Why Are We So Addicted to Adventure Racing?

By Robyn Benincasa, Team Merrell/Wigwam

The following article was penned by our good friend Robyn Benincasa. With her kind permission, we are posting this article to our blog. We think you will find her mindset to be inspiring. If you like what you read, also check out the podcast that we conducted with her on our TRIBE link.

What makes Adventure Racers so rabid about a sport in which there are so many variables that it boggles the mind and soul? What drives us to fly around the world for adventures we know nothing about, in places we've never seen, and with no guarantee of crossing the finish line? I suppose that there are as many different reasons for racing as there are individuals, but I do believe there is a common thread among us, and that is the humanity of it all.

I made the jump from Triathlon to Adventure Racing in the mid 90s because I was intrigued by a sport that relied less on negative splits and ripped abs than on wits, skill, teamwork, and the human spirit. My first race was the Raid Gauloises in 1994, and although we finished dead last, I was hooked for life. Adventure Racing is like a rubics cube of athleticism, human synergy, adversity management skills and sheer guts. If you're missing one of those essential elements, you're sunk. But when you have a team that has that special ability to rearrange the puzzle in just right way, it's a magical experience beyond description.

The beauty of Adventure Racing is that at the end of the race, you know you’ve accomplished so much more than merely conquering a difficult course and testing your personal limits--you've actually proven yourself in life's most important adventure: being a great human being. Adventure Racing allows us to bring out the hero, the warrior, the healer, the leader, the genius, and the compassionate friend in each of us. In a successful Adventure Racing endeavor we are our very best, most enlightened selves, and we can see that reflected in the eyes of our teammates. This is the reason we all sign up for the world's most painful but life-affirming races again and again.

Yes, the places we go and the things we see in this sport are often truly inspiring, which is much of the reason we all plunk down that first big entry fee. But somewhere "out there", as the challenge becomes too overwhelming for one tiny speck of a human being on the vast face of the earth and we allow ourselves to experience the comfort and strength of silently sharing one heart and one mind with three other human beings, we are both transformed and transcendent. Which leads to the eternal question for every one of us--"When's the next race?"

Xo Robyn

For the latest information on the adventures of Robyn, check out her blog at:
The Dirt

Comments

[Evin]

I saw a special on TV not long ago about the Ironman 2006. I think she was on it. Interesting person and this story is just as much so.