Trek or Trail

Trek or Trail
Paraphrasing "The Truth Hurts," an article of Steve White in Action
Asia Magazine on Adventure Racing
By Chito Razon

Adventure racing and its variations like Eco-Challenge are emerging
as the extreme sports for the outdoors enthusiasts. They are
particularly appealing to the mountain climbers because of their
innate knowledge on directions, the adversities and attainment of
goals. Climbers are logical prospects for race participants as their
familiarity with other related sports as rappelling, swimming,
cycling, rock climbing, river rafting provides them with distinct
advantage.

Still, even with the shared prospects, answers to the questions "Why
do you climb?" and "Why do you race?" remain to be diverse.

Trek. Climbing is "voyaging outside in adversity encouraged a
journey towards greater self-knowledge."

Trail. Adventure racing "aims to push competitors to do the best
they can and be best they can."

Take your pick. See you in the outdoors.

22 October 2002

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Background to Appreciating Adventure Racing from "The Truth Hurts,"
an article of Steve White in Action Asia Magazine
By Chito Razon

On what adventure racing is:
"evolving from one man's fascination with physical and mental
processes of enduring hardships to achieve goals"

On Frenchman covering the Whitbread Round-The-World Yacht Race in
1987:
"The rowers drive themselves relentlessly to fight winds and waves,
often starving off sleep to keep watch and enduring exhaustion and
prolonged physical discomfort to win through"

On the great explorer as seen by Gerald Fusil, founder of the First
Raid Gauloises in 1989 in New Zealand and the First Elf Authentic
Adventure:
"against considerable odds, those highly motivated men and women had
accomplished incredible feats to extend the boundaries of human
knowledge."

Motivation of today's participants to adventure race:
"sign of dissatisfaction with a life lived within limits whose
certainty of achievement is the norm and risks are managed."

Mark Burnett, one of the founders of The Raid on what makes the race
enthralling:
"communication, teamwork and dealing with the stresses of an
expedition race will bring out who you really are. Through days of
physical punishment, competitors are reduced to a kind of mental
bedrock, the most basic substance of their character . . the
athletes struggle to fit reason around the situation of extremity."

Adventure racing to Gerald Fusil:
"when you project yourself in an unknown environment"

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