The second ARWS South American Regional Championship will start this weekend in Paraguay, where 19 elite mixed quartets from 6 countries will race in LA GESTA on a 200 km course set by Race Director Rodrigo Cubilla and his staff.

The first-ever South American Regional Champs, held in Chile in January 2022, was marked by some heavy COVID restrictions from local authorities, stopping teams from crossing ground borders, so only Brazilian teams joined the Chilean racers.

For LA GESTA, 6 out of the 9 South American nations will be represented and the level of competition is higher than ever.

The Brazil Multisport team, led by Camila Nicolau, must be favorites. They have won 3 of the regional races, and 1 regional Championship, so they start as the defending champions. Also, they are very familiar with the terrain in Paraguay and were third in the recent World Champs at Expedition Guarani.

Two teams from Chile are racing and Team Menetue Ejercito arrive as the winners of the Chilean regional race this year, where they defeated the strong Merrell Chile team.

From Ecuador, it’s the first time at an international race for team Cuatro Vientos, who won Huairasinchi Aventura last year.

Uruguay Ultra Sports is definitely another team to watch. Ruben Mandure’s experienced team regularly rank in top international positions and won the XC Adventure Race in Uruguay to qualify for the final. They came 11th in the last World Champs, and are also very familiar with the terrain in Paraguay.

From Argentina, the San Juan Aventura team will be joined by some of the Blizzard team (who have won Expedition Africa in the past), and they are definitely going for the win!

The very best teams from Paraguay will be racing of course, representing an adventure racing community that has been growing stronger every year. Among them are the new National Champions, Team Ulala, who completed the course at ARWC in the top 20.

There are also 3 very powerful Brazilian teams with international experience, including former #1 world ranked team, Vidaraid, captained by Urtzi Iglesias.

The government of the region of Alto Paraná has made a great collaboration with the race organizers from Nandupe Aventura to host this international event, where the winner will take a place at the next AR World Championship in South Africa next October.

The course area is in the border region with Brazil and alongside the immense Itaipu Dam on the Paraná River. The area is full of waterways and waterfalls, as well as rich in forest and wildlife, and teams will arrive at the Polideportivo Tacurú Pucú in Hernandarias on Thursday and Friday. The race begins on Saturday and will include 5 stages of kayaking, mountain biking and trekking, plus a ropes and swimming challenge.

Live tracking will be available and an ARWS media team will be at the race to cover this incredible fight to be the best adventure racing team in South America!

You can follow the race on the Nandupe Aventura pages, and on the ARWS South America Facebook and Instagram pages.