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World Series Heads for South Africa

Rob/Media Release / 26.05.2004

The remote north of the Eastern Cape Province is the destination for top adventure racers jetting in from around the world to take part in the Senqu African Quest on May 30th.

Teams from as far afield as Canada will be preparing to take on South Africa’s best in this prestigious event, racing for up to 7 days over a distance of more than 500km. Arguably the most grueling race on the mother continent, the Senqu African Quest features as one of the recognized qualifying for the Adventure Race World Championship to be held at Raid The North Extreme in Newfoundland later on this year.

The disciplines will be as diverse as river paddling, high ropes, mountain biking, hiking, scrambling, open-water swimming, kloofing and navigation. In order to be in contention for an official finish, mixed teams of four participants – with at least one member of the opposite sex – must complete the 500km-plus course as a unit. Although support crews and medical response units will be on call, teams will have to be self-reliant for most parts of the course in remote terrain, racing day and night in a bid to be first across the finish line.

For between four and seven days, competitors will be forced to cope with sleep deprivation, unpredictable weather conditions, sub-zero temperatures and the forbidding terrain of the southern Drakensberg ranges. The disciplines will include river paddling, high ropes, open water swimming and kloofing (the S. African version of canyoning or gorge scrambling/jumping).

Race start is set for the early hours of Sunday 30 May, 2004, with the first teams expected to cross the finish line on Friday, more than five days later. The winning team will automatically qualify for a paid entry into the Adventure Race World Championship, to be held in Newfoundland, Canada in August this year.

The event has secured two top Canadian units in ‘Salomon Canada’ and ‘Team Raid The North’, both world class contenders with heaps of international experience. These Northern Hemisphere entries will pose an extremely tough challenge to the experienced South African field, including local favourites Jeep, Diadora and Kinetic Transkor. The top South African squad, Team Mazda, are missing from the line up though.

Although local teams are expected to enjoy a slight home ground advantage, grit, determination and good navigation will be the deciding factor in the end. “The navigational component of this race will be advanced and I expect the high altitude to have a marked effect on race outcome “, says Race Director Hano Otto of The Adventure Centre of Excellence.

[The Senqu African Quest is a member of the Adventure Racing World Series, an international circuit of world-class adventure races representing 7 countries creating a 12 month calendar of professional events around the world., including New Balance Beast of the East (USA), Raid the North Extreme (Canada), EcoMotion Pro (Brazil), Appalachian Extreme (USA), High Coast 600 (Sweden), and Southern Traverse (New Zealand).]