Adventure Racing: Behind the Scenes
For larger, multi-day events, the number of staff and volunteers increases proportionately. The longer the event and the more competitors participating, the more staff that is needed. Some events might require a week to set up the race and week to tear it down.
Setting the Course
The XTERRA is a series of sprint adventure races taking place worldwide. One race is the XTERRA Nevada, which consists of a 32-kilometer bike ride, 5-kilometer trail run and 750-meter swim. The course will take about 150 competitors approximately two to four hours to complete. To set up such a course takes the right location, high-tech gadgets and know-how.
Dave Nicholas, (AKA "The Big Kahuna") managing director for the XTERRA events (organized by Team Unlimited), knows just what it takes to set a course that is challenging and fun-- and that suits the XTERRA competitor profile.
"The XTERRA lifestyle is outdoor and active," said Nicholas. "Most participants are professionals with jobs and family that would rather go camping and hike Yellowstone than stay at a five-star hotel."
The first step in creating an appealing course is to choose a site that is near a populated area (with an airport nearby for easy access), yet in the wilderness. Next comes measuring the course. Various gadgets are used to do this. For the run and bike trails, a GPS (global positioning system) device is worn on the wrist as the race course setter takes to the trails to ensure they are the proper distance. For the kayak course, laser range finders are used to set the buoys for accuracy.
Setting the course also involves making sure the trails are clear of debris and putting up hundreds of color-coded trail markers so that competitors don't get lost. Nicholas says that it can take up to a week to set the course.
With 150 competitors, one dilemma Nicholas tries to avoid is back-ups on the course. He prevents this by limiting the number of entries and making sure that parts of the course are wide enough for people to pass.
Another nasty problem is cheating. Those wanting to get an advantage might be tempted to take a short cut, but Nicholas's staff is prepared to make sure this doesn't happen.
"We know where would be an easy place to cut the course," Nicholas said. "If someone comes in with an unusually fast time we might question it."
Course marshals line the trail routes and take down participants' numbers when
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