The legendary Endurance Quest Finland, will host the European Championship of the Adventure Race World Series (ARWS) for the year 2025 in Lake Saimaa region.
First held in 2002 and now in its 11th edition, the internationally highly respected Endurance Quest Finland will take place in Saimaa on the last weekend of August 2025.
The city of Savonlinna will serve as the host city for the European Championship final. In addition to Savonlinna, the partner cities for the event are Sulkava, Rantasalmi and Puumala.
The host cities were announced on Tuesday at the Riihisaari Museum Island in Savonlinna.
The competition's organization is managed by the Northern Adventure Team, which actively develops Adventure Racing and participates in international ARWS competitions.
Lauri Hollo, the course designer of Endurance Quest Saimaa and captain of the Northern Adventure Team, is excited that the European Championship final will be held in Savonlinna and will span across the four municipalities.
"The regions of Savonlinna, Sulkava, Rantasalmi, and Puumala offer outstanding opportunities for creating a challenging course and a physically, navigationally, and visually stunning course. The unique area of Lake Saimaa adds a special flavor to the competition.
Event manager Marita Kajander of host city Savonlinna is also thrilled that the city, together with partner municipalities Sulkava, Rantasalmi, and Puumala, will host this highly international sports event.
"We are excited to showcase the diverse and almost limitless outdoor sports opportunities of our area to the international adventure sports community. Through the event and the photos and videos shared worldwide via the ARWS network, we will gain significant international visibility. We believe, together with our partner municipalities, that this type of event will also unite local actors in promoting nature tourism," summarizes Marita Kajander.
Kajander also added that the year 2025 marks the 550th anniversary of Olavinlinna, and the event fits excellently into the event calendar of Olavinlinna and Savonlinna at the end of summer.
Rantasalmi's business coordinator Antero Peiponen is excited about the upcoming event and points out that Rantasalmi's most famous attractions are nature tourism destinations, making adventure sports a perfect match for the municipality's image.
The municipalities of Sulkava and Puumala are also enthusiastic about the event. Mirjami Laitinen, the economic developer of the municipalities, notes that Endurance Quest is an excellent continuation of the 24-hour rogaining Finnish Championships held in the area in 2022 and the Kairacross event held in 2023.
"Experiential exercise or extreme sports in nature, however one wishes to name it, is clearly on the rise. We believe that the areas and nature of Sulkava and Puumala, as well as Savonlinna and Rantasalmi, offer many opportunities for the growing international genre of outdoor exercise," says Laitinen.
The European Championship Final Route Will Be Approximately 250 Kilometers
At the ARWS European Championship the competition route will be approximately 250 kilometers long, and the winning time is expected to be around 24 hours. The final details, including the order and distances of the various disciplines, will be announced to the teams about two weeks before the competition. The teams will receive the competition route and maps two hours before the start.
Endurance Quest Saimaa 29.-31.8.2025
- Course includes Mountain Biking, Trekking, Kayaking, Swimming and rope section
- Dates 29.-31.8.2025
- Host City: Savonlinna
- Registration opens 31.10.2024
- Website: https://en.northernadventure.fi/endurance-quest-2025
The Adventure Racing World Series is a global platform bringing together adventure races across the world. The ARWS European series is highly competitive (taking place in 7 countries this year) and the winning team at the European Championship secures a free place at the Adventure Racing World Championship.
For more information visit https://arworldseries.com/about/about
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