Adventure Tips: Wacky Adventure Races Around the World

Maybe like us, you like to get weird and you’ve thought about making your adventures as weird as you are. We get it. While the Yonder Team has never actually done any of the unusual adventure races below, we’ve dreamed of doing at least a few of them. 

• The Mongol Rally: The Mongol Rally is an annual adventure race that involves driving a small, underpowered car from Europe to Mongolia, across a variety of challenging terrain and through a number of countries. See what happens when your engine breaks down in Turkmenistan! 
• The Marathon des Sables: This one is for the sun babes among us. The Marathon des Sables is an annual ultramarathon that takes place in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. It involves running a series of stages, totaling about 150 miles (241 kilometers), in extreme heat and with limited supplies.
• The Polar Circle Marathon: And if heat isn’t your thing, maybe freezing temps are. The Polar Circle Marathon is an annual marathon that takes place in Greenland, near the Arctic Circle. It involves running a marathon on the frozen surface of the ice cap, in extreme cold and with limited supplies.
• The Red Bull X-Alps: The Red Bull X-Alps is an annual adventure race that involves paragliding, hiking, and running across the Alps, from Salzburg, Austria to Monaco. So many sports, so much terrain, so much challenge.
• The Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge: How about something on water you ask? The Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge is an annual rowing race that involves crossing the Atlantic Ocean, from the Canary Islands to Antigua. It is a physically and mentally demanding event that requires participants to row in shifts, often for up to 18 hours a day, in challenging ocean conditions.
• The Tour Divide: The Tour Divide is an annual mountain bike race that follows the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, which runs from Canada to Mexico along the spine of the Rocky Mountains. It is a self-supported event that involves riding a bike for thousands of miles through tough but beautiful country.
• The Iditarod Trail Invitational: You thought you needed a team of huskies? Nope, The Iditarod Trail Invitational is an annual endurance event that takes place on the Iditarod Trail in Alaska, United States. It involves biking, running, or skiing a long distance over a variety of terrain, often in extreme cold and with limited supplies.

So get out there, do you, be strange and do things that will make your neighbors whisper about you and shake their heads. Keep it interesting. Always.

But be sure to research it thoroughly and make sure you are physically and mentally prepared for the challenges it will present.