Thule Adventure Team - Winners of the Adventure Racing World Championships in Costa Rica 2013

The 2013 World Championships of Adventure Racing took place in Costa Rica this past week and is known as one of the toughest races in the history of adventure racing. The race consisted of 13 stages and was spread over more than 800 km of inaccessible wilderness with  lethal animals, such as crocodiles, snakes and spiders.

The Thule Adventure Team  (Mimi Guillot, Jacky Boisset, Stuart Lynch and Albert Roca lead by team captain Martin Flinta, who was stuck home with a lung infection), represent not only one, but four countries; Sweden, France, Spain and New Zealand.

Adventure racing is an extreme team endurance sport which combines navigation, mountain biking, trekking and paddling in different environments and conditions. The race in Costa Rica stretched across the country on a 800 km long course through swamps and jungles, over mountain and on the open sea. Nature’s elements play an important part of the race.

The challenges the teams face during a race like the World Championships in Costa Rica are sometimes close to inhuman. There's a fine balance in how far the teams can push themselves when not sleeping during the race which stretches over 7 days and 7 nights. Sleep monsters and hallucinations can take over and the importance of a solid teamwork gets more and more crucial the longer the race lasts.

Thule won after 7 days of intense racing

The Thule Adventure Team crossed the finish line after 7 days or 168 hours and 23 minutes, 3 hours before following Team Columbia Vidaraid. A solid tactic, good navigation and great team work was what lead the team to victory in this prestigious race.

The different legs of the Adventure Racing World Championships in Costa Rica 2013

1. 95 km mountain biking in the jungle
   
2. 65 km kayak paddling in mangrove swamp and open sea
   
3. 34 km trek while carrying kayaks and all equipment 
   
4. 65 km kayak paddling through mangrove swamp
   
5. 101 km mountain biking in the mountains
   
6. 92 km trek in the mountains with a vertical ascent of 2500 meters
   
7. 40 km mountain biking
   
8. 33 km whitewater rafting in class V and VI waters
   
9. 89 km kayak paddling
   
10. 18 km trek in mostly mud
    
11. 156 km mountain biking through jungle and mountains
    
12. 5 km rope work in the air between mountains
    
13. 18 km whitewater rafting through the rain forest to the finish area