So a couple of big announcements for those looking towards the 2017 Adventure Racing calendar.
Rogue24 Location Announcement
Night encroaches on the 2017 Rogue24 course.
The Rogue24 is set to visit the Lake Wivenhoe region in 2017. Race HQ will be staged out of the Lumley Hill campground on the shores of Wivenhoe Dam on 22-23 April next year. There will be an option of both the traditional 24 hour course along with a 6 hour offering. The race will explore the western fringes of the lake: for those not familiar with the area you may breath a collective sigh of relief as the terrain can be described as more open, fast and flat than a number of recent editions of the Rogue24. That’s not to say that there won’t be challenges aplenty: indeed, I’d describe the course in its current format as one of the most strategically challenging yet. This is definitely a race where good navigation and planning will have the upper hand. Full details have been updated on the race website here.
What’s to a Name?
This next discussion is a slight segway onto another exciting announcement on the adventuregaine front. With an increasing number of multisport type events of varying formats becoming available, it was highlighted to me that there is a lot of confusion over the naming of these style of races.
The name “Adventure Race” would typically encompass a linear race of teams of two or more athletes competing over two or more disciplines on an unmarked course requiring map and compass navigation. But we have seen the name “Adventure Race” appropriated by other races including the Anaconda Adventure Race (which in my book was always a “Multisport” race) and even “Obstacle Course” racing. Even multisport racing can cover a number of formats from a set course for individuals like the Coast to Coast in NZ through to stage races for teams which vary their course each year such as the Wulong Mountain Quest in China. Some have even suggested that the name “Adventure Race” itself is very clunky and doesn’t do the sport justice in terms of marketability – a problem experienced by anyone trying to explain the sport we love so much to the uninitiated.
Media filming at the 2013 GodZone race.
Indeed, I’m a big fan of an idea floated by Warren Bates that the ARWS, the preeminent adventure racing series in the world, adopt a model similar to Ironman (ie “long-distance triathlon”) or Xterra (ie “off road triathlon”). That is, a model employing a single unifying series under one name. For example instead of competing at GODZone or XPD or Raid in France, teams would compete in “X-Adventure” NZ, “X-Adventure” Australia or “X-Adventure” France (insert any appropriate substitute for “X-Adventure” here). This is of course not without massive logistical hurdles, not the least of which is funding from a big name sponsor. However such a model would massively improve the marketability of the sport, the consistency and quality of races, set a logically organised international calendar, standardize tracking and media engagement as well as provide a platform for grass roots teams to develop and attract their own sponsorship, thereby increasing participation in these expedition race events. Indeed the model could grow to where smaller races around the world could act as qualifiers for these premier events in the world series via a franchise arrangement.
So that is a long way around asking the question “where does a multisport rogaine such as the Rogue24 fit into this paradigm?” Historically I’ve referred to the Rogue24 as an “Adventuregaine”, but I’ve always felt this name is clunky. With the addition of the Mojo organised adventuregaine adopting the Rogue name, we were running down the road of the Rogue “brand” representing a multisport rogaine or adventuregaine. But with the addition of even more events to the calendar in 2017 by different organisers (more on that in a moment!), it was felt a slight rebranding was in order. As such, all multisport rogaines held by the QLD Rogaine Association in 2017 will fall under the RAID series name. The Raid name actually has a long history in AR, beginning with the Raid Gauloises and still utlised by a number of races today. It was felt that the Raid name would make a great tie-back to AR for our events without utilizing the title of adventure race.
Which brings me to my final announcement…
New Raid Events for 2017
In addition to the Rogue24, there will be another 3 Raid events hosted by the QRA in 2017 covering an exciting range of course locations and lengths.
Bayside Raid
- Date: 28 January 2017
- Duration: 4 hours
- Location: Gold Coast area
- Disciplines: Coastal paddling and Running
Rogue Raid
- Date: 22-23 April 2017
- Duration: 24 hours or 6 hours
- Location: Lake Wivenhoe
- Disciplines: Paddling, Mountain Biking and Trekking
Northern Rivers Raid
- Date: 1 July 2017
- Duration: 8 hours
- Location: NSW Northern Rivers
- Disciplines: Paddling, Mountain Biking and Trekking
Mojo Raid
- Date: 19 August 2017
- Duration: 12 hours or 6 hours
- Location: West of Brisbane
- Disciplines: Paddling, Mountain Biking and Trekking
All of these events will be hosted off the back of a team of dedicated volunteers. As grass-roots style events, they will adopt the format very familiar to those that have raced the Rogue24 over the last six years: very few bells and whistles, just quality courses, great mapping, accessible to all levels of ability all with an eye towards keeping the logistics as simple as possible for competitors. If you are interested in helping out as a volunteer for any of these events, drop me an email at rogueadventureracing@gmail.com
So, a big year planned for 2017, with more exciting specifics to come on each race and additional announcements, including a points series system, to come!
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