USARA National Championship Part of ARWS Regional Series
The United States Adventure Racing Association (USARA) and the Adventure Racing World Series (ARWS) are pleased to announce that the USARA National Championship will serve as an event in the ARWS North American Regional Series in 2024.
This year’s championship race takes place in Snowshoe, West Virginia on September 27, 2024. With more than eighty teams participating, it is expected to be among the largest national championships in USARA’s history. As always, this race will crown the 2024 USARA national champion and provide US teams a final chance to earn points towards the 2024 season rankings. In addition, all finishers will earn points towards ARWS rankings.
"The USARA Championship is a calendar highlight in American racing, and it's a fantastic addition to the ARWS North America Series this year,” says ARWS CEO Heidi Muller. “As a global platform, we work closely with adventure racing organizations all over the world, and this initiative by USARA will give racers in their championship event the chance to be part of our North America series and score ARWS ranking points. Adventure racing is all about teamwork, and this initiative from USARA supports our shared goals of giving racers more opportunities and helping to grow the sport."
USARA is the governing body for adventure racing in the United States. Founded in 1999, the organization sanctions races across the country; provides access to affordable insurance; establishes standards for safety and event management; and hosts the annual national championship. The organization’s central focus is supporting the existing community of racers and directors and creating access points for new adventurers entering the sport. As of 2024, USARA sanctions more than fifty events across the country.
These events comprise a diverse and far-reaching adventure racing community. There are races at every corner of the country, ranging from two-hour beginner races to multi-day expeditions that push top-level athletes to their limits. USARA has been thrilled to see homegrown regional series in the Rocky Mountains, the upper Midwest, and most recently, the Mid-Atlantic succeed with high levels of racer engagement. There is also a robust Women of Adventure Racing online community and an emerging Black Adventure Racers facebook group.
“Our job,” says USARA executive director Michael Garrison, “is to keep our finger on the pulse of the sport in the US and to ensure that we’re doing everything we can to uplift and strengthen the community. We have been following the development of the ARWS regional series with interest and looking for ways that we can support the U.S. racers that are participating in the series.”
The Adventure Racing World Series is a global platform that brings together adventure races across the world, ranging from stage races to single-day regional events to multi-day expeditions that serve as qualifiers for the Adventure Racing World Championship. Most recently, the ARWS has introduced a North American Regional Series. The series brings together more than thirty races across the US, Canada, and Mexico. It culminates in a regional series championship, which rotates across the region each year.
“At USARA,” says Garrison, “we see all these groups working toward a common goal: cultivating adventure racing where the racers are, and it is our job to support them in those efforts. This partnership with ARWS is no different; it is an opportunity to create new pathways for US adventure racers to participate at every level of the sport. When we do that well, we do right by everyone in the community.”
