, with liquid-filled compass. Maps are normally provided, unless otherwise specified by the organizers. Topographic maps are available in NAMRIA office in Fort Bonifacio in case you need them. Oh, and make sure you have a waterproof bag for your maps (and passport), a big ziplock plastic bag will do.


Ready to GO

So you’ve done your training, acquired your gear, and now convinced yourself of a suicidal but fun-filled life. Good. The last step (and the beginning of a new adventure life), is to join a race. The best sources of information are sports shops as organizers would normally post their ads here (bike shops, sports centers, climbing gyms, etc.); sports websites - except that most event would have its own site; race e-groups – this is the easiest, fastest and most reliable source of news info, so better ask your racer friend for the next schedule, or better yet, enroll in the e-group (ex. karerista@yahoogroups.com).

Start looking for potential team mates. If you’re a beginner, better hook up with someone who has tried this stuff. Try to gauge your strength with others so as not to bore them, or kill yourself trying to catch up with the team. Most teams are only made after the race information is released. Teaming up decisions are sometimes made on the perceived difficulty of the race based on what disciplines to perform, or what difficulty ‘tip’ is advertised in the race brief. For example, if you sensed that a numerous island-to-island paddling is required, a good member candidate is an avid rower, or old-time kayaker. Or, if tricky trail-less jungle-mountains are deemed part of the route, a good navigator is on the top of the candidate list. Short urban races with a simple format (ex. Urban Jungle) make teaming up a lot simpler. Worse case, just join any group and you’ll still find it ok -- as long as your objective is simply to race and finish, and not to win the first prize.

Excited already? Good, now fix your busy schedule and put some spice by adding some new routines. What? You’re still sitting there and reading a magazine, get the hell out and start training! =)

(fin)
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Editor’s note:
The author is a non-competitive AR athlete who has participated in several AR events in the past (listed below).
Adventure Racing Events
· The North Face Challenge Sep 2004 (Team Aconcagua)
· Puerto Carrera (multi-day) Race, Dec 2003 (Team Badinger3)
· Urban Jungle Adventure Race, Nov 2002 (Team PVP)
· AXN Samsung Challenge (Timex Expedition team), Oct 2002
· Camiguin Habagat (multi-day) Adventure Race, May 2001 (Team Chopsuey)
· Action Asia Challenge, Subic, 1999
· Mt. Maculot Climbathon; Cuenca, Batangas; 1997
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