27/09/2025
Hey sports fans! This is becoming rarer for me to compete at this level, so who knows if this might be my last expedition race. It would be a great one to be the last. Fingers crossed we will make it to the finish line. The race involves mountain biking trekking, paddling and rappelling over more than 450 miles, 77,000’ of ascending, with a time limit of 9.5 days. It’s already been a long journey this year, with physical therapy to recover from a couple injuries last fall, weight loss so I don’t have to carry as much weight up and down the mountains in this race, a win at a much shorter adventure race in the spring (Teton Ogre), getting to know a new teammate and racing with her to complete a 24-hour adventure race over the summer, and finding an alternate teammate in just the last few weeks due to one of our team being injured. All systems are go, and I’m feeling great! Wish us luck!
Our team is Orienteering Utah
(I’m the president of Orienteering Utah. We put on orienteering meets for the public. Check out our little club at O-utah.org)
My teammates are:
Fletcher Hamel: veteran expedition racer, great navigator, tactician, and webmaster for Orienteering Utah
Sylvia Greer: veteran ultra-runner, river guide, medic, and amazing athlete in so many other ways! This is only her 3rd adventure race, but we have full confidence in her.
Tom Grundy: veteran adventure racer, mountaineer, and hero who stepped in less than three weeks before the race. Despite jumping in at the last minute, he will be a great asset to the team.
Me: veteran expedition racer, lead navigator, and just all around fast in all the things we will do
We all have wonderful families who support us, and we love them for their support!
This is my brand of crazy, and if any of you are interested in following along, here are some links. Most of these links can be found on the “Live Tracking” page of their website. The company behind Expedition Canada is called Hoodoo Adventures, so don’t be alarmed if you see any of their websites. The race starts early on September 25th in Penticton, BC, Canada.Love my son, Ian!
Expedition Canada Page
https://www.expeditionracecanada.ca/
Expedition Canada logistics Page This has a link to the letters they have sent out plus the schematic of the race course.
https://www.expeditionracecanada.ca/logistics-rules
Expedition Canada on Instagram (probably better access if you have an account)
https://www.instagram.com/expedition_canada?igsh=NXZ6YzI4ZmQ5ZHBj
Expedition Canada on Facebook (better access if you have an account)
https://www.facebook.com/share/1CNC7myB1i/
Adventure Racing Discussion Group on Facebook (better access if you have an account). There will probably be other FB pages with commentary once the race starts like the team pages and dot watchers etc.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/adventureracediscussion/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT
ARWS on Youtube
https://youtube.com/?si=ZsI5i1kzUbiquuIQ
Page with links to live tracking and updates (should be more useful once the race starts on the 24th or so)
https://www.expeditionracecanada.ca/livetrackmedia
Darkzone podcast talking about the race (from a while ago)
https://ardarkzone.com/2025/05/01/episode-124-expedition-canada-on-the-brain-catching-up-with-the-arwc-leadership-team/
AR world series page (this is the governing body over the Adventure Racing World Championship and other races in the series)
https://arworldseries.com/
Teams compete in races that can last for a few hours up to several days, navigating through rugged terrain and harsh environments while carrying all of their own gear. The ARWS brings together the best adventure racers in the world to compete for the title of Adventure Racing World Champion.
