Adventure

Professional Adventure Racing Backgrounds

Adventure racing is a sport in which teams – generally of three boys and one girl – race across vast distances using only human power. The clock starts ticking on the start line and stops when the teams cross the finish line. Failure for any one team member means failure for all, so it is truly the ultimate team sport, pushing world-class athletes to their limits and then beyond.

Kayaking, running, biking and orienteering are the core disciplines but, depending on the race and location, teams may find themselves riding horses – or camels – abseiling down cliffs and water-courses, ascending ropes for hours at a time or canoeing down a jungle river in a native water-craft.

Some races are c. 1000km in length (non-stop). Others may only cover 300km of jungle terrain and yet may last even longer. The longest race completed by Pasi was the Raid Gauloises Himalayas (which he won in c. 5 days) whereas the longest time he was ever out on a course, was in the Raid Gauloises Vietnam, with Anna, which he finished in c. 7 days. For Anna, her longest race (as for many people racing in that era) was Eco Fiji, in which they were out on the course for a full 10 days.

Participation History

Anna was a professional adventure racing athlete for c. 5 years after entering with a bang with participation in the Raid Gauloises Himalayas in 2000. She competed in most of the well known international races including the Southern Traverse (with Ran Fiennes), Primal Quest (with Golite), X adventures (with 9feet.com and Lapin Kulta), Baja Traversia (with Nike ACG), the Bull of Africa (with Nike ACG), Raid Gauloises Himalayas (with Salomon), Raid Gauloises Vietnam (finishing 7th with Lapin Kulta), the Red Bull Northern Exposure (finishing first with Goretex Golite) and the Adrenalin Rush (European qualifier for the World Champs, finishing first with 9feet.com), Raid Gauloises Vietnam (7th with Lapin Kulta) and Eco Challenge Fiji, (finishing 10th with the North Face).

Alongside competing in standard mixed-sex teams, she also ran an all-female developmental squad in the UK, team Buff Endure, which often proved to be competetive against both UK and international mixed-sex teams.

Pasi entered the world of adventure racing in a more predictable manner, having participated in over 40 scouting and wilderness skills championships races testing orienteering and navigational skills, first aid and rescue abilities, knowledge of nature (fauna, flora, weather patterns etc) and practical wilderness skills prior to starting AR.

In addition to the races detailed in the table below, he participated in 13 x X-Adventure Raid Series World Cup Stage Races between 1998 and 2004, and in five of those he captained his team, Nokia Adventure (one of the foremost teams in the world), to 1st place finishes.

Racing History