Following from the recent ARWS announcement of Regional Circuits, the ARWS Oceania Circuit has launched with a high powered calendar of the best regional adventure races culminating in the Oceania Championship in 2020.
ARWS Oceania brings together the premiere 24-48hr adventure races through Australia and New Zealand. These races see teams competing non-stop over 125-250km courses of mountain biking, kayaking, trekking, and navigation.
The line up of 2020 Oceania races has been released and information on the Regional Rounds can be found at https://arworldseries.com/arws-oceania/ . Included are two of the most renowned and popular adventure races in Australia, the GeoQuest 48hr and Hells Bells 24hr. Also part of the 2020 circuit is the newly launched Terra Nova 24hr south of Sydney and a New Zealand adventure race which will be announced shortly.
The culmination of the 2020 Oceania Regional Rounds will be the ARWS Regional Championship held from 23-25 Oct 2020. The top team from each Oceania Round wins a free entry to the championship. Along with general entries (save the date!), teams will come together to compete for the title of Regional Champions, prize money, and free entry to the 2021 AR World Championship. The Oceania Championship host location is set to move around the region each year and the 2020 location will be revealed soon. More details at https://arworldseries.com/arws-oceania/arws-oceania-regional-championships/
The ARWS Oceania Circuit will be coordinated by Chris Dixon. He said “Being the first of the ARWS Regional Circuits to fully launch is a huge privilege. But bringing together the best races in the region and with the support and backing of the ARWS is huge and I know we can give teams a world class racing experience.”
Every team who participates in a Regional Round earns points towards their AR Oceania Ranking. These are a ranking order of adventure racing teams in Oceania based on their 4 best results over the previous two years.
Similar to the World rankings, the Oceania rankings will be updated in 3 cycles per year, first update after half of the Regional Rounds have been completed, next after the remaining Regional Rounds for the season, and lastly after the Regional Championship. More details on Oceania Rankings at https://arworldseries.com/arws-oceania/arws-oceania-rankings/
Teams wanting to supercharge their points earning can do so if they participate in the ARWS Regional Championship, or XPD (which is the expedition length ARWS race in Oceania), which earn double (2x) points towards their Regional Ranking.
As part of Oceania, the XPD Race is the expedition length adventure race of the region that many teams will aspire to. It is scheduled every 1.5-2 years depending on the climate and location it is held (which moves around Australia). XPD 2020 is set North of Cairns from 17 – 26 July and will be an attractive winter escape for many teams around the region. Also attractive will be that teams can earn double ranking points at this race and Qualify for the World Championship. More details can be found at www.xpd.com.au
The Oceania series wouldn’t be complete without the chance for Australian and New Zealand sporting rivalries to play out. Chris said “We will be announcing a race in New Zealand very soon so stay tuned for details. I’m also looking forward to the Oceania Championship being held in New Zealand in the future as well.”
New on the 2020 Australian calendar, and part of ARWS Oceania is the Terra Nova 24hr adventure race. Scheduled from 14-15 March next year this race is a collaboration between Wild & Co (organisers of GeoQuest and Hells Bells) and Geocentric Outdoors (organisers of XPD Expedition Race). The annual race is set in the Shoalhaven region South of Sydney and is sure to become a mainstay of teams calendars.
For further information on ARWS Oceania see:
website: https://arworldseries.com/arws-oceania/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arwsoceania/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arwsoceaniaseries/
Email: [email protected]
