In This Issue:   

   1. Major Adventure Races for 2006 Season  

   2. New Newsletter for a New Year

   3. Free Heart Rate Calculator.

   4. Tell Us What You Think!

================ FEATURE EDITORIAL =============

(1) Major Adventure Races for 2006 Season

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The Two Major players have both announced the adventure races for the season. The Adventure Racing World Series, kicks off during February with the XPD Adventure race being held in Tasmania, Australia from Feb 20-3 Mar. The first time this budding adventure racing nation has hosted a world series event

A Week later teams in the Northern Hemisphere start their adventure race season with a winter adventure race the Bergson Winter Challenge. Poland, Feb 26-5 Mar, followed a month later by the Bimache Extrem adventure race ,Andalusia Spain 20-25 Mar.

Action then switches to the Southern Hemisphere with The Bull of Africa adventure race , South Africa, 2-10th Jun for Northerners the Wilderness ARC, Scotland from May 29-2nd June.

The 2006 Adventure Racing World Championships is the Explore Sweden Race in Lapland, Sweden and Norway from 16-23rd Aug

The qualifying races for 2007 kick off in the America’s starting with Raid the North Extreme, Canada,18-23Sep,
Ecomotion Pro adventure race, Brazil TBA
Beast of the East adventure race, USA 22-28 October.
The Southern Traverse in New Zealand closing out the calendar in November.



The 2006 X Adventure Raid Series has been reduced to racing on three continents, starting in Western
Australia - Margaret River Region March 17/19th.
USA - Idaho June 9-11th and France Savoie July 14-16th the top 40 teams from these 2 day races will then compete in the final The Raid World Championships in Canada Quebec/Saguenay September
10-16th a to seven day unsupported race, whereas in qualifying adventure races they have been a supported race.

Other major adventure races on the calendar are the Primal Quest USA. Also in the USA the Cal Eco challenge series is back in business for racers in California.

Canada now has a national series of adventure races joining countries such as Brazil and South Africa.

The First big race of the season the Patagonia Expedition race is underway at the moment with top teams from around the globe battling it out in the harsh conditions of Patagonia- the end of the world.

The conditions are challenging to say the least and the start was changed due to 30 kph winds making kayaking in the Magellan straits to dangerous.

The first leg was 240k on mountain bikes and as expected the strong winds made it difficult to
cycle, teams sometimes struggling to maintain 6kphSpanish Team Buff lead the teams at end of first stage and set off on the first trek under a clear moonlit sky.

Canadian team Alberta Adventure Racing, suffered a major gear failure when the metal rim on one the bike tyres sheared. They made a repair with duct tape and cable ties and then where lucky to find an Argentinean tourist on a cycling holiday and were able to buy his front wheel. They left one hour after the Spanish but overtook them arriving 10 minutes ahead at the next Kayak Transition.
 
Once Again the open water was deemed unsafe and the leading two teams were transferred by boat with their kayaks to the end of the Sound. The teams next task was to haul their kayaks overland for 3.5 hours and await daylight to Continue the race .(subject to weather).
 
The three remaining teams having failed to meet the cut off time at PC 3 for the kayak leg and will be transported by boat and vehicle to the end of the kayak stage PC 4 to await the arrival of the leaders.
 

More News on this and other adventure races in next issue Mid March.

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2) New Resource for Adventure racing launched

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The New Year marks new beginnings, for many years International Adventurers has been competing around the world and offering training for budding adventure racers, now the time has come to share the accumulated knowledge with others interested in the sport whether seasoned competitors or those just starting out.

We will provide a resource which will  answer  common questions as well as information on the sport from around the world.

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3) Free Heart Rate Calculator

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Monitoring your heart rate while exercising is a simple, very effective way to maximize the time and energy you put into your workouts. By exercising at an intensity that is right for you, you're much  more likely to achieve better results in less time. This tool calculates your very best heart rate range while exercising, specific to your age, gender, fitness level, and personal fitness goals. If you'd like to try our free Heart Rate Calculator, please Click Here

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4) Tell Us What You Think!

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We would love to hear what you think of this issue of International AR Newsletter. And of course, if you have any suggestions for upcoming issues that you'd like to share with us, please send those, too!    

 Contact International Adventurers

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David is a Master Adventure Racer based in Asia and manages teams, races and reports on races from around the world and is currently writing a book about Adventure Racing.

How to have fun, keep fit and travel the world, whilst expedition adventure racing. It's not the winning it’s the taking part and you can do it too.