The Adventure Racing European Championship, Endurance Quest Saimaa, will bring 60 teams from 12 countries to the Savonlinna region.
The winners will earn a coveted spot at the World Championships.
The course includes more than 70 km of trekking, 125 km of mountain biking, 44 km of paddling, and 2 km of swimming – plus climbing and rope challenges. Competitors have up to 30 hours to complete the race course.
This demanding course will be the highlight of the European adventure racing season, taking place in the Savonlinna region on the last weekend of August.
“This is an extremely high-level competition. At the start line we’ll see a selection of Europe’s best teams. The winners will secure a place at the World Championships next year in France,” says Race Director Harri Hollo.
Favorites from Estonia and Spain
The battle for victory is expected to come down to about ten top European teams.
“Favorites include Estonia Ace La Sportiva, World Championship medalists and ranked third in the world, as well as the Spanish team Endurance, who recently won a Raid Gallecia World Series race in Spain and currently hold 15th place in the world ranking.”
The strongest Finnish challengers are Lane4 (winners of the 2023 Endurance Quest) and Bull Adventure Team, who recently won the Expedition Estonia ARWS European Series race in Estonia.
“This European Championship gives Finnish adventure racers a unique chance to challenge Europe’s elite racers. We’re delighted to see teams participating from many regions across Finland,” Hollo says.
On Friday there is a race briefing in the Castle of Olaf which is an iconic landmark of the City of Savonlinna. Friday at 7pm, there is a prologue, where teams start at 30 seconds intervals, so every team will have to navigate themself around tricky prologue.
Course revealed only on race morning
The course can be divided into three parts. Stages 1-3 start with a short swimrun then comes a 23km trek and then a special 12km stage of Canoe+Trek where tactics will play a big role,
Then the second part of the race is another three stages; first a fast gravel ride of 41km, then a short but hilly 6km trek, and then a long night ride of 84km. This is a technical stage and if weather is wet trails will be super muddy and the stage will be slow.
The last part of the race is a 27km super demanding night navigation trek then a 32km long kayaking stage in the middle of the night where navigators are tested to find a way amongst hundreds of islands before the last 9km swimrun. The winners are expected to cross the finish line at 8.30 am on Sunday morning.
“We’ll see an intense couple of hours of route planning just before the start. The course will showcase the most beautiful parts of Lake Saimaa in the Savonlinna, Sulkava, Puumala, Juva and Rantasalmi areas. With lakes and waterways dominating the landscape, route planning and navigation will be especially exotic for international teams,” Hollo predicts.
AR World Series Family Travels to Finland
Endurance Quest Saimaa organizers are more than proud of the ARWS family support of the race, Lars Bukkehave and Petri Forsman will be race referees. Béatrice Lambert & Nancy Bahuaud from Raid in France ARWC2026 and Jerzy Lekki from Rajd Beskidy will also be at the race.
Tracking: https://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2025eq/
Schedule
Friday 29.8.
10.00 Press event - Some teams will be invited to the press event
12.00 Model Event closes
11.00 - 15.00 Pick up team material & team photo
15:00 Deadline for bike box hand-in
15.30 Flag Parade starts at race HQ
16.30 Opening ceremony & Race Briefing at Olavinlinna
19.00 Prologue starts at Race HQ
20.30 Last time for finishing prologue
Saturday 30.8.
6:00 Breakfast opens at Spa Hotel Casino - Race HQ
6:30 Map Handout + GPS handout + phone sealing
7:15 Bus to start line
9:00 Race Start
Sunday 31.8.
8:00 Winning team expected to finish
11:00 - 16:00 Post-race lunch
15:00 Course closes
15:30 Prize-giving ceremony
