European Adventure Race Finals
It’s the Biggest Beast! Unprecedented Entry for the AR Euro Champs in Ireland
Rob Howard / 19.03.2015
This year’s AR European Championships at the Beast of Ballyhoura race in Ireland is shaping up to be the biggest event of the adventure racing year.
With the initial entry limit of 40 teams filled ahead of time, and with more teams clamouring to get in, race organisers Causeway Coast Adventure Racing have now opened up 10 more places and already invited another 7 teams to accept those places.
The decision to open up more places had to be carefully thought about by CCAR, which is a non-profit club working to promote Adventure Racing and relying on volunteer support. It was made possible in part by the race moving from its traditional venue at Blackwater Castle to the more extensive facilities at the University of Limerick, and the availability of enough kayaks for the additional 10 teams.
Race Director Ivan Park commented. “We're very fortunate here in Ireland that we have such a healthy interest in Adventure Racing and Multisport Racing, between Causeway Coast Adventure Racing Club, Total Experience and Gaelforce Events we can muster up 97 sit-on-top kayaks of the same make. Thanks to the support of all 3 clubs/companies we have taken the plunge and decided that we will open another 10 places in the Beast of Ballyhoura for the European Finals.
The 7 teams already on the waiting list have been sent invites to come back into the online entry system and pay for their entry, 3 more places remain, so get your name on the waiting list, even if you miss out on the 3 remaining places put your name onto the waiting list, the 7 teams that have been sent an invite need to pay by the 29/03/2015, if they haven't paid by then there place will be offered to the next team on the waiting list.”
The current entry list shows entries from 15 nations, making the race one the most international AR event anywhere in the world, and the list includes many strong teams competing regularly on the AR European circuit.
The entry includes the most experienced Irish and UK teams, though at present Team adidas TERREX, who won the European title in Turkey last year, are still on the wait list. There are strong Swedish entries, included SWECO, who are 10th in the AR World Series rankings and entries from Germany, Spain, Holland, France, Denmark, Estonia, Switzerland and even from South Africa. There is also a place reserved for the winners of Raid Aran in Spain, which has already been announced as the 2016 AR European Champs.
The race will be will be run over 72 hours (approx 450km), starting on July 30th and you can see the full entry list at http://beastofballyhoura.com/entries.php. Entry is still open for those last few places to race on the Emerald Isle, at one of the biggest AR events of the year.
[SleepMonsters will be at the race reporting live and we’ll have regular news in the build up to the start of the race.]
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