The 2023 Adventure Racing World Championships will be hosted by Expedition Africa and held in the Kouga region of the Eastern Cape in October next year.
The 700km race, the first to be held on the African continent, will be the culmination of the 2023 Adventure Racing World Series, which unites the world’s best endurance athletes at the premier expedition adventure races around the world.
Adventure racing, also called expedition racing, is a multidisciplinary endurance walking or running team sport that involves navigation over an unmarked wilderness course with races extending anywhere from two hours up to two weeks in length.
The Race Directors of Expedition Africa, Stephan and Heidi Muller, launched the ‘Adventure Racing World Championships Kouga 2023’ at the Lombardi Game Farm, which is involved in rhino conservation.
Stephan spoke about the exciting possibilities for the course in Kouga and the Eastern Cape, which he has already begun scouting and planning.
“For an adventure race of this magnitude we need to find an area that is far away from any human development, to ensure teams have a true wilderness experience and race in unique terrain. At the same time, we have to be able to deliver fast and dependable logistics, transition areas that offer a welcome respite from the wild, and accommodation with strong Internet facilities for the world’s media. The Eastern Cape has all that, and so much more. It has a comfortable climate in October, a Unesco World Heritage Site, world-class game reserves, and a rich culture. It’s an exciting and diverse area, and the perfect location for an Adventure Racing World Championships.”
Competing teams will fly into Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), and it’s then a 90-minute transfer to the race venue, the Cape St Francis Resort.
The Kouga Local Municipality and the Sarah Baartman Municipality will host the race. Details of the 2023 Adventure Racing World Championships, including entry pricing can be found at www.expafrica.net
