At an abandoned primary school high in the hills above the town of Fuhsing (
As the managing director of Action Asia Challenge, Ryan is the creative force behind what will be Taiwan's first international adventure race, which will kick off from Fuhsing on the morning of March 25.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AAC
Conceived by Hong Kong-based Action Asia outdoor adventure magazine, the Action Asia Challenge, which has been held in Hong Kong, Thailand and the Philippines on previous occasions, will be visiting Taiwan for the first time next week. It will involve over 200 competitors and an even larger number of marshals and safety personnel, and has drawn support from many sectors of the local government.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AAC
"Adventure racing is one of the fastest growing endurance events around," Blair said, speaking in a sunny room of the Fuhsing Youth Activity Center (
Roots of adventure
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AAC
Adventure racing has its roots in the first Raid Galouise, which took place in New Zealand in 1989. Since then, the sport -- which involves competitors completing a grueling course without any previous knowledge of the terrain they must cross -- has broadened its appeal from semi-professional outdoorsmen and athletes to a much wider public. According to figures of the Adventure Racing Association, by 1999 there had been upward of 80 adventure race competitions in North America.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AAC
In Taiwan, the highest profile event of this type until now has been the Eco-Challenge, which has been broadcast on the Discovery Channel over the last four years. This event takes competitors through some of the country's most extreme terrain in a seven to 10-day non-stop race and includes disciplines as diverse as horseback riding, kayaking and mountain biking.
"It takes about one year to prepare for such an event," said Patty Lee of Team BMW, a veteran of the Eco-Challenge who will be coming from Hong Kong to participate in the Action Asia Challenge. "Apart from your job, you don't have any social life outside running, cycling or kayaking."
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AAC
Lin Man-you, (
PHOTO: COURTESY OF AAC
"Taiwan is a great place for adventure racing," said Mark Dolan, one of the course consultants with Action Asia. A long time resident of Taiwan, Dolan waved his arm expansively to take in the steep, heavily forested mountains and the jade green water of the Tahan River (
Choosing events
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"The disciplines we select for the race are based on making the best use of the terrain offered us," Blair said, explaining that the lack of a mountain biking element, a staple of many adventure races, would be excluded due to the lack of a suitable trail in the area. On the other hand, the Tahan River will have kayaks on it for the first time, providing a challenge to many local competitors, who have little experience in this discipline.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ACC
"This is the first time we have introduced white water into the course," said Stewart Sharpless from Action Asia, who was helping to familiarize less experienced local competitors with the basic skills of kayak handling last week. "We are setting ourselves up for the future," he said, saying that bringing kayaking to Taiwan will help locals participate more fully in the adventure racing community.
"We capsized four times," said a wet Hsu Che-wei (
Sharpless was upbeat, saying that these skills would gradually develop. The arrival of local policemen to question the presence of boats on the water underlined potential difficulties in developing kayaking in Taiwan. "Nobody informed us," the police said sternly. Most of Taiwan's inland waterways are off limits to private watercraft. Safety concerns are usually cited for this rule, but as more than one local outdoorsman has pointed out, restricting boats from rivers leads to a vicious circle in which inadequate experience leads to accidents, which then leads to even stricter restrictions on access.
Crucial to running such a huge event, Blair said, was strong local support. In the case of the Action Asia Challenge, its Taiwan partner is the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association (
"We have had to work closely with local people [in Fuhsing] to establish the route," said Sunny Chen (
As the event will take place rain or shine, it is important that the route be passable regardless of the weather. Other important aspects that need to be coordinated will be the release of water from the Ronghua Dam (
A huge number of volunteers has been brought into the event. "There are more marshals than competitors," said Dolan. "Simply getting everyone to their position and out again is a problem," said Blair, as sections of the race pass through dense jungle or cluttered river valleys. In addition, local fire services and medical services have been brought in for rescue work.
The power of TV
One of the primary concerns in designing the course for the Action Asia Challenge is TV. While over 200 people will actually take part, hundreds of thousands around the world will be able to participate vicariously on the National Geographic Channel.
National Geographic's international penetration is clearly not without significance in securing the backing of government agencies that are always seeking ways to give the best possible impression of Taiwan to the outside world. But, while the island's scenic beauty is not in doubt, even out-of-the-way areas are often disfigured by piles of litter. So for this race, 130 cleaners from the EPA have worked to clean up the course before the TV cameras arrive.
Taiwan is no stranger to nature or adventure TV shows. The oldest and best known of these is probably StarTV's Taiwan Expedition (
Hsia Kuang-yu (
"Presentation is very important," Hsia said. "If we cannot keep the audience interested, then the whole educational function of these programs is lost." The televised format for the National Geographic Action Asia Challenge will be a combination of race coverage with cultural and historical background of the area in which the race takes place, aiming to appeal to the broadest possible audience.
The competitors
While adventure racing as a sport in Taiwan is still relatively undeveloped, a look at the list of local competitors shows considerable depth of experience, particularly in mountain biking, trekking and running.
These credentials undermine the impression that adventure racing is exclusively the domain of Westerners. Michael McComb, a recent arrival in Hong Kong from Los Angeles said he was surprised to find about 70 percent of endurance sport enthusiasts in the former colony to be Asian. "And they are very strong," he said.
A similar situation seems to prevail in Singapore, where Chong Hai-yen, a youth worker and expedition enthusiast said that more and more Asians were getting involved in endurance sports. "It's rubbed off from Westerners," she suggested.
In Taiwan, adventure racing has taken longer to catch on, but the number of enthusiasts is growing as people take notice of the island's abundant outdoor recreational resources.
Building a community
There is a fundamental difference in perspective between adventure racing and most other competition sports in that there is a strong sense of community. "People in this community share tips and help each other," said Lee.
While many of the top competitors are naturally eager to win, there is nevertheless a conviviality that surrounds the sport. "It is really like being a child when you used to pretend to go on little adventures; except now you really can," Lee said. "And because there are people of many skills levels involved, there is not so much ego."
McComb, previously a triathlete confirmed this, saying that many people on the triathlon scene "are pretty much all jerks. Strictly AAA personalities," but that with adventure racing, there was a "much healthier sense of community."
This community is getting a considerable boost from the Action Asia Challenge, providing a much needed event on the regional circuit, which is still short of quality programs. Although both Blair and Sharpness emphasized that this event will remain resolutely targeted at "weekend warrior" competitors, Blair suggested that Action Asia might become a four-part competition next year, with the fourth event targeted at regional champions.
Event Notes
What 'Action Asia' Challenge Taiwan
When March 25; start 9:30am
First finishes are expected at the finish line at Jieshou Primary School (
The Taiwan Action Asia Challenge will be broadcast on the National Geographic Channel in June.
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