San Joaquin Magazine published an article profiling Dirty Avocado, Mark Richardson.  This is one of the best articles about adventure racing that wasn’t written by an adventure racer that I’ve ever seen.  Kudos to author Patricia Kutza for taking the time and effort to accurately explain out passion to the masses.

The Great Outdoors

Tracy firefighter Mark Richardson is getting his exercise outdoors,
in a new sport called adventure racing
by Patricia Kutza

If you frequently travel Highway 120 there’s a good chance you’ve seen him. Once a week, for the last seven years, Tracy firefighter Mark Richardson bikes seventy miles roundtrip on this road, between his Oakdale home and his fire station. Considering the already physical nature of his job, you’d think he would prefer to drive instead. Quite the contrary. When the weather turns nasty, Richardson frets since he must resort to driving and lose that precious additional opportunity to train for his passion—adventure racing.

Less than twenty years old but considered one of the fastest growing sports in the world, adventure racing is an outdoor multi-sport competition that has its roots “Down Under,” in Australia and New Zealand. Here in the U.S., the over 400-mile Primal Quest remains the most prestigious race on the circuit—race locations have included Colorado, Lake Tahoe, the San Juan Islands, and Montana, among others; this year’s race will take place in the Badlands of South Dakota. All adventure racing events include some combination of orienteering and navigation, cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling, and climbing (with such related rope skills as rappelling, ascending, and traversing). Events can last anywhere from a few hours—a ‘sprint’—to eleven days—an ‘expedition’ (see sidebar on pg. 47). The races are essentially co-ed and include from seven to twenty teams that consist of three to four members each.

Richardson’s story is similar to many other athletes who have found a passion in adventure racing. “I came to this sport in a roundabout way,” says Richardson. “I raced bikes for about eleven years. Then I had a back injury that was so aggravating I had to quit racing. When I discovered adventure racing, I figured I could still mountain bike and it sounded like a lot of fun.” Richarson explains that you don’t have to be an elite athlete to succeed in this sport. “But everything is done outside, so you’ve got to be someone who enjoys the outdoors.”

At 45, Richardson enjoys every bit of it, racing on two teams, Gold Rush Adventures and Dirty Avocados. “I train between twelve to fourteen hours a week,” he says, “upping my hours when I am closer to a racing date. I’m a family guy, so I try to be efficient—that’s why cycling to work is so important for my schedule. Racing fits well with being a firefighter since on-the-job fitness is really an important component of my work responsibilities.” Richardson, who has participated in the full gamut of racing events, including the seven-day Primal Quest and three-day Baja Travesia, says adventure racing is 60 percent physical and 40 percent mental, very similar requirements to those of a fireman. “The mental training is practically the same,” he says. “You build a giant toolbox of abilities, and pick the tools appropriate to whatever challenge you confront. This technique works for me whether I am racing or putting out fires.”

While newbies to adventure racing may think that acquiring multi-sports expertise is critical to their success, it’s actually not the biggest hurdle. “The biggest challenge is finding a good team that is compatible with you. You have to stay within 100 yards of each other and finish together. What I see all the time with new racers is that they have a lot of pride and don’t ask for help when they get into trouble.” Successful teams share compatible goals, he says. “You will have friction if someone wants to win versus someone who is just interested in finishing.” With a relatively small group of adventure racers in the San Joaquin Valley, Richardson says newcomers will need determination to find the right match. “I went though a lot of people to find a compatible team. The internet is a great tool to find lots of information about this sport and find the folks, who like me, love it and live it.” SJM

To see the entire article and pics go to San Joaquin Magazine online and click on “Digital Edition”, then use the page seletor to view pages 44-49.