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Latvian Capital Open for Adventure

Rob Howard / 10.04.2006

A new race offers teams from around the world the opportunity to explore the Latvian capital and its surrounding countryside this August.
The new race is being staged by two experienced adventurers: Kristaps and Edgars Liepiòð.

Kristaps is an Alpinism instructor, best known as the organiser of the VX, the biggest adventure race in Eastern Europe and Edgars is an orienteer who has raced widely and founded the Latvian ‘Concorde’ sports club. They are working with the City Adventure Agency and want the race to showcase the architectural beauty and cultural diversity of the city, and the adventure possibilities of the urban landscape and lifestyle.

The race will start in the very centre of the city on August 18th as part of a programme of city celebrations, and with Latvia an increasingly popular destination the city is now more accessible to teams from around Europe. There are now many cheap flight options and with this race there are no difficult transport to make once the flight is over.

The competition is open to mixed teams of 4 and the organisers are promising some surprising challenges where teams need to be ‘ready for anything’. The main disciplines aside from these ‘special tasks’ will be orienteering, biking, paddling, trekking, swimming, coasteering, climbing and rope work.

There are a choice of courses, 250km+ for the Elite (48 hours) 150km+ for the Sport Class (36 hours) and 70Km+ for the Open class (24 hours). The event will be non-stop and unsupported and there are strict entry limits on each class.

All the details, including a page in English, are on the race website here, and there are also a selection of pictures of past Latvian races.