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THE 2007 ADVENTURE RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
24 May - 2 June 2007 (RACE STARTS 26 MAY)
Fort William and Lochaber, Scotland
Multi-discipline, expedition-style adventure race in the Scottish
highlands
http://www.arwc2007.com
SCOTLAND TO TEST 240 OF THE WORLD'S TOUGHEST ENDURANCE ATHLETES TO
THE LIMIT
THE 2007 ADVENTURE RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
60 of the world's top adventure racing teams from 22 countries are
currently gearing up for the Wilderness ARC, the 2007 Adventure
Racing World Championship. It is a major event in the Highland 2007
event programme, Scotland's Year of Highland Culture, and is
guaranteed to be the most spectacular and demanding multi-discipline,
expedition-style endurance event ever staged in the UK.
Taking place from 24 May until 3 June (race starts 26 May) in Fort
William and Lochaber – The Outdoor Capital of the UK - in the
Scottish Highlands, The Wilderness ARC will mark the climax of the
prestigious Adventure Race World Series, with a course covering over
500 kilometres of rugged and varied terrain, including 25,000 metres
of ascent. Designed to test the limit of mind, body and spirit of
some of the fittest, toughest and most determined athletes on the
planet, this roller-coaster of rugged sporting disciplines promises
to be an adventure of epic proportions.
Competitors will be guaranteed a mix of challenges involving
navigation, mountain biking, mountain running, kayaking, abseiling,
mountaineering, river crossing and both gorge and open water
swimming. Dedicated team-work, meticulous planning and cunning
strategy, coupled with awesome mental and physical stamina and the
ability to keep going through extreme sleep depravation, are all
vital to success.
The mixed-sex teams of four, who faced a rigorous selection process
before gaining entry to the event, will come from a diversity of
countries around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada,
Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland,
Trinidad, South Africa, Sweden and the United States. Alongside 20
powerful UK squads they will battle it out for the coveted title of
World Adventure Racing Champions 2007.
The British Adventure Racing Champions, Team Aberdeen Asset
Management, who have won the Wilderness ARC race for the past two
years and who boast a spectacular international track record, are
aiming for the hat trick in the face of fierce competition. They
will compete alongside hot favourites Team NIKE (USA), whose iconic
Ian Adamson is the seven-times adventure racing world champion, and
the awesome Team Adventure Sport (NZ); in addition to other strong
contenders like Team SOLE (USA), Team Merrell Wigwam (NZ), Team Buff
Cookmax (Spain) and Team Lundhags (SWE).
A spokesman for Team Aberdeen Asset Management, whose squad includes
the most prolific of the UK's finest endurance athletes, said; 'For
the last year and a half we have been training specifically for and
eagerly anticipating this race. We're a very strong team, we work
brilliantly together, we're in peak condition and we're going for
gold! With this year's championship on home turf it would be
fantastic to see a British team on the podium'.
Other British teams expected to present tough competition are Team
The North Face (who came second in last year's Wilderness ARC) and
Superfeet / Life Is Good, the predominantly Scottish team (who came
third in 2006).
As in previous years there is intense speculation about the course,
although it is a closely guarded secret until the eve of the race.
Course designer Gary Tompsett, said: 'I have been visualizing and
planning this championship course over the past three years during
the development of the previous Wilderness ARC races staged in 2005
and 2006 and can reveal that it will contain more unique, truly
dramatic and strenuous challenges than ever before. It takes
competitors into the heart of sensational and sometimes unexpected
territory of Scotland – Europe's Adventure Capital - and will draw on
the superlatives of Lochaber and beyond. It's a monster of a route.'
Athletes are likely to tackle the UK's highest and roughest mountains
and ridges, stunning deep glens, deep cold lochs, wild remote
moorland, forests and peninsulas, mystical islands, open sea
crossings; in ever-changing weather, always with the possibility of
heavy rain, high winds, sleet and even snow.
Jim Mee, Managing Director of Detail Events and co-creator of
Wilderness ARC said: 'The professionalism of our experienced event
team and the massive potential of adventure racing to showcase the
huge range of outdoor activity opportunities available to visitors in
the Highlands and Islands has once again attracted the unique and
vital partnership of EventScotland, VisitScotland, Highland 2007, The
Highland Council and The Outdoor Capital of the UK. The financial
backing and logistical support of these partners helped Scotland win
the race to host the Adventure Race World Championship for 2007.'
The Wilderness ARC is currently attracting an enthusiastic response
from UK and international media and adventure racing buffs. The media
coverage generated from the event is expected to boost the profile of
Fort William and Lochaber, a region that is widely recognised as a
world-class destination for adventure sport and one of Europe's last
great wilderness areas.
Ends
Media contacts:
Paddy Cuthbert for Podge Publicity T: +44 (0)131 477 2037 / M: +44
(0)7968 699636 / E: paddy@podge.co.uk
Jim Mee – Media Director – AR World Championship 2007 – M: +44 (0)
7790 900 354 / E: jim@allinthedetail.com
Editor's Notes:
The Wilderness ARC 2007, THE ADVENTURE RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, one
of the most demanding and eagerly-awaited events of the 2007
international adventure race calendar, will be staged in Fort William
and Lochaber, the Outdoor Capital of the UK, in the Scottish
Highlands from 24 May until 3 June 2007 (racestarts on 26 May) -
http://www.arwc2007.com
The Adventure Racing World Series is an international circuit of
premier adventure races representing eight countries, creating a
twelve-month calendar of professional events around the world and
acting as qualifiers for the Adventure Race World Championship in
Scotland 2007.
Wilderness ARC 2007, The Adventure Racing World Championship, has
been supported by the Highland 2007 Regional Events Programme, which
is funded by EventScotland. HIGHLAND 2007, the year Scotland
celebrates Highland culture, aims to promote the Highlands as a great
place to live and to visit through showcasing the unique and special
nature of Highland culture past, present and future. Highland 2007 is
a partnership between three principal funding agencies: The Highland
Council, the Scottish Executive, and Highlands and Islands
Enterprise. Visit http://www.highland2007.com for details
EventScotland is the national organisation for sports and cultural
events and co-ordinates the delivery of the Major Events Strategy
published by the Scottish Executive in November 2002. The strategy is
designed to maximise the benefits of existing events, to attract new
events, to showcase Scotland's assets and to encourage more people to
visit Scotland to experience at first hand major sporting and
cultural events being staged in the country. For further information
about EventScotland, its funding programmes and the latest event news
please visit http://www.EventScotland.org
VisitScotland - is the lead agency for promoting tourism in Scotland
and has three key roles: to attract visitors to Scotland, to engage
with partners in the industry and to add value to the visitor
experience. VisitScotland is working with the tourism industry and
other partners to achieve a 50 per cent growth in tourism revenues
for Scotland by 2015. Key to this ambition is the generation of
additional visits and one of the ways the organisation plans to
achieve this is through the VisitScotland adventure tourism campaign
that aims to establish Scotland as Europe's Adventure Capital. For
further information about adventure sports in Scotland log on to
visitscotland.com/adventure. For holiday information on Scotland go
visitscotland.com.
Outdoor Capital of the UK- A not-for-profit community company
established to promote Fort William and Lochaber as the best place to
experience the outdoors in the UK. There are over 65 different
activities to choose from in an amazing
landscape that encompasses the small isles to Ben Nevis with white
water rivers, sea, lochs, beaches, forest, glens, cliffs and
mountains in between.
http://www.outdoorcapital.co.uk
The AR World Series is proud to partner with Casio: 'Official Watch
of the AR World Series'.
http://www.arworldseries.com
http://www.casio-watches.com
Useful Websites:
Wilderness ARC – The AR World Championship 2007 - http://
www.arwc2007.com
AR World Series - http://www.arworldseries.com
Sleepmonsters - Team profiles and information on UK and International
adventure racing: http://www.sleepmonsters.co.uk
Highland 2007: http://www.highland2007.com
EventScotland: http://www.eventscotland.org
Adventure sports in Scotland: http://www.visitscotland.com/adventure
VisitScotland - Information about short breaks and holidays in
Scotland: http://www.visitscotland.com
Outdoor Capital of the UK: http://www.outdoorcapital.co.uk
Detail Events Ltd: http://www.allinthedetail.com
ACE Races: http://www.aceraces.com
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