Adventure Racing
These are the 7 best adventure races on the planet
Think you've got what it takes to compete in a world-class adventure race? Take your pick of these seven events – from an expedition in the Patagonian wilderness to a multi-sport relay in the Alps.
Whether you’re looking for a single day of high-impact adrenaline or a long distance endurance expedition, there’s an adventure race out there waiting for you to push your limits.
What is Adventure Racing?
Adventure Racing (AR) was born in the 1980s. It involves three core disciplines: kayaking, trekking, and mountain biking, with competitors either following a set course or navigating their own way from checkpoint to checkpoint. Events last from a few hours to 10 days or more and often include extra challenges, from horseback riding to extreme mountaineering or rope work.
The sport has an official AR World Series and AR European Championships, a race series in the USA and many independents, too. So, to narrow them down, we’ve picked seven of the best you can enter.
Red Bull Defiance might be punishing, but the course is stunning
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
01
Red Bull Defiance Australia
- Where: Mission Beach, Queensland, Australia
- Length: 2 days, 150km
- Next race: TBC
Do this if you... want an extreme challenge that ends at a luxury resort.
Red Bull Defiance Australia is a sister event to the long-established New Zealand original and sees competitors race from the heart of the rainforest to the luxurious Castaways Resort on North Queensland’s stunning Cassowary Coast over two gruelling days of mountain biking, rafting, running and kayaking.
Kayaking miles across choppy ocean is just one part of Red Bull Defiance
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
The field for this year's event is sure to include some of the world’s top multi-sport and endurance athletes, and it definitely won't be easy because the course is a real challenge, with a punishing first day that must be carefully managed and some unique mystery disciplines thrown into the mix.
02
Patagonian Expedition Race
- Where: Patagonia, Chile
- Length: 8-10 Days, up to 1,000km
- Next race: October 22 – November 1, 2024
Do this if you… want to feel like a real explorer at the end of the Earth.
Known as 'The Last Wild Race' for a very good reason, the Patagonian Expedition Race is an epic event considered by many as the ultimate AR challenge, with Chilean Patagonia's epic fjords, glaciers and mountains as its playground.
A non-stop expedition for mixed teams of four members, the race covers distances of more than 500km through one of the most remote regions on Earth while tackling sections of mountaineering, trekking, trail running, mountain biking and kayaking – not to mention battling the notoriously unpredictable Patagonian weather.
Patagonian Expedition Race will test your limits in every way imaginable
© Patagonian Expedition Race
Competitors get only 24 hours' notice of the race route, which is so tough that it has a finishing rate of less than 30 percent. Over the years, teams have paddled icy rivers on inflatable sleep mats, scrambled across perilous glaciers and even swum the frigid Straits of Magellan to win a wooden finisher's medal.
03
Red Bull Dolomitenmann
- Where: Lienz, Austria
- Length: 1 day
- Next race: September 7, 2024
Do this if you… want to specialise in one discipline.
The unofficial ‘World Cup of extreme sports’, Red Bull Dolomitenmann adds paragliding to the traditional trio of AR sports. It involves four-person teams, but here they race in a relay around the Austrian city of Lienz, with each member taking on their specialist discipline.
Johanna Hiemer and Elisabeth Kofler tag at the top of the mountain
© Philipp Carl Riedl/Red Bull Content Pool
The race starts with the runner taking on a 12km trail that climbs 2,000m up into the mountains. The paraglider then makes two flights, running between them with their kit. Next, the mountain biker pedals up 1,400m and then drops a high-speed downhill before the kayaker completes an extreme whitewater course and sprints to the finish on foot, dragging their kayak behind them. A huge crowd and brilliant party atmosphere are guaranteed at this one.
04
Wilderness Traverse
- Where: Ontario, Canada
- Length: 1-2 days, 150km
- Next Race: September 28-29, 2024
Do this if you… want to lose yourself in remote wilderness
The premise of Wilderness Traverse is simple: teams have 24 hours to navigate through a series of checkpoints on a 150km course of rugged Canadian back-country terrain on foot, mountain bike and canoe – and there are so many route options it's hard to avoid getting completely lost in the wilderness.
Trekking terrain includes thick forest, bogs and ice-cold river crossings. On the bike, there are 85km of old logging roads and single tracks. Paddling is done in traditional Canadian canoes on rarely used rivers with tough portage sections.
This is an old-school adventure race in the best way, and just reaching the finish is a major achievement for any team. Don't forget your map and compass!
05
Coast to Coast
- Where: South Island, New Zealand
- Length: 1-2 days, 243km
- Next race: February 9–10, 2024
Do this if you… want to compete in one of the world’s oldest AR events
This epic endurance race crosses New Zealand’s south island from Kumara Beach on the West Coast, traversing the main divide and finishing on the East Coast at the Pier on New Brighton Beach in Christchurch. It's become a must-do on any serious AR athlete's bucket list, with more than 40,000 people taking it on since it was first run in 1983.
Braden Currie tackles the infamous mountain run portion of Coast to Coast
© Miles Holden/Red Bull Content Pool
The one-day event for the fittest of the fit is known as the World Multisport Championship, but most competitors enter the two-day version. The route includes a legendary 30.5km mountain run with multiple river crossings and an elevation gain of nearly 800m, a mighty 70km of paddling on the Waimakariri River and a final 70km across the Canterbury Plains to the beach-side finish.
06
Source to City
- Where: New York, USA
- Length: 4 days, 480km
- Next race: September 26-30, 2024
Do this if you… want to finish an adventure race in downtown Manhattan
The clue's in the name for this one – the event follows the Hudson River from source to sea, starting in the remote mountain wilderness of New York State and finishing in the centre of the city that never sleeps, New York City.
The race highlights just how close the Big Apple is to truly remote wilderness and includes a 35km mountain trek or trail run, 33km of kayaking through the Hudson Highlands and 420km of biking, finishing with the ultimate post-race party overlooking the famous city skyline.
07
Sea-2-Sea
- Where: Florida
- Length: 72 hours, 360km
- Next race: February 22-25, 2024
Do this if you… want the chance to paddle past alligators
Paddle past alligators
© FLXAdventures.com
This non-stop expedition race, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, cuts across the Florida peninsular from west to east and includes rivers that are home to some big old alligators.
Teams must visit as many checkpoints as possible in 72 hours, swapping disciplines as they travel through five different state parks on the way to the finish in America's oldest city, St Augustine. Top finishers qualify for America's AR series' national final.