No Title 2571
Supplement to “Expect the Unexpected”
Adventure racing comes to Kentucky for the first time this fall when the United States Adventure Racing Association (USARA) holds its national championship event on October 6-8 at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Corbin.
Adventure racing is a sport that combines mountain biking, trekking, and canoe paddling, and involves teams of three racing nonstop for the duration of the contest period. According to Bryan Smith, office manager of USARA, the sport emphasizes teamwork and (hard-won) victory is earned in just completing a race. Adventure racing requires athleticism, flexibility, endurance, and the ability to transition quickly from one sport to another—from mountain biking to orienteering to hiking to canoeing.
Smith explains: “Mountain bike trails are called single track. It is a narrow, twisty, worn path through the woods or remote landscape with obstacles such as fallen down trees, roots, long steep climbs, and fast downhill descents. It is to a bike what a curvy country road is to a sports car or motorcycle.
“As far as orienteering and hiking through a dense forest, teams are challenged throughout the race to find their own way from start to finish. They make their own route choices because there is very little marked course.
“You could have the fastest team in the race, but if you cannot navigate you will not know where to go.”
Considered the “heart and soul” of adventure racing, the USARA Adventure Race National Championship involves co-ed teams of three competing in approximately 45 USARA regional qualifying events across the country for a chance to battle it out for the title of USARA Adventure Race National Champion.
“There are different lengths of races from two hours to 10 days–just like running a 5k or a 100-mile ultra marathon,” says Smith. “Our national championship is a 24-hour race covering approximately 100 miles.”
This is the first time the Adventure Race National Championship has been held in Kentucky. Lexington native Stephanie Ross will direct the race. Sponsors include Kentucky State Parks and the Kentucky Office of Adventure Tourism.
Visit www.usaranationals.com for more information.
To read the Kentucky Living April 2011 feature that goes along with this supplement, go to Expect the Unexpected.
