… Expedition racing breaks or makes a person. Seeds of doubt on the course can sprout quickly in the fertile soils of pain and fatigue. Allow them to set roots and your race is over. Push back at the agonizing pain, those demoralizing chills and defeating weather, and you are rewarded with a warrior mindset. You can do anything! …
Tarahumara Sandal Shoe — GoLite Footwear’s Tara Lite running shoe is said to have been inspired by the Tarahumara tribes of Mexico, a native group known for their distance running skills who wear minimal thong-style sandals.
What makes the GoLite shoe unique is its flat, “zero-drop” heel, flexible sole, and a soft upper. The kicker: Inside the shoe, separating your big toe from the rest, there’s an internal sandal post that keeps your foot from moving too much and helps the flexible shoe fit snug.
The Tara Lite will come in men’s and women’s models for $115.
Mike Kloser, a Vail, Colo., athlete and a former world-champion mountain biker, is something of a god in the sport of adventure racing. As the captain of Team Nike, Kloser dominated AR for years, including multiple world-champ titles and victories at banner events like the Eco Challenge and Primal Quest under his belt.
Last year, Kloser launched a gear company, Out There USA, and he designed a backpack. After years of racing — as well as living a consummate outdoors existence working and training in Colorado — Kloser put his knowledge toward making his company’s AS-1 Pack something of an ultimate multi-sport tool. …
From Dave Adlard of Adventure Sports Week, a NEW expedition race: coed teams of four racing 600km (372 miles) out of the gorgeous and rugged northern Idaho panhandle.
There is also an early bird registration process that lasts until 12 teams sign-up or January 1st, which ever comes first. During that period there is a discounted rate for competing.
My buddy Dave Adlard, of Adventure Sports Week, is hosting his first ever expedition length race, 600km (372 miles).
Expedition Idaho 2011 (website coming soon!) will … take place from August 14 – 20. The new dates avoid conflicts with both the Raid The North Extreme race, which takes place July 23 – 31 in the West Kootenays of British Columbia and the Gold Rush Adventure Race that ill go down on the West Coast from September 8-11.
… after a full year of training for this event, Dave Adlard will be captaining “Team Adventure Sports Week” in the Elite category of the “Desert Winds Expedition Adventure Race” beginning September 19.
Dave and his three female teammates; Dr. Jeni McNeal from Eastern Washington University, Soledad Cristiano from Argentina, and Cynthia Miranda of Carlsbad California, will be traversing nearly 300 non-stop miles across the brutal Mojave desert on foot, mountain bike, canoe, rappeling/climbing, pack rafts and orienteering, carrying their own gear, food and water in what could be the most challenging and demanding event on earth this year… 50% of the teams are expected to not finish the race, which is expected to take the teams between 90 and 120 hours to complete.
Dr. Jeni McNeal and Dave Adlard, founding members of Team Adventure Sports Week, along with an unofficial support crew of Rick McCharles of BestHike.com completed the 94 mile/47,000 feet elevation Wonderland Trail in 63:03, June 25 – 28.
The two carried their own gear, and took only a few hours sleep time in completing what some have said is one of the fastest unsupported, July circumnavigations yet. Almost 10% of the trail was still snowed in, requiring route finding and snow travel. Most hikers completing the trail require 8 – 12 days to finish.
They climbed and descended more than 20 peaks on the famously difficult trail, with elevation changes equivalent to climbing and descending Mt. Rainier from Paradise Visitor Center almost three times. They also encountered bears along the trail.
The two burned almost 33,000 calories each, and drank more than 50 liters of fluid total in temperatures ranging from 33 – 89 degrees.
Their journey began at Reflection Lake on July 25 at 10:40 am, and finished at 1:43 am on July 28.
“This was one of the most psychologically and physically demanding tests I have done since starting Adventure Racing,” said Adlard. “This is a really tough trail that demands a lot from all participants.”
The trail is notoriously uneven, with steep, overgrown and narrow sections that make forward progress difficult in many places.
Team Adventure Sports Week is training for the five day Desert Winds Expedition race in Lake Mead, Nevada, Sept 18 – 25.
Dave and Jeni completed near 100mi of Wonderlandness at 1:47AM, Wednesday, July 28th. Mission accomplished!
I’ll post Dave’s detailed trip report and photos as soon as available.
=== original post:
by site editor Rick McCharles
I’m support team for Dave and Jeni in their attempt to complete the 95mi circuit of Mt Rainier in 3 days.
It started well. They ran the first 6.1mi in record time. Here they are staging for the remote west side of the mountain, the last time I saw them in the past 24hrs.
I rendezvous with them tonight. … It could be ugly.
From Dave Adlard of Adventure Sports Week, a NEW expedition race: coed teams of four racing 600km (372 miles) out of the gorgeous and rugged northern Idaho panhandle. 
besthike.com 