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Posted by Grant on 6. May 2010 17:47
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I just returned from some travels through Italy and now it's time to get cranking on a lot of adventure racing work . . . and most immediate is my help with the XPD Australia expedition race going on later in May. Check out the Australian race news portal and tell me if you see any similarities with the Untamed system we use (hint: check out www.UntamedNE.com/LiveRace.aspx). That's right, XPD Australia approached us months ago about working from our Untamed race website; so we will help them present their race in the best possible way while tuning the software for our New England race later in August. It's been fun partnering with another international race organization and learning from eachother -- the AR World Series doesn't foster much communication between constituent events, but this has been a great experience so far.
By the way, there are now 37 teams on the roster for Untamed New England in August and we have the first Captain Communication going out later this month. I still know of 3 or 4 other teams who are "intending" to register -- and we all know how those intentions can change unexpectedly -- and with no more than 8 team slots total still open, the door is starting to close on teams wanting to race in New England in 2010.
Above shows ATP/Salomon's Scott Pleban racing on the 2009 New England course
One final item: I've gotten some questions about the 2010 New England course and why we estimate 170 miles vs the 200 miles total distance from the 2009 edition. The answer: bushwhacking. As anyone who raced in 2009 knows, teams will make just 1 or 2 miles per hour through some of the dense North Country forests and this 2010 course will set a new standard. In 2009, most teams bypassed some of the most spectacular off-trail portions when they missed the time cut-off at 5 PM on Day #2; most had just a 5-10 hour off-trail bonanza during that 2nd trekking leg instead of the 12-18 hours enjoyed by the the lead teams. This year, nobody will get away that easy. To put it blunty, for Untamed New England 2010 we haven't hidden any of the toughest navigation/off-trail sections behind a time cut-off of any sort. All teams will undertake an extended and very rugged trek emphasizing off-trail travel and route-finding. More info will be forthcoming in the Captain Communication, so stay tuned!