Adventure Racing World Championships Expedition Canada
The Origin Story of Robotools.ca Masters at ARWC 2025 Canada
Barbara Niess May / 20.09.2025
Team Robotools.ca Masters will be racing at ARWC 2025 in Canada under the South African flag. The team was put together by US racer Babara Niess May, who ended up with an experienced team of South Africans to race with. This is the back story of the dot of Team 58 which you can watch racing in British Columbia very soon now.
It all started with a call for three badass teammates. After her original crew decided this wasn’t their year for AR World Championships, Barbara Niess May found herself with an unexpected gift: a golden entry to the biggest race of the year. She had the spot—just not the team. So she posted to the teammate finder:
“Looking for 3 badass teammates for AR World Champs! Race entry is covered, and I’m hoping to build a solid, fun, and focused team. Ideally, you’ve done a multiday expedition race before, have some mountain experience, and are cool with a mandatory points (and hopefully a few optionals as time allows) finish. I can navigate, I’ve been training since January, and I have an MRS Barracuda (plus access to a second boat). Locals to the race site are a big plus…”
The adventure gods delivered.
Barbara first connected with Tim Chambers, a strong and experienced expedition racer based near the race site in British Columbia. Then came Jeremy Green—the calm, laser-focused navigator she had quietly admired just ten days earlier at Raid the Rockies. She’d picked up his name during on-course conversations with his teammate, and took note of his patience, tenacity, and grace under pressure. She considered saying hello at the banquet… but decided against it.
Little did she know: Jeremy and Tim were already longtime friends and had raced together back in South Africa. Together, they reached out to Piers Pirow, a trusted teammate from their Truffle Hunter days, who is flying over from South Africa and completes the squad.
Then came the twist: Jeremy’s (very new) employer, Robotools.ca, loved the story and signed on as sponsor. The team rebranded as Robotools.ca Masters, got fresh gear, and picked up an enthusiastic fanbase—including one possibly rolling behind them in the media van. Robotools is beyond excited to get into the fray of adventure racing and is planning to greet the team at the finish line—whenever they arrive, however muddy, blistered, and please not gloriously late.
A few of the team members have ties to the legendary Truffle Hunters, so yes—they’re fun-guys. Barbara will be clinging on with tenacity, maps, and snacks. And while they may be short on shared training miles, they will quickly click as a team, leaning into their collective experience, navigation strength, and sense of humor.
They’re aiming to complete the full course—likely right down to the final minute of day nine—and promise to be dot-watching gold the whole way through.
Robotools.ca Masters: last-minute team. Full-course ambition. Precision all the way. Watch us go.
Race tracking for ARWC will be at https://live.enabledtracking.com/2025arwc/ where you can cheer them on!
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