China's Endurance Athletes Gear Up for Mogan Shan

Climb a mountain. Abseil off a cliff. Bike 85 kilometers. Abseil off another cliff. Run 20 kilometers. Shimmy across a gorge on a rope. Negotiate river rapids on a bamboo raft. Navigate through dense forests at night. Take a math test. Repeat. Mix for 24 hours or until thoroughly exhausted.
For the average person, this would not exactly be a recipe for a fun weekend. But average people aren't adventure racers. "For most people in China, travel means sitting on a tour bus and going from statue to statue," explains Keith Noyes, head of Seyon Asia, and one of China's adventure racing stalwarts. Adventure racers are the types that get away from the guides waving flags and groups wearing funny hats and go out to explore China for themselves.
Noyes and his Hong Kong-based company are preparing to hold The North Face Mogan Shan Exploration race, a 24 hour long event starting May 13, that will require teams of two to run, climb, paddle, peddle, swim, and think their way through what for most would be an impossibly difficult course in the mountains north of Hangzhou. "For competitors and non-competitors alike, [Mogan Shan] is a great place to see. There are lots of undulating green hills, tremendous bamboo forests, cliffs, canyons. It's an oasis of beauty," crows Noyes. "And they have some great, technical single track mountain biking!"

The Mogan Shan race is the biggest race of its kind held in China this spring. China's adventure race scene has been growing steadily since the late nineties, as larger numbers of able-bodied tourists decided to take to the outdoors rather than simply visit the typical Palace-to-Wall circuit. "[Adventure racing] is slowly growing in Asia," explains Noyes. "Every race has two parts; the race and the adventure. Our races are for athletes ranging from outdoor enthusiasts and weekend warriors to top amateur athletes." Noyes continued to explain that while the Chinese adventure race circuit is growing, it hasn't reached the point where it can attract top athletes. That takes big prize money.

The novice level racing in China appeals to many aspiring racers who would otherwise be outmatched in other parts of the world. "Racing in Asia is fun," says Claire Nelson of Beijing, who will be competing in her first adventure race at Mogan Shan. "For an amateur woman it's possible to go out and win races that just wouldn t be winnable against the type of pro-level athletes you'd find in the U.S. This is a great chance to start competing and winning."

Adventure racing is already popular in many other regions of the world, made famous by the now defunct Eco-Challenges that were held until 2002 and featured a multi-day, grueling 500 km course. Though limited to only 24 hours and under 150 km of territory to traverse, the Mogan Shan will still be a very challenging race, Nelson notes. "The idea of going non-stop for that long, I can do all the stuff, but the length of time is intimidating. For adventure racers, however, this is the sort of challenge they crave. It's a spiritual challenge," says Noyes.

Regardless of its appeal or, for some, its intimidating lack thereof, adventure racing is certainly not your average weekend trip. Piers Touzel, a racer from Shanghai, concludes, "Yeah, you have to be a little bit mad, don't you?"