ARWS Championship in Ecuador

Since every of the 53 teams, who participated in the Adventure Racing World Championship, has its own experiences, I would like to tell you some of the most interesting stories.

Team Peak Performance – Sweden:

Team Peak Performance from Sweden, who did an acclimatization program with us, is probably the most famous team of this race, not because they won, but because they found a dog during the race and kept him. This dog followed them over a lot of kilometers. First they tried to get rid of him, because it would be a risk for both, the dog and the team. When they saw, that he will stay with them, no matter what, they decided to keep him. The team even needed to help him through the mud. When they reached the kayaking part, the race organization told them to leave “Arthur”, on the shore, because a dog in the kayak would not be a good idea and they followed the advice. Although they felt bad for it, they left him behind and he suddenly started swimming. Therefore a team member pulled Arthur in the kayak and then he became an important team member and his new home will be in Sweden with the team. That is the most touching story that ever happened in such a race and like the people say “everything can happen during these races”.

Team Bones – USA:

Unfortunatly Team Bones dropped out of the race, when one of its team member’s got extremely cold during the trek and was not able to raise his body temperature, so they decided it is better to break up. This was indeed no easy decision but the health is more important, for sure. Furthermore Liza told me: “The legs were tough, but totally within expectation of a World Championship.” The hardest part for them were the weather conditions. It was freezing cold and rainy in the first night, which made everything even more difficult. Another difficulty in Ecuador is of course the altitude. She explained: “We tried to keep our pace reasonable and distributing weight amongst teammates who were less affected by the altitude. Besides that, the weather was difficult and maybe we should have decided to put on the rain gear as soon as it was raining instead of later, when we realized the rain would not stop. This may have made a difference for us.”

In this way, Team Bones would like to thank the extraordinary persons, who put so much effort in helping the team, when they needed to stop. These persons were Rodolpho, Andrea and Nati from Proyecto Aventura the organizers of the race.

Team Incalink – Ecuador:

This team had also problems with a team member, who could not stand the altitude and because they continued the race with just three persons, they were unranked. Due to this, the team was undiscouraged and with just three members it is even more difficult, they kept on but did not give their best. Luis mentioned: “Some parts of the route were pretty hard, but the landscape was stunning. Both teams agreed that it was a brilliant experience and a lot of fun.

Gulliver Expeditions are ready to recieve new adventurers out there who want to come to Ecuador to discover the benefits of altittude trainning for trail running and adventure racing!