USARA Partners with Adventure Racing World Series to launch ARWS North America Regional Series

Press Release / 21.06.2022

Clarion, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.—The U.S. Adventure Racing Association and the Adventure Racing World Series have announced a collaborative partnership that will see the two organizations join forces to create the ARWS North America Regional Series.

Announced on Sunday, June 19 at the start of the Endless Mountains Adventure Race in Pennsylvania, an Adventure Racing World Series Demonstration Race, the partnership will see USARA serve as the organizer of an annual race series, with the winner receiving a free entry to the Adventure Racing World Championship.

“The Adventure Racing World Series is a long-established series known for putting on amazing races in amazing places. For that reason, we’re really excited to announce that starting next year, USARA is going to be partnering with the ARWS to organize a regional series of races leading up to the 2023 Adventure Racing World Championship in South Africa,” USARA Executive Director Michael Garrison said.

“The main purpose of USARA is to take care of and strengthen the sport of adventure racing in the United States. That involves a lot of pieces – everything from increasing awareness of the sport, making it easier to get into the sport, and ultimately to make sure that as the years go on, the sport continues to flourish. We think this partnership helps us achieve all those goals.”

ARWS already operates regional series in Europe, Oceania, Asia, Africa, and South America, each representing a collection of the best mid-distance adventure races in each global region. 

Event organizers set a unique course to test athletes over 125 to 250-kilometer courses of non-stop, day and night, adventure racing in the disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, and navigation.  Participating teams earn points towards their ARWS regional ranking and their ARWS global ranking, and regional winners each year receive a free entry to the next ARWS World Championship, which takes place annually in September or October.

Expedición Guaraní will serve as the 2022 ARWS World Championship, taking place September 15 to 25, 2022, in Paraguay.  The 2023 ARWS World Championship will take place October 18-30, 2023, in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa.

Garrison said the top 10 overall premier-division teams at the 2022 USARA National Championship, taking place in Bishop, California, U.S.A., September 16-17, 2022, will qualify for a lottery for entry into the 2023 AR World Championship, and that the 2023 ARWS North America regional winners will win a free entry to the 2024 AR World Championship, which will be staged by the Huairasinchi race in Ecuador.

“ARWS is thrilled to join forces with the USARA to create the ARWS North America Regional Series,” ARWS CEO Heidi Muller said. “ARWS has been working hard to develop and grow our presence in North America, and the official launch of the ARWS North America region is a huge step forward in advancing the sport in the U.S., across North America, and globally.  ARWS North America completes our regional race series, providing racers all around the world an opportunity to enjoy World Series Adventure Racing.”

The ARWS already has three qualifying expedition races in North America – Endless Mountains AR, Expedition Oregon, and Expedition Canada – with a fourth, Expedition Ozark, commencing in 2023.

Other ARWS Qualifiers include; Patagonia Raid in Argentina, PC12 Adventure Race in Colombia, Adventure Race Malaysia, Expedition Africa,, Huairasinchi in Ecuador, Nordic Islands Adventure Race in Scandinavia, Malacara Expedition Race in Brazil, ITERA Expedition Race in Scotland, Adventure Race Croatia, Raid in France, Raid Gallaecia in Spain, and XPD Expedition Race in Australia.