The Big Five Races for ARWS Africa 2024 – Supported by Merrell

Press Release / 25.01.2024

The ARWS Africa Series, supported by Merrell, is a collection of the best mid-distance adventure races in the Africa region.

For the 2024 series five different event organisers will set unique & diverse courses to test athletes over 100-250km (24-36 hours) of non-stop day and night racing in the disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, and navigation. 

Merrell South Africa are once again series partners, continuing their support of many years for adventure racing and teams in South Africa.  Speaking ahead of the series launch Liezel Jooste of Merrell said, “Adventure racing, with its emphasis on being outside and alive, aligns seamlessly with Merrell’s commitment to fostering a love for the outdoors.”  Each race in the series is also supported with products from South African brand Squirt Cycling Products, who are a global ARWS partner.

Participating teams will earn points towards their ARWS Africa Ranking and the series winner gain an entry to the Adventure Racing World Championship.

To win the FREE entry to the AR World Championship race in British Columbia, Canada in 2025, teams must race at least 3 out of the 5 longer races on offer. Should at team race more than 3 races, the best 3 results will count towards the series total.  A squad of 7 people will be permitted to race per team and only premier mixed teams (4 person, mixed gender) will score ranking points.

Some races will offer short (24 hours cut off) as well as long (up to 36 hours) race categories.  Only the longer categories will count towards the ARWS ranking and the chance to win free entry for the World Championship race.

There will be NO ARWS Africa Championship race this year race due to the AR World Championship taking place in Ecuador in November.  Several elite South African teams are planning to race there, including the 2023 ARWS Africa Champions, Team Merrell Adventure. 

The winner of the series will be announced after the final race of 2024, the Expedition Africa race taking place from 29 November to 1 December 2024 in the Maluti Mountains. The race will take place at Arpa Adventure Farm just outside of Fouriesburg and will be organised by Franco Olivier who will use his 12 years of racing experience to plan an epic and challenging course for final ARWS Africa race of the year.

Wild@Heart; 2-4 February

Race Director; Adrian Saffy

Venue; Rhodes, Eastern Cape

ARWS Africa Category; 200km/36 hours

Mountain Mammoth; 5-7 April

Race Director; Damian Giulietti

Venue; Port Elizabeth

ARWS Africa Category; 200km/36 hours

No Frills No Fuss - 21-23 September

Race Director; Robert Le Brun

Venue; Western Cape

ARWS Africa Category; 200km/36 hours

Adventure South Africa - 25-27 October

Race Director: Alfred Thorpe

Venue; Western Cape

ARWS Africa Category; 150km/36 hours

Expedition Africa - 29 Nov/1 Dec

Race Director; Franco Olivier

Venue; Maluti Mountains

ARWS Africa Category; 200km/32 hours

For full information on the ARWS Africa Series see https://arworldseries.com/series/africa-series. Follow the latest news at @arwsafrica on Facebook and Instagram.