Expedition Ozark 2024
Racers from Five Continents Arrive in Bentonville for Expedition Ozark
Rob Howard / 05.04.2024
Expedition Ozark returns next week, this time as a full AR World Series Qualifier, and the race in Arkansas has once again attracted many of the world’s best teams, who are now arriving in the host town of Bentonville.
Racers from 14 nations are flying into the NW Arkansas airport and it is only a short ride into Bentonville to the 4 Points by Sheraton Hotel, where race registration and briefings will take place on Sunday. Either side of that there are some very special activities taking place for the race opening and start!
The opening ceremonies tomorrow (Saturday) will take place at The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, a world class museum set in 120 acres of woodland close to downtown Bentonville. The buildings are by world renowned architects and the museum’s setting and design is in tune with the outdoor ethos of Bentonville and the region. There are cycle trails all around and 5 miles of sculpture trails.
Crystal Bridges is hosting the opening ceremonies and flag parade, followed by a special screening of ‘Arthur the King’ in the Great Hall. There is a very special guest too, as Mikael Lindnord will be there for the film and the race start, and there will be a Q&A with him ahead of the movie.
The start time and location for the race have not been announced, but expectations are sky high, because the race starts on the day of a total eclipse, and the narrow path of totality passes right through NW Arkansas. Hollywood stars and the planets have aligned to ensure Expedition Ozark will have a spectacular opening and start.
The line up of teams is stellar too. Three of the top 6 world ranked teams will be on the start line, headed by Bend Racing who won the first Expedition Ozark. They are back to defend that title, but with a completely different team line up and racing as Bend Racing/4 Hour Fuel. Jason Magness is the team captain and said, “I've done well over 60 full expedition races, including a 36 hour race in the Ozarks many years ago and it was fantastic, so I’ve been looking forward to coming back!”
In the team are Daniel Staudigel, Melissa Coombes and Swedish racer Matthias Arnbert, who is in his first expedition race. He has some very experienced team mates to look after him.
Also, returning to the Ozarks is Team Brazil Multisport, who took 4th place in the inaugural race, and they were disappointed with that result. They’ve made it clear they are coming back to do better and Guilherme Pahl said, “We really liked the Ozark nature and the race last year, and had a blast despite a poor performance. This year we are the tornado!” (There was a Tornado warning and storm in the middle of the race last year.)
The team is the same one which finished 4th at the World Championships in South Africa and includes Thai ultra running star Jay Jantaraboon. They are the ARWS South America Champions and the highest ranked team in the race (#2).
Most of the teams have experience from the race last year to draw on (18 of the 26 teams starting) and 37 of the racers starting are returning to race for a second time and to explore more of the Ozarks.
Three members of the second placed team from last year (Estonian ACE/Tactical Foodpack) are returning, but in two different teams this time. Felipe Munchmeyer and Daniella Costa Tobar of Ecuador return with Team Andes Ecuador, and they are joined by Nick Gracie (UK), who raced with them to 8th place in the last World Champs, and Mateusz Talanda, who normally races with Gym City of Poland. Timmo Tammemäe is back too, with his regular team, Estonian ACE/La Sportiva (world rank #3), and this is the same team which finished 3rd at the World Champs.
Another top 10 team from the World Champs is FEAR Youth, who are travelling from New Zealand and will be looking to back up performances that have put them amongst the world’s top teams.
The young team (aged 18-22) finished 9th in the World Champs and soon after won the ARWS Asia Championship race in Philippines, and a combination of the racer’s from those two teams will be racing at Expedition Ozark. The team has a big following now and many around the world will be cheering them on and following their tracking dot.
North America has the most teams of course, including Tanz Navigation, Team Bones (one team from USA the other from Canada) and Strong Machine AR. It’s one of the strongest entries for any ARWS Qualifier this year and will be a highly competitive race.
You can see the full team list now on the race tracking page at https://live.enabledtracking.com/ozark2024/ and there are profiles of all teams on the Expedition Ozark Facebook and Instagam pages - @expeditionozark
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