Odyssey Adventure Racing announces its 2007 Race Schedule and two new series

Greg Yetter / 03.11.2006

Odyssey Adventure Racing has announced its 2007 race schedule. For 2007 OAR has also announced two new series, one an adventure race and the other a sprint race. Their schedule starts off with the Odyssey One Day Xtreme (Series #1 of 3) and the Odyssey Sprint #1 January 13-14 in Natural Bridges, VA. Next up is the Endorphin Fix April 20-22 in Canaan Valley, WV. The Wild Wonderful 24 Hour (Series #2 of 3) will be held May 26 at New River Gorge, VA, also the Odyssey Sprint #2 will be held at the same time. Just two months later the Odyssey One Day (Series #3 of 3) and the Odyssey Sprint #3 will be held on July 21 in the Roanoke, VA area. Both series championship race will be held in October in a venue to be announced later. “We are looking at different locations in VA, WV, MD, and NC to host our Championship Series Events. We would like to take these events to an area that no adventure race has seen before, making it an even playing field for all teams.” comments Ronny Angell.

New for 2007 Odyssey will host a Sprint and 24 Hour Race Series, starting with the One-Day Xtreme in January. Coed teams of 4 will compete for over $5000 in money and prizes, in what is sure to be the top challenge of the summer. With four 6-Hour Sprint and four 24-Hour events paired together, Odyssey will give racers of all abilities the chance to enjoy the outdoors and to personally challenge themselves. “This will be one of the more fun and challenging series in the country,” states owner and OAR president, Ronny Angell. “We are always looking for ways to invite new racers into the sport and we hope the Sprint races will do just that. With both races going on at the same time, the Sprint racers will be able to see and learn from the more experienced 24 hr athlete and sense that a 24 hour race length is obtainable.”

The Odyssey team is known across the country for the challenge of their events. Moving on a new tack, OAR is embracing the movement to shorter, simpler race events that are easier to attend and demand less technical skill. “It’s all about the racer here at OAR, it always has been,” says Joy Marr, Co founder of Odyssey. “We are looking to encourage the folks who have always wanted to do an Adventure Race but felt that the longer events were outside of their ability to commit, as far as time for training and learning sophisticated technical skills, such as ascending.”

OAR is hosting its Co-ed Adventure Race Academy in 2007 at New River Gorge, VA from May 20-26 right before the Wild Wonderful 24 Hour and Odyssey Sprint #2. Back next year are the Triathlons, Duathlons, Trail Marathons and Mountain Bike races OAR is known around the country for organizing. Check the Calendar on Sleepmonsters.us or the Odyssey website at www.oarevents.com for more information.