At some point, most likely at night, but almost certainly in the middle of a forest, a little treasure may bring new life. The fatigue from a five-day, five-night adventure race through the known and the unknowns of Croatia sets in early - delirium arrives a bit later - but when it's day four and the two-person team must keep pushing, perhaps the chocolate-covered coffee bean will emerge as a digestible life-vest. Matt McLaughlin and Kurt Lynn, two Cathay pilots competing in the Terra Incognita race near Dubrovnik, along the South Adriatic Sea, are banking on such a strategy. It is the first adventure race for Lynn, the second for McLaughlin and when the pair depart next week for the race, which runs from September 19 to 24, they will navigate over 400km of varied terrain through a combination of trail running, mountain biking, kayaking and whatever else the organisers fancy. They aren't stressing about the route - 'We know there's going to be hills,' said Lynn - and their primary goals are to finish and stay friends. It's a race, certainly, but because the two aren't professional adventure racers, the line merges between sport, the outdoors, and leading a particular lifestyle. According to Michael Maddess, the events director at Action Asia, McLaughlin and Lynn fit the sport's ideal demographic: 30-40 years old, bored, but with a disposable income. They also recycle, worry about clean air and fight for the environment. Adventure Racing is a growing industry in Hong Kong and around the world, but as a term, adventure racing is morphing. It remains in its early standard - multiple days, a mixed team of four, not many teams finishing - but it has shifted to include everything from the popular Action Asia Challenge to a scaled-down adventure-like race that takes just a couple of hours to complete. In Hong Kong, that shift is as geographic as it is economic. Keith Noyes, director of Seyon Asia, believes the sport is at some sort of crossroads. While he said there was an increase in the number of participants for shorter events, including off-road triathlons and trail running races, he has, at least in the interim, cancelled his longer, more costly races. In 2005, Noyes organised an expedition to the Himalayas and was planning to do a similar one this year, but halted plans after the entrance fee would have increased to US$1,000 from US$550. 'Already last time,' Noyes said, 'it was the limit of what people were willing to pay.' Gary Thompsett, a race director and planner in the UK who designed the course for the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championships, called the niche industry both variable and volatile. 'As the years go by, I don't use the term adventure racing as much anymore,' Tompsett said. 'I know what [adventure racing] is - it's navigation-heavy team sport over several days. But we need to construct other events to be commercially viable.' Big events are still thriving. A recent three-day stage race, the Wulong Mountain Quest in China in which a Hong Kong team finished tenth, awarded a US$100,000 prize - nearly unheard of in Asia. But there is growth in the simpler, cheaper events, and both Noyes and Tompsett agree the mid-range events, the weekend events, are being phased out. Noyes points out another impact of the shift in Hong Kong. 'For those who have a lot of disposable income, it's never been an issue,' Noyes said. 'Your Cathay pilots and your bankers - cost was never going to be an issue. The English teacher or the local Chinese person has a lot fewer choices right now.' Maddess said his number of races had not decreased, but instead of organising in Macau, for example, he's gone local. Sponsorship has helped dictate the shift. Last year, Maddess organised a series of 10-12km sprint adventure events, which adopted the style of the bigger races without the same time, training effort and costs. Last April, 400 people participated in the race in Discovery Bay. Maddess expects 150-200 participants for today's 8km run, 15km mountain bike race on Lantau. Tompsett said in Britain, a range of races had developed. 'It's diluted more. The range of adventure racing is very wide to the point where the smaller events [are] questionable [as to] whether it's an adventure race anymore,' Tompsett said. Tompsett isn't trying to exclude. A multitude of events creates natural stepping stones of which McLaughlin and Lynn are examples. They started with traditional triathlons, before moving into a five-hour adventure event, which was followed by a three-day stage race and now, their attempt in Croatia. By all counts, the Croatian race is a standard expedition race (McLaughlin says he picked it in part because it was a good beginners race) but in an activity so dependent on doing something different, 'standard' is ill-fitting. 'Why not' is a standard answer given when competitors are asked why they want to participate in an activity where they race all day and wilfully sleep for three hours or not at all. They then divulge their goal of pushing themselves physically and mentally to that fine line between the limit and going too far. Many have said the course Thompsett designed for the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championships in and around Scotland was one of the hardest they've ever attempted. There is no governing body, and although the title is self-imposed it is regarded as among the top adventure races. Hong Kong-based Ryan Blair competed in the race along with Tsang Sui-keung, Esther Tan Cheng-yin and Stuart Sharpless, but their team was unable to finish the course. 'The course was way tougher and longer than it needed to be, with unrealistic cut-off times that did not take into consideration the potential for bad weather conditions,' Blair wrote in an e-mail. 'It meant if any team had an issue, bad luck, or got slowed down during a particular [part] of the race, they would get cut off. It was ridiculous.' The 550km race had 2,400 metres of ascent and connected the mountainous islands with the west coast seas and the rugged inland country. Just five teams finished. 'I didn't design it to be the hardest course,' Tompsett said. 'The race takes a hold of the course and the racers make it harder, they get less sleep, they get injuries, the weather comes in . . .' Lynn and McLaughlin have not packed rain jackets. The two will take disposable thin plastic ponchos but the risk of rain is not worth the weight of a proper jacket. They smile at this gamble. Much of adventure racing is not the physical. Imagine being dropped off in the middle of a forest, with three maps each at a different scale. You can hear waterfalls nearby, you've been told to meet at point X in five hours. Do you take the most direct route? The simplest? Competitors salivate at the prospect of calculating these decisions. 'It's as close as you can get to a life or death experience, without actually being on your own,' Thompsett said. Your Cathay pilots and your bankers - cost was never going to be an issue. The English teacher or the local Chinese person has a lot fewer choices right now Keith Noyes, director of Seyon Asia, on the rising costs of traditional multi-day adventure racing and the need for more affordable alternatives Too tough? The number of teams able to complete the 2007 Adventure Racing World Championships: 5
