Europe’s Oldest Adventure Race: Hot and Scenic
Press Release / 26.08.2024
The Czech Adventure Race kicked off on Thursday, August 22nd, at 10 a.m. with the "Swim-run" discipline. Checkpoints for this stage were located near the water reservoir, and the shortest route involved crossing the water.
Competitors were allowed to use mattresses and any swimming aids they wished. At the end of this stage, teams jumped into canoes and paddled to the outskirts of city of Plzeň, from where they walked to the transition area to begin the MTB stage.
The sun was blazing all day, taking a toll on some participants' health. The favored Black Hill team had to withdraw on the first night because Tomáš Petreček fell ill. Similarly, Peggy Marvanová from Team Phoenix had to drop out a day later.
The race was tough, but the competitors appreciated the beautiful locations chosen for the checkpoints (ruins, viewpoints—unfortunately, everything interesting tends to be on a hill). The via ferrata and the second transition area were located in a botanical garden, but most teams passed through it at night.
Although only 10 teams started, everyone had a great time and shared their experiences at the finish line. A total of six teams completed the course, though some with some CPs missing. This year's course was 300 kilometers long, and the fastest team completed it in 45 hours—with only 15 minutes of sleep over both nights in total, finishing an hour and a half ahead of the second team. The last team to complete the full course took 55 hours.
For more information, photos, and everything else, visit www.adventurerace.cz and Facebook.
Results:
- SK SP Kylešovice AR team (Pavel Štryncl, Kateřina Matějů, Michal Horáček, Jan Obuškevič) 45 h 06 min
- LOKAL BLOK (Honza Kotyk, Aleš Zavoral, Tomík Rybář, Šárka Jelínková) 46 h 34 min
- Pustolovec Rajd Slovenia (Andrej Mesner, Franci Soklič, Klemen Udovič, Meta Dagarin) 47 h 33 min