National Indoor Adventure Race

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Round and Round They Go ...

Rob / 11.03.2003

Just how do you fit a 3 hour, team adventure race into a small indoor arena?

The adventure racing arena may take up a sizeable part of the main show hall, but it’s still a very confined space (25x37m) to fit 18 racers into and have them climbing, running, riding, paddling, going over obstacles and completing other special challenges. With his customary attention to detail Phil Humphreys pulled it off admirably last year and it looks like he’s sticking with a winning formula this time around, with a few additions and some ‘surprises.’

There will be 4 heats, each with 6 teams of three, tackling simulator, speed, technical and endurance stages. They’ll all do the endurance stage together in the woods outside for an hour (so they will at least get some fresh air and get muddy), then will rotate around the 3 indoor stages.

The simulators are paddle and bike trainers where their distance will be logged and there is a rotating climbing wall which gradually tilts backwards and measures how far each racer climbs before falling off. The speed stage includes running and riding circuits over obstacles, scramble nets and ramps, with the task of putting up and then repacking a tent thrown in to create some team confusion, and the technical stage has a zip wire and a new feature called the ‘Jacob’s Ladder’. (We’ll show you what it is once the competition is underway.)

Teams are head to head all the time, surrounded by spectators and have the unnerving experience of seeing live pictures of themselves projected onto a big screen above the arena! It all adds up to a very intense, fast, endurance race for the teams… and a great show for the spectators.

You can see more details on the ACE Races web site.See All Event Posts