Sean Walsh
I started racing in 2001 when a few military buddies invited me to do a Hi-Tec race. The first race was a disaster with getting lost and dehydration but I was hooked. Prior to Adventure Racing I was a road runner and biked on foot paths. The love for racing with a team and using navigation in Adventure Racing made me seek out trail running and mountain biking. Now I pride myself in being well balanced in all events although navigation is still my favorite skill. Adventure Racing is the ever changing canvas of a race, just when I think I have it all figured out a new twist comes about.

Kathy Hoverman
In 2001-2002 I had the opportunity to play professional soccer. Previously I had been a college soccer player and was accustomed to highly competitive athletics with intense training. After finishing my soccer career in 2002 I needed something that would stack up against what I had come to expect from athletics and recreational sports just weren’t going to do the trick. Soon after, I began trail running and found that mud, water and scrapes encouraged me to keep running.  I found to my great excitement there was a team sport that had all that and more to it and knew I had to try it. After borrowing more gear than I owned and 12 painful hours of racing we came in 10^th place of over 50 teams and I was hooked.

Mike Stasiowski
I first discovered adventure racing by watching Eco Challenge on television. I couldn’t believe that anyone would want to subject themselves to the kind of craziness that the competitors were encountering. The next year, I was watching and waiting for the Eco Challenge to be broadcast again. Once I saw it for the second time, I knew I had to go out and give it a try. The entire event just looked so pointless and hard that I knew it would be a blast. The best part is that I was right. Adventure racing is a great thing to do. There is nothing better than running up and down mountains off-trail in the middle of the night, following a compass heading for miles. The mental and physical challenges are always hard, but the sense of accomplishment is great! I have raced several 24 – 30 hour races, all the way up to a 6 day race. I much prefer the longer races rather than the short sprints.

Joel Ford
After a life of enjoying the outdoors and participating in athletics, I first discovered adventure racing during the summer of 2008. When I first read about the various disciplines of an adventure race I was astonished to discover that it encompassed all of my peak interests into one sport. I immediatly transformed my general fitness routine towards training to race, I read every article I could get my hands on, and I began accumulating a basic gear set. My first race ended with a humours series of events which lead to me being mistaken as a male stripper during a womens wine and cheese party in the middle of the night. I was hooked. My favorite aspect of adventure racing is the mental challenges and strategy involved, so much of this sport is won simply by having the proper mindset.

Greg Care
I became aware of adventure racing through a co-worker at a Wilderness Challenge program in the heyday of the Eco Challenge. I was captivated by what these maniacs were doing; it was a perfect blend of so many activities I loved to do. So, I aspired to become an adventure racer, but life got in the way until years later, in 2007, when I finally found my opportunity to race. My first race was sweaty, exhausting, and awesome and I have never looked back. Training and racing is the best release from a hectic career and all the other demands life puts on you. There's nothing like the satisfaction of pushing yourself to your physical and mental limits in such beautiful surroundings with great teammates.