Cameco Cowboy Tough

Cameco Cowboy Tough Expedition Racers Take on Wyoming

Race Release / 14.07.2016

­

At six am Thursday morning, thirty-six teams of adventure racers from all over the world head out on bikes from Crossroads Park in Casper, Wyoming to kick off Rev3 Adventure’s fourth annual Cameco Cowboy Tough (CCT), a three-and-a-half-day expedition race that has participants traversing the state by bike, on foot, by river and lake, and with ropes. Following maps and a list of mandatory and optional checkpoints, teams of two or four people will cover about 400 miles, making their way back to the finish line in Casper by noon on Sunday, July 17.

“Last year’s event took us to some incredible Wyoming terrain and provided numerous unforgettable moments,” said Sarah Goldman from team Rev3 Adventure/Koa Wahine, the race’s only four-person all-female team. “Rev3 Adventure always puts on a quality event. We are looking forward to racing hard this year.”

After leaving Casper, participants will hop off their bikes at Dave Johnston Power Plant and head onto the North Platte River in canoes. Miles later they’ll tackle a challenge at Fort Fetterman, then it’s back in the boat until the city of Douglas, where there’s a host of unique challenges only found in Wyoming. (Ever seen a jackalope anywhere else?) They’ll tackle some mountain biking at Glendo and Guernsey, trek to the top of Laramie Peak and Muddy Mountain, rappel and ascend Curtis Gulch, and mountain bike down Casper Mountain.

You can follow each team’s progress, view pictures from the course, view the list of checkpoints participants must visit, and get updates at www.cowboytoughwy.com.

About eighty percent of the teams have raced in this event before, and many have raced it every year. “We love to see that,” said Mark Harris, Rev3 Adventure race director. “It shows us we’re doing something right, and it shows us that Wyoming has a lot to offer. Every year the race takes participants to different regions of the state, offering up varied and unique terrain and challenges only found in Wyoming.” Six international teams are competing, and three teams are from Wyoming.

Eric Concannon, a Lander native, has volunteered as a crew member for CCT since its first year. “I volunteer with Rev3 Adventure because I want CCT to succeed and bring more races closer to home for me. The Cameco Cowboy Tough is raising interest in the region in general, brings a suite of races to Wyoming during the adventure week, and engages more and more local people in adventure racing every year.”

He adds, “The Rev3 Adventure crew has a system in place that makes the race fun, realistically safe, and incredibly memorable. Although I live in Wyoming, the first three editions of the CCT introduced me to beautiful parts of the state that I would likely never have found otherwise. I'm certain that this weekend’s edition will be just as spectacular.”

Multi-day racing is not something to take lightly. It requires dedicated training, preparation, navigation skills, and mental and physical endurance. Multiple navigation courses will challenge even the most experienced map reader, but for the first-time expedition racer it will be enough of a challenge to complete the course by selecting to travel to only the mandatory checkpoints. Optional points collected will determine who will ultimately be crowned winner of the Cameco Cowboy Tough Expedition Race.

Racers will not have a support crew. Rev3 Adventure will transport a container for each team member in the mobile TA for resupply at each transition area.

In conjunction with the State of Wyoming and with the generous support of Cameco Resources, this is Rev3 Adventure’s fourth year of bringing this multi-day expedition race to Wyoming. An adventure race is a mixture of biking, paddling, and trekking based on a navigation foundation. The winning team is determined by the most points collected on the course in the fastest time.

The Cameco Cowboy Tough is part of the AR World Series and a qualifier for the AR World Championships. More information can be found at www.arworldseries.com. The top teams at each ARWS qualifier earn a position at the annual pinnacle of the sport, the AR World Championship (ARWC), held in November 2016 in Australia.

In 2017, Wyoming and Rev3 Adventure’s Cameco Cowboy Tough will serve as the hosts, bringing an ARWC to the United States for the first time ever.

The ARWC version of the Cameco Cowboy Tough will stretch to six days and will bring the best adventure racers in the world to Wyoming for an in-depth, self-guided tour of its rugged and unique beauty.

Cowboy Tough sponsors include Cameco Resources, NOLS Wilderness Medicine, Ramkota Hotel, Visit Casper, City of Casper, Taco John’s, Wyoming Whiskey, Solid Rock Outdoor Ministries, Mountain Khakis, and Stampede Bikes. This expedition race is part of the USARA and the North American Adventure Racing Series.