The fifth edition will start on Monday May 13th and on the start line will be racers from Japan, Canada, USA, Holland, Croatia, Slovenia, Belgium, Finland, Czechia, Ireland, Estonia, Denmark, Switzerland and France.
The attraction of the coastal and mountain scenery in one of the most beautiful countries in Europe is obvious and the climate is generally good in May, though teams who raced in last year’s extreme floods might question that. Some are returning this year looking for the sunshine the race is better known for. The forecast looks fair for the race start at least, but nothing is taken for granted after the rains last year and katabatic winds which affected a sea paddle stage the year before.
The race is returning to a previous venue this year, the Baška beach camping resort on the island of Krk, which was used for the race in 2022. “It was a great venue, so we are delighted to return there,” said Dorotic, “and we have planned a course to explore new areas of Croatia.” He added that the course will take teams “from the coast, across the islands and over the mountains to the inland rivers and back to the sea again.”
The race is known for its numerous ‘short’ stages (relative to other ARWS Expedition races), and many transition areas. At ARC teams are wise to work on their transition speed and skills as transitions are a discipline in themselves and play an important part in any team’s result.
This year the route has 16 stages with 6 hiking, 5 biking and 5 kayaking legs. The longest hike will be 58 km, the longest bike will be 101 km and the longest paddle will be 36 km. In total 57% of the course is biking, 28% hiking and 15% paddling, and the total distance is 502km.
The race will have new champions this year as 2x champions (and World Champions) the Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team will not be racing, and in their absence it’s not easy to pick a race favourite.
Team FMR (French Mountain Raiders) are double ARWS European and French National Champions, and unusually are the only French team racing this year. There is also a strong entry from Estonia, but with unfamiliar team line ups. Three of the Estonian Ace/La Sportiva team who recently won the Expedition Ozark Qualifier and were second at ARC last year, are taking part, but they are not all racing together.
The Tactical Foodpack team includes Timmo Tammemäe and Silver Eensaar (who joined as a late replacement) while Rain Eensaar was also a replacement in the Õnnevalem team who finished 6th last year. Both teams have exceptional international racing experience and navigation skills and also experience of several previous ARC editions.
Team Bend Racing/4 Hour Fuel is fielding a strong team led by Chelsey Magness, who raced the 4 Islands MTB stage race in the area with Race Director Igor Dorotic less than 2 weeks ago. The other team members are Alex Provost, Karine Corbeil and Max King, so this squad are half US and half Canadian, with two male and two female racers.
Another North American team to watch is Team Expedition Canada, who are a relatively new team but have already notched up a second place ARWS result at the Tierra Indomita Vulcania in Chile. Can they go one better? They have ultra experienced racers in James Galipeau and Jen Segger for this race. (James is an ARWS Hall of Fame member.)
When it comes to experience Team East Wind have the most experienced racer in the field in the indomitable Masato Tanaka, who is also in the Hall of Fame. The Japanese team has a huge following and will have a media team at the race with them to keep their fans updated.
There will be a large following in Croatia too, particularly as there are 5 home nation teams and another which is half Croatian and half Slovenian. There was only one local team in the first race and Dorotic said, “The increasing Croatian participation is something we are most proud of and there are 3 racers who were given free entry this year as they are in their 5th ARC. They are Denis Bajić, Kristijan Zrinić and Daniel Masy.”
All race fans around the world can stay up to date by following the live race tracking at https://froogal.tracktherace.com/adventure-race-croatia-2024/live and the live coverage on Adventure Race Croatia and ARWS social media channels.
For a full team list and to find out more about the race visit https://arc.remarkable.events/
