Adventure Sports – What's it all about?
The purpose of this series is to provide beginners with basic information about adventure sports. This first installment focuses on the fundamental principles of the sport, which is what adventure sports are all about and what the sport entails.
The writing is based on the Saimaa Challenge organizers' own experiences and perspectives on the sport and is partly written from the perspective of the Saimaa Challenge event. Since adventure sports do not have strict and precise rules, the matters discussed here should not be taken as set-in-stone facts, as something may always differ in some event. Other people may also have different views on the matters presented here. Basic information about the sport can also be found on the website of the Adventure Sports Federation, founded in 2023. from here.
Adventure sports in a nutshell
Adventure racing is a team endurance sport. The team size is determined on a per-competition basis, ranging from 2 to 4 people. The competition duration can vary from a couple of hours to several days. The course is divided into different stages, which are completed in a predetermined order. The main disciplines are running, cycling, and paddling, but other sports may also be included in the competition. Progress along the route is made by navigation, moving from one checkpoint to another as a team, with free choice of route. Typically, the competition also includes surprise tasks, or checkpoints, where the team must complete an additional task before continuing the journey.
Comparing adventure sports to other disciplines is difficult because it could be said to be a combination of many different sports. Victory isn't necessarily taken by the physically strongest team; team skills and tactics also play a significant role. The closest relative to adventure sports might be found in orienteering competitions, where teams also move together, navigating and testing various civilian or military skills at checkpoints. Currently, one of the most successful adventure sports teams in the world is the Swedish Armed Forces Adventure Team (SAFAT).
Who is the sport suitable for?
In practice, the sport is suitable for anyone, from a person with basic fitness to a top athlete. There are so many different lengths of events and categories within events that everyone is sure to find a suitable challenge. For example, Saimaa Challenge has seen adult-child pairs, retired couples, as well as Finland's best adventure athletes, who are among Europe's top in the sport, over the years.
You should always confirm the participation opportunities for anyone under 18 with the event organizers. Usually, this is possible with the permission of a guardian, as in Saimaa Challenge. The youngest participants have been around 13 years old.
What kinds of competitions exist?
The shortest competitions in Finland are about two hours long, and the longest are 1-2 days long, depending on the year. Longer competitions, lasting several days, can be found in Europe and elsewhere in the world. Generally, competitions are non-stop, meaning the competition clock runs for the entire duration. This also applies to longer, multi-day competitions. Some competitions can also be stage races, where a multi-day event is divided into several daily stages with overnight breaks in between. In Finland, an example of this has been the two-day Lost series of Lost in Kainuu.
History of the species
The history of adventure sports dates back to the early 1980s in New Zealand, where the first competitions of this type were held. The first competition in Finland is known to have been organized in 1996 in Kytäjä. The first World Championship was held in 2001 in Switzerland, where the Finnish team Nokia Adventure emerged as the winner. More information on the history of adventure sports can be found on, among others, the website of the Finnish Adventure Sports Federation. from here, and of course by searching the internet.
The internationality of the sport
A dedicated sport-specific federation was established in Finland in 2023. In recent years, similar national federations have also been founded in other European countries, and the overall trend is to move the sport towards a more official and organized direction globally. For example, in Finland, the sport federation is aiming for partnership membership in the Finnish Olympic Committee.
The internationally best-known adventure sports organization today is ARWS (Adventure Race World Series). In 2025, around 70 ARWS races will be organized worldwide. The races will be divided into 3-10 day World Series races, which also serve as qualifiers for the world championships, and 12-36 hour continental races that form continental series, e.g., “Europe Series,” and also serve as qualifiers for continental championships (e.g., European Championship). Currently, continental series are organized on all continents except Antarctica. In this context, qualification means that the winner of the qualifying race receives free entry to the respective event. In addition to the winners of the qualifying races, usually all other interested parties can also participate in the championship races through normal registration and payment of the participation fee, unless the number of participants is limited in some way. In Finland, the ARWS-affiliated race has been Endurance Quest. The 2025 Endurance Quest will be held in August in the vicinity of Savonlinna and the race will simultaneously be the ARWS Europe Championship, i.e., the European Championship. Endurance Quest Saimaa. Anyone can participate in this 36-hour race.
Team size and roster
The most common team sizes are two or four people. In competitions lasting less than a day, the typical team size is two people, and in competitions lasting a day or longer, teams of four compete. There are also some competitions that are competed with three people. Regardless of the team size, it is usually predetermined, meaning all teams in a competition are the same size. There may also be some solo (i.e., individual) categories. In events held in Finland, competitions are mainly conducted with teams of two, with some exceptions. In Saimaa Challenge, all categories are competed with teams of two.
Team members can be of the same or different genders. This is entirely dependent on the competition, whether all teams compete in the same league or if teams are divided into separate leagues for men, women, and mixed teams, for example. Competitions with four-person teams are typically held exclusively with mixed teams, meaning a team must have at least one woman. Often, in addition to mixed teams, all-women teams are also permitted. ARWS series competitions are mainly contested with four-person mixed teams.
Team size and roster rules are entirely competition-specific, so they may differ from the generalizations presented here.
Multisport, Adventure Race, and Expedition Race
Sometimes you might hear the terms multisport, adventure race, or expedition race used for adventure sports competitions. Typically, multisport competitions refer to shorter races, while adventure race is used for longer competitions.
There are no clear rules or definitions for the use of different names. A rough division between multisport and AR can be considered the team size and approximately a day's duration. Competitions with four-person mixed teams that last a day or longer could be called adventure races, and shorter competitions multisport competitions. Competitions lasting 3-10 days are also called expedition races.
Fundamentally, however, in all cases it is about the same genre, and today in Finland a common term is mainly used for all events: adventure sports.
