New Championship Series For 2005
Rob Howard / 26.10.2004
A new championship has been launched for North America based on ranking points by region. It’s called ‘naARcs’ (pronounced nay\' arks), which stands for the North American Adventure Race Championship Series, and it promises to ‘revolutionize adventure racing in North America’.Unlike the upcoming USARA finals, naARcs is a ranking based on teams and races scoring points from races across the USA and Canada, rather than qualifying for a one-off championship race.
Through 2005 the system will rank adventure race teams from the points scored, which the organisers say provides “the most objective and credible adventure race ranking system available.†Individual Racers will accumulate their own points, making it possible to provide individual rankings and they will receive gear discounts and other schwag as they reach point levels through the season.
It’s a model tried out by the TSARCS 2004 regional series, which helped emphasise team identity, something which can increase sponsorship opportunities for both teams and race organisers.
The new website is up at www.na-arcs.com and races, racers and teams can now register to participate.
The 9 regions are mapped out, with 3 for Canada and 6 more covering the USA and there around 20 races and 20 teams signed up so far. The points are determined by race length and finishing position. Longer races have a higher points value, and the percentage of points you get from that value depends on where you finish.
The whole concept is built around grass roots adventure racing and is sponsored by Outtek.com. The new site has lots of explanation and information, but there is not any on who the team operating the new championship are. However, there is live video conferencing scheduled for Q & A between the organizers and those who want to get involved.
And that is what naARcs needs – the widespread backing of race organizers, teams and racers, to support a ground level championship in which everyone is involved.
