Adventure Racing World Championship 2007

This year, for the first time ever, the hills and mountains, lochs and glens and rugged coastline of Fort William and Lochaber will be the unforgiving host to the Adventure Racing World Championship – the culmination of the Adventure Racing World Series, the most extreme series of sporting challenges on earth. Up to 60 international teams of four competitors will battle it out over a seven-day period to become the Adventure Racing World Champions, the highest accolade in Adventure Racing.

Between 26 May and 2 June, teams from all corners of the globe will race unsupported over a 'top secret' 500km course, with over 25,000m of ascent through the spectacular and rugged landscape of the Western Highlands of Scotland, one of Europe's last great wilderness areas. Competitors will be guaranteed an epic adventure with a mix of uncompromising challenges involving navigation, mountain biking, mountain running, kayaking, climbing, abseiling, mountaineering, river crossing, canyoning and open water swimming, with the terrain and unpredictable weather throwing up more than a few surprises.

As with all Adventure Races, dedicated teamwork, meticulous planning and cunning strategy, coupled with awesome mental and physical stamina, will be key requirements of this massive test of mind, body and spirit.

Adventure Racing, as we know it today originated in New Zealand more than 20 years ago. Started in 1980 the 'Coast to Coast' is generally regarded as being the first multi sport, wilderness endurance race. It remains an annual event, traversing the New Zealand landscape via some of the most indirect routes known (and unknown) to man. Following the success of the 1980 event, subsequent years' contests began to attract competitors from further afield; largely from Australia and Europe, and in 1989 Frenchman Gerard Fusil, a renowned French journalist and adventurer, conceived 'The Raid' – an event designed to reflect both the gruelling aspects of ultra-endurance racing and the remote terrain of the great car rallies such as the Camel Trophy. 'The Raid' was also intended to reflect its creator's keen awareness of the environment, as not only were competitors restricted to purely natural forms of transportation but the untamed and untainted wilderness would serve as the athletes' arena. In the intervening years, Adventure Racing has grown in popularity across the globe, with races taking place year round on all five continents.

It's no coincidence that Scotland has been chosen to host the Adventure Racing World Championship this year. Our beautiful, romantic, ruthless and rugged landscape presents the ultimate challenge for the ultimate athlete. Indeed, course designer for the ARWC 2007 and seasoned Adventure Racer, Gary Tompsett sums up Scotland's appeal:

"Scotland is mysterious, brutal, beautiful and breathtaking. The seasons run four to a day and the landscape will haunt those who visit forever."

The AR World Championship is a major event in the Highland 2007 programme (Scotland's year long celebration of Highland culture) and builds on the massive success of Adventure Race events such as the previous Wilderness ARC races in 2005 and 2006, the Rat Race Urban Adventure series, the Wan Dae Adventure series and the Polaris Challenge, whose Spring event was held in Traquair Forest in the Scottish Borders.

The World Championship will be the third Wilderness ARC, a race that has a unique organisational structure, having been designed and delivered by the UK's two biggest and most experienced Adventure Race providers – ACE Races and Detail Events, who between them operate 17 other Adventure Races in the British Isles each year. It was their organisational expertise, resources and outstanding course planning that helped secure Scotland the privilege of hosting the 2007 Adventure Race World Championship, and it is Scotland's unique topography and climate that will ensure the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championship will not be for the faint-hearted.

Details of the course will be kept a closely guarded secret until the morning of the event. Jim Mee, Managing Director of Detail Events and co-creator of Wilderness ARC said 'this race contains nothing short of the very best that Scotland has to offer. With the variety of the terrain, the weather, the sea and the mountains, we will be able to put the World's best endurance athletes to the test here in the Highlands. We aim to deliver the best World Championship yet, that competitors will remember not only for the adventure but for the warm Highland welcome they will receive and the memories of the hugely evocative landscape.'

It's not just windswept hills and glens that are used as Adventure Race courses. Recent years have seen a huge upsurge in the popularity of urban Adventure Races, particularly in the UK. One of the major benefits of urban Adventure Racing is that they make the sport more accessible to people from all walks of life, particularly for the spectator. The UK's Rat Race Urban Adventure Series races take place in the summer in Bristol, Manchester and Edinburgh. The Rat Race and other such Urban Adventure Races guarantee increased popularity for the sport and ensure that as many people as possible are offered the opportunity to participate in Adventure Racing without having to commit to a week-long endurance challenge on a windswept hillside.

Scotland's place on the Adventure Racing world map is now firmly established and Scottish Adventure Racers are some of the most successful participants in the sport. Their drive, determination and ability to cope with the Scottish weather has ensured that Scottish teams such as Team Superfeet and Team Columbia S.A.L.T. are making their presence felt on both the UK and international stages.

Team Superfeet consist of a core Scottish contingent of John Laughlin, Iona Robertson, Nicola MacLeod and Bruce Duncan – all of whom are seasoned Adventure Racers and who between them have tackled every significant Adventure Racing Event in the UK at some stage or other. Superfeet came in third place in the 2006 Wilderness ARC.

Team Columbia S.A.L.T. (Scottish Adventure Ladies Team) is an all-female, all-Scottish Adventure Racing Team. They secured fourth place in the 2006 Bristol Rat Race Urban Adventure. It seems that 2007 is sure to be another successful year for the Scottish Adventure Racing fraternity and hopes are high for the Scottish competitors in the World Championship.

The 2007 Adventure Racing World Championship will be the most challenging and arduous yet, so lend your support to the teams, and if, on reading this, you have been left wanting to find out more about Adventure Racing, get searching. It's very likely that there's an event happening near you. What are you waiting for?