The teams trekked, mountain biked and paddled through high Andean mountain plains, fast flowing rivers, deep canyons and dense Amazonian forests on a 560km course in Southern Ecuador.
400team of France are the new World Champions, after an historic and hard fought win, which saw them cross the finish line after 90 hours and 40 minutes of racing. The defending champions, Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team took second place, and the Estonian Tactical Foodpack team completed the podium positions.
The race was hosted in the city of Cuenca, with a base at La Gloria stadium and the race attracted a strong international entry, including the top 10 teams in the world.
Huairasinchi (meaning strength of the wind in Kichwa) is the oldest race in the Adventure Racing World Series and renowned as one of the toughest. The race previously held the World Championship in 2014 and for their second championship delivered a challenging and varied course.
The World Championship is the culmination of the Adventure Racing World Series, which includes over 70 events, on every continent, and through the live satellite tracking and media coverage, the global adventure racing community followed every twist and turn of an exciting 7 day race.
The lead changed between 400team and the Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team and the teams left on the final trekking stage only 13 minutes apart, after 80 hours of almost non-stop racing. Both were lost finding the final checkpoints in the maze of streets in Cuenca, and when 400team arrived at the finish they didn’t know for sure they were the winners and “rode into the stadium slowly” to see the reaction.
Over the past 15 years the team has taken part in 30 World Series races and until now had a best world championship position of 3rd. That was in 2018 on Reunion Island when they lost second place in a sprint finish, and last year they suffered the disappointment of missing a checkpoint at the World Championship in South Africa, losing second place.
This year the team lost a big lead on the first night when their packrafts flipped on a fast flowing river, and suffered an hour penalty for not having mandatory climbing equipment, which was in a backpack lost in the river. “It was our low point,” said Sandrine Beranger, “and we feared it would change our race. We did think, surely this bad luck can’t happen again, but stayed mentally strong and determined to do our best.”
Team Captain Sebastien Raichon become the oldest racer to win the Adventure Racing World Championship at the age of 52, and said, “It’s the culmination of many years when we’ve toyed with first place, and I cried all afternoon on the last ride because I realised we had a really good rhythm and could win. We attacked the final trek as we had a one hour penalty to serve and on the final stage have never been so fast on a bike section! It’s incredible we are World Champions!”
It is the third time a team racing under the French flag has won a world title, and as winners 400team have an automatic place to defend their title next year at Expedition Canada in British Columbia. At the closing ceremony they also heard the announcement the 2026 Adventure Racing World Championship will be hosted by Raid in France, a race they have won 4 times.
The course remained open for 7 and the last finishers were Team Alquimistas Litoral of Argentina, in a time of 156 hours 23 minutes. They still had energy to dance with the race volunteers on the finish line!
Of the 58 teams starting, 36 completed the full course, with the rest taking short course routes and some retiring from the race. The full course teams came from 16 different countries and there were 8 different nationalities represented in the top 10.
The oldest racer taking part was Daniel Masy (65) of Team Belgium and at the closing ceremony he was inducted into the Adventure Racing Hall of Fame, having raced at an international level since the earliest days of the sport.
New members of the Hall of Fame are announced at each Adventure Racing World Championship and in Ecuador 24 new members were presented certificates by Adventure Racing World Series CEO, Heidi Muller. They included Race Directors, racers and volunteers from 7 countries, who have all supported the ARWS and adventure racing for more than a decade.
Speaking at the closing ceremony Muller said, “What an amazing experience we have all had in Ecuador! The course challenged all of the teams and gave them the chance to experience the different landscapes and cultures in this wonderful country. I know they will return home with lifelong memories of their time here and I’m sure many will want to return to the beautiful city of Cuenca with their families.
“I’d like to thank our hosts in Cuenca and in all of the regions the race passed through. The people here have all welcomed us with open arms. I’d especially like to thank Race Directors Santiago Lopez and Rodolfo Peralta and all of the Huairshinchi team. I know they have given their heart and soul to create this World Championship for us all!”
Race Director Santiago Lopez said, “We promised a course of great diversity, and I think we delivered that in a race fit for a World Championship. My hope is that we have created a race to show Ecuador to the world and to change the lives of those involved in a positive way. I hope the racers here will always keep Ecuador in their hearts and will encourage others to visit our beautiful country.”
The results of the 2024 Adventure Racing World Championship can be seen at: https://results.enabledtracking.com/event/ARWC2024
The next Adventure Racing World Championship will be hosted by Expedition Canada from Sept 22nd to Oct. 6th 2025 in British Columbia.
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