First races are scheduled for next year in a number of countries in the region. Adventure Racing teams will compete non-stop over 125km courses of mountain biking, kayaking, trekking, and navigation. A calendar of shorter introductory adventure races over 3-6 hours is also being rolled out.
Brandon Chee is the Race Director of the ARWS World Championship Qualifier race in Malaysia and has been appointed the Series Director for Asia. He will coordinate and bring together the adventure racing calendar and series throughout the Asia region.
International ARWS Director Craig Bycroft said “We congratulate and welcome Brandon to this appointment and are looking forward to an exciting development of adventure racing through Asia. Brandon has over 20 years of experience in the outdoor adventure field, through conducting outdoor education workshops & expedition events. He is a great choice to bring the one day and overnight adventure races to Asia.”
Brandon said “It is an exciting time for adventure sports in Asia and many people are looking for these life-changing adventures at the moment. I’m super motivated to bring adventure racing to the region. I’ve already started working with a number of countries including India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia. There are many more countries to talk to and we are aiming to release a 2021 calendar soon.” “My team and I are also acutely aware of the COVID-19 situation across Asia, and the world, and must be safe and responsible in the way we plan new events and also respectful of the impacts it has had on our countries and communities. Hopefully, as we look to the future we can bring a message of hope and healing through these outdoor experiences and adventures”.
The ARWS Asia Circuit will bring together event organisers throughout the region to test teams over 125-250km of non-stop racing in the disciplines of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, and navigation. The top team at each of these Tier 2 events gains a coveted position on the start line of the annual Asia Championship where the winning team can qualify for the AR World Championship. Scouting and assessing potential locations for the 2021 Asia Regional Championship will commence shortly.
ARWS Director International Events & Branding Heidi Muller said “Asia has so many vibrant cultures and landscapes that adventure racing teams just love. I’ll be fully supporting Brandon in developing the sport across the region. Adventure Racing offers so much more than traditional sports, it has nature, beauty, deep friendships, personal challenges, and incredible experiences. It’s these reasons that we are seeing AR growing so rapidly throughout Asia.”
Every team that participates in an ARWS Asia Regional Round earns points towards their AR World Ranking. These are a ranking order of adventure racing teams from around the world based on their 4 best results over the previous two years. These points will also rank Asian teams in the ARWS Asia regional rankings. Teams wanting to supercharge their regional points can do so if they participate in multiple regional rounds and the ARWS Asia Regional Championship. Asia also has a number of much longer expedition length adventure races with courses over 500km long. Currently, they are hosted in Malaysia, Japan, and India and are Qualifying events for the AR World Championship.
The AR World Rankings Rankings are updated in 3 cycles per year including the following months – Cycle 1 (December/January/February/March), Cycle 2 (April/May/June/July), Cycle 3 (August, September, October, November). A team maintains their AR World Ranking for the duration of the ranking cycle. At the end of a cycle, rankings are re-calculated using the results of the current cycle, and the new AR World and Regional Rankings are released. In addition to these overnight races, the Asia circuit will also bring Tier 3 ARWS events to the region. These shorter mass participation races are held close to large population centres and are appealing to beginner and intermediate racers.
Source: https://asia.arworldseries.com
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