The 20th annual Championship of the Adventure Racing World Series is hosted by the Imptek ‘Huairasinchi’ race this year on a 560km course of trekking, mountain biking and pack-rafting which teams navigate by map and compass.
A field of 62 teams of 4 from 26 nations began the race on Saturday in the town of Cuenca in Southern Ecuador, and the teams are now spread out over 100km of wild terrain.
The course has covered high altitude mountain plains in wet and cold conditions, fast flowing rivers and dense forest in the humidity of the Amazonian basin. It is proving to be a fitting challenge for a World Championship, the adventure of a lifetime and providing some very close racing.
On the third day of the race the temperature has risen to 30C as the teams tackle a 20 hour mountain bike ride over the Andean hills, navigating remote trails and tracks. That is 20 hours for the fastest teams, and currently the lead positions are disputed by teams from France, Sweden, Estonia and Brazil.
400team of France opened up a lead after the first day of the race, and stayed in front despite a night time capsize of their pack-raft and the loss of one of their backpacks, containing essential climbing equipment. They were provided replacement equipment, but carry a one hour penalty, as teams must be self sufficient from start to finish.
On the long, stage 4, mountain bike ride on the third day they were slowly chased down by the defending World Champions, the Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team, who have now taken the lead.
The lead teams are now close to the transition to the penultimate 90km mountain trekking stage, expected to take the lead teams 19 hours. After this the final stage back to the finish in Cuenca will be a 110km mountain bike stage, expected to take 12 hours.
In expedition adventure racing the clock does not stop and teams race for days on little or no sleep. Moving into the third night of the race all of the teams will have to decide where and how long to rest, taking one or two hours sleep before moving forward again.
Depending on weather conditions and the teams’ ability to move forward and navigate accurately, overcoming their exhaustion and sleep deprivation, the winners are expected at the finish line at La Gloria stadium in Cuenca on the morning of Wednesday December 4th.
If Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team hold their lead they will be 3-time Adventure Racing World Champions, but there is still a long way to go, and the teams chasing them are all hungry for a first world title.
Further back in the race the aim is to complete the full course with no missed checkpoints or to achieve the highest world championship placing. For the teams furthest back the objective is to make the finish line before the course closes on Saturday December 7th.
The current positions of all of the teams and their progress can be seen on live satellite tracking at; https://live.enabledtracking.com/ARWC2024
Team fans and race followers (dot-watchers) are online 24 hours a day around the globe, continuously following the race.
There is extensive live media coverage on #arworldseries media channels, and regular video updates on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/c/ARWorldSeries
All of the media links and resources, and more about Huairasinchi can be found at https://proyectoaventura.com/site/13/livearwc24
Follow the adventure in Ecuador to see who the new Adventure Racing World Champions will be!
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