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Adventure racing is an extremely physical demanding team sport that pushes the limits of the participants to the edge and sometimes to their breaking point. There are several variations on the same theme. From short sprint distance races that lasts for 6 hours to the expedition class adventure race that requires up to 12 days of nonstop racing.
Adventure racing is a Multisport event, the sports included is mountain biking, river rafting, inline skating, horseback riding, mountaineering, fixed ropes, and trekking. Almost every adventure race includes navigation with a map and a compass.
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The origins of adventure racing sprung up from the rugged terrain of New Zealand. The first organized race, called the Coast to Coast, was held in 1980 in New Zealand. It consisted of running, hiking, kayaking, and mountain biking across the country.
In 1989, the french journalist Gerald Fusil launched the first true expedition adventure race. Gerard was inspired by the sailing competition The Whitbread round the world race. He wanted to do something similar on land so he invented Raid Gauloises a multiday expedition adventure race for coed teams of 5 that had to complete an extremely demanding race course. The race was nonstop, i.e. when the start signal sounds the race is on until the team has crossed the finish line, which took up to 12 days of nonstop racing with no or very little sleep.
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Perhaps the best known of all adventure races is the Eco-Challenge. Created by Mark Burnett in 1992, the first race was held in 1995 in Utah, USA and attracted 50 teams from six countries.
Since the first race, the races have been held at some of the most physically demanding terrain in the world including Fiji, New Zealand, Sabah, Argentina, Morocco, Australia, British Columbia, and New England. The last race was held in 2002.
Mark Burnett, a former soldier in the British Army Parachute Regiment, is also noted for producing the American reality television series, Survivor, where participants are forced to deal with extreme physical and mental challenges in remote locations.
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