Santiago
Lopez Iturralde
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: Ecuador
He has been an outdoor enthusiast his entire life. While exploring Ecuador he found his passion in nature, sports and adventure. He created the company Proyecto Aventura in 2003 at the same time that he carried out the first adventure race in Ecuador (Huairasinchi). He has developed this association together with his partner and friend Rodolfo Peralta, with whom he organizes an average of 10 adventure competitions per year. Huairasinchi is the most renowned race in the company and was selected to organize the world adventure championship in 2014 and 2024. Proyecto Aventura focuses on motivating people to change their lives with sports and to respect nature.
...
Experience:As an athlete:
Amateur competitor of cycling, trail running and adventure races since 2003 where the following international participations stand out:Adrian
Crane
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: USA
Active in Adventure Racing since 1995 and before that in several events, such as the Alaska Mountain and Wilderness Classic, that were the pre-cursor of Adventure Racing. Competed in every Eco-Challenge expedition Race and four Raid Gaulloises expedition races plus many other adventure races.
He was primarily a mountaineer and ultra runner in 1995 when Eco Challenge arrived. Had experience with many multi-day mountaineering trips and many 24 hour or longer ultra-running events which gave him a great base to undertake adventure racing. In those early days his orienteering and navigation skills were a great advantage and even though his cycling and water skills were merely proficient, It appeared he had better preparation for early adventure races than most of the competitors. His teams did well until others caught up with the skills and training to excel in AR.
He organised events as Gold Rush Adventure Racing from 1999 to 2018.
Refereed from 2017 to 2023 as ARWS Head Referee including five AR World Championships.
...
Snapshot of AR Journey:
Sebastien
Raichon
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: France
Adventure racing at the international level since 2009. Have had 14 podiums in ARWS races including six victories (4 x Raid in France) and finished 4 times in the top 5 of the ARWC with a 3rd place in 2018 and 9 participations at the ARWC.
...
On a personal level, a good track record in ultra trail running with 2 victories in the 450km Tor des Glaciers with the record to boot. He is also the first finisher of the French Barkley and has the record for crossing the Alps in France (630km in 150h).
He is also the Race Director of the Raid des Dentelles, 2023 European round of the Regional European championship series
Malin
Hjalmarsson
Year: 2023
Gender: Female
Country: Sweden
Made her first competition in 2004 in Sweden and her first ARWC in 2012.
Has been racing with Swedish Armed Force since the team was formed in 2014.
Have completed 9 ARWC and over 25 ARWS.
...
The best achievements are:As well as 7 wins in the ARWS
Clinton
Mackintosh
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: South Africa
21 Years of Adventure racing, multiple domestic (South Africa) wins Multiple top 10 International finishes including victory Paraguay ARWS 2017
112 Adventure Races Domestic & International
17 ARWS Qualifiers
8 ARWC
...
Team Captain of one of the oldest Adventure Racing teams in the world, Team Cyanosis founded in 2002 has been racing locally and internationally since 2002 with Southern Traverse New Zealand being the teams first AR World Champs in 2005. Selected to race Eco Challenge in 2019 Clinton guided the only SA team in the field to a very respectful 12th after primary navigator Nicholas Mulder contracted a very serious foot infection limiting the teams progress drastically.
Captain of the highly successful & world-renowned Cyanosis Adventure Racing Team. Clinton Mackintosh is regarded as one of South Africa’s toughest and most successful multisport athletes. With 8 AR World Championships under his belt he has successfully guided Cyanosis Adventure Racing Team to a 6th spot in the AR World Rankings and has continued to represent South Africa’s Cyanosis AR Team in the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) around the world for over 21 years with no signs of letting up.
Sandrine
Beranger
Year: 2023
Gender: Female
Country: France
Started competition in 2005 and her first long format Adventure Race was in 2007 with first edition of Raid in France. Has been racing with 400 Team at the international level since 2009. Has completed 12 ARWS with 9 podiums including 4 victories (3 x Raid in France). Has finished 8 ARWC with a third place in 2018 in La Réunion (Raid in France)
...
Mikael
Lindnord
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: Sweden
Mikael Lindnord career as Adventure Racer started 1997 and spending almost over 2 decades before he retired 2015. He was team captain for team Peak Performance and was the first team from Sweden to win a international ARWS event (Costa Rica 2010).
Besides racing, Mikael was race director for ARWS/ Explore Sweden and ARWC 2006 in Sweden and Norway.
...
Everything changed when he gave some meatballs to a stray dog during the World Championships in 2014 in Ecuador. The stray dog followed Mikael and the team the rest of the race and became ARTHUR with the world. The ESPN documentary about Arthur got two EMMY Award nominations. Mikael is a Best-seller Author in 23 counties with: Arthur - the dog who crossed the jungle to find a home.
Honor Award in Quito and Guayaquil in Ecuador for his achievements and honored with the key to the city of his home town; Örnsköldsvik/ Sweden.
His story is now a Lionsgate movie production: ARTHUR THE KING, where Mikael is portrayed by Mark Wahlberg.
Nathan
Fa’avae
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: New Zealand
...
Chris
Forne
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: New Zealand
...
Shelly
Hufner
Year: 2023
Gender: Female
Country: South Africa
A mom of two Alexander (4yrs) and Alissia Hufner (8yrs old). She remember watching the Eco challenge when she was younger and loved it. Then started rock climbing and met her husband Alard Hufner and together they climbed “The hand of Fatima” in Mali, the Towers in Torres del Paine Patagonia, Trango Tower in Pakistan, West face of Mt Mulange in Malawi and many more. Her love for adventure started.
She got into trail running because she loved being out in nature and the challenges it brings. She only started MTB when she did her first adventure race hosted by Red Ants rumble with Piers, who introduced her to this amazing sport in 2012. From then on she was hooked. Doing many Expedition Africa events, including Expedition Africa World Series 2023. she has also done a few European AR races and Godzone in NZ. She love this sport because it’s about working together as a team and she has been so fortunate to have raced with many strong AR athletes/friends, whom have been instrumental in getting her through these epic AR events.
...
Stuart
Lynch
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: New Zealand
...
James
Galipeau
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: USA
...
Masato
Tanaka
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: Japan
Masato has been racing since 1994. He led Team EAST WIND as a captain until 2021. Even after handing over captain to youth in 2022, he continues to race as one of the team members. While participating in races, he is also planning, managing, and training domestic events, the development of youth, and the promotion of outdoor sports in Japan.
In addition, he gives lectures on the theme “Everything humans can learn is found in nature.”
...
Races he has been part of:John
Karlsson
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: Sweden
John Karlsson's started Adventure Racing 2000 and are team captain for team SAFAT since 2014.
John is active officer in Swedish Armed Forces and are former Special forces operator.
...
John is known as one of the most experienced competitors in the field, with two world titles under his belt, and a history of competing at the highest level since 2006.
After the finish in South Africa when he collected his second gold, he gave a clear message.
“To all the kids and young people out there, if you want something bad enough and are willing to do whatever it takes to get there, no dream is too big, no bar it to high, only you set the limit. I'm a living example of that. Never let anyone take your dreams away from you!”
Graham
Bird
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: South Africa
Graham’s passion for the outdoors was ignited at an early age when he spend most of his teenage weekends outside with the Florida Lake Sea Scouts, where he learnt the value of teamwork, commitment and loyalty.
Adventure Races competed in:
- 8 x AR World Champs
- 13 x AR World Series races
...
A successful Canoeing career throughout the 90’s and early 00’s where he became one of SA’s most decorated paddlers - winning 28 South African titles and representing the country 13 times, achieving numerous top-five finishes at World Canoeing Championships and World Cup events.
As his competitive paddling wound down, he took up the sport of Adventuring Racing and successfully led the Merrell Adventure Addicts as they became one of South Africa’s top teams, regularly competing on the World stage in the Adventure Racing World Series. A veteran of 27 Expedition length Adventure Races, Graham is South Africa’s most experienced racer and only gets stronger over a long race, emphasizing strategy over speed.
With his love of the outdoors and the experiences he gained as a competitive
sportsman, Graham took up event organising with the primary goal of getting ordinary people outside and pushing their comfort zones, be it someone doing their first 5km trail run or a person doing a multi-day non-stop adventure race.
Respected in the sporting world for his unwavering ethics, he seeks excellence in everything but above all honour amongst competitors.
Tom
Gibbs
Year: 2023
Gender: Male
Country: UK
Tom started adventure racing back in 1996 when it was a "new" thing and was inspired by watching grown men cry on TV at Eco-Challenge. He completed his first expedition race in 1999 at Eco-Challenge Argentina without crying (a record he has not maintained since).
...
Over the last 25 years he has competed around the globe doing nearly 200 adventure races, including 35 expedition and multi-day stage races. 11 of those were world championships including the first Adventure Racing World Championships in Switzerland in 2001.
One of the UK's most successful AR athletes, Tom is known for his strategic thinking and navigation which has helped him to over 100 race wins. The 2009 World Championships in Portugal being the pinnacle, where he was part of the only British team (at time of writing) to win the world championships and was also filmed on TV crying at the finish along with some of his teammates.
In addition he has won the European Championships in Turkey 2014 and has been national champion multiple times in AR and other disciplines.
He has since branched out into course planning and has planned 4 ITERA expedition races where he is on a mission to plan the best expedition course ever. He hopes the ITERA race will help bring new people into AR and help grow the sport in the future.
He hasn't hung up his racing shoes yet and still looks forward eating lots of food whilst competing in interesting events around the world.
Team
400
Year: 2023
Gender:
Country: France
Team from FranceThe 400 team, has been on the circuit since 2009 with more than 30 participations in ARWS world circuit races.
...
Team
Avaya
Year: 2023
Gender:
Country: New Zealand
Team from New Zealand
...
Team
Vidaraid
Year: 2023
Gender:
Country: Spain
...
Ruben
Mandure
Year: 2022
Gender: M
Country: Uruguay
Physical education teacher, professional lifeguard, science fiction writer. Former professional soccer player, former representative of Uruguay in triathlon. Since 2000, dedicated to expedition and adventure racing, starting with the ELF Aquitaine 2000, in Ceará, Brazil, and the Eco Challenge editions in Borneo and New Zealand.
From there, he has more than 20 presentations at the ARWS.
...
Nick
Gracie
Year: 2022
Gender: M
Country: UK
56 Expedition Races
15 x Adventure Racing World Championships:
...
21 x Adventure Racing World Series Qualifiers & Regional Championships:
Wladimir
Togumi
Year: 2022
Gender: M
Country: Brazil
Wladimir Togumi career in sports photography started with adventure racing shortly after the sport arrived in Brazil. After watching Eco-Challenge on TV and in 2000 he had the opportunity to follow in loco the race called EMA – Expedição Mata Atlântica – the first Brazilian adventure race with 500 kilometers which made him hooked to the sport.
...
Lots of shorter races started to be organized in various countries and thus he created the “Adventuremag” portal focused exclusively on adventure racing, organizing the calendar and publishing news. He needed to create content, so he borrowed a camera and went to cover the nearby races, creating news and taking pictures. The portal grew and he started receiving invites to cover a lot of races in Brazil and abroad.
Today, in addition to adventure racing, he has photographed many trail running and mountain bike events.
Main races covered/photographed so far are:
Jose
Pires
Year: 2022
Gender: M
Country: Portugal
Volunteered more than 100 Races
Jose Pires a well know name in the Adventure Racing community. He worked as a Police Officer for 3 years and then joined the Portuguese Special Armed Forces for 26 years where he worked mostly in the missions in conflict/war areas such as Bosnia, Guiné-Bissau, and Democratic Republic of Congo.
...
He then retired in 2007 and volunteered at his first ARW in Portugal in 2007, and that’s when he decided this is what he wanted to do – follow the AR World SERIES around the world. He loves everything about the adventure, the adrenaline, meeting people and traveling. Since he was in Portugal he has been to several countries around the world volunteering at the races from South Africa, to Costa Rica , to Australia to Alaska … overall he has been to over 100 races since 2007.
His contribution to the sport in huge and AR community is glad to have him.