The Bend Racing Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Just when you thought the conversations coming out of New Zealand couldn't be better after hearing from both Fear Youth and Sophie Hart. - we bring you Tide Faavae.

Unless you are a total newbie, you've marveled at Nathan Fa'avae's winning career. He won his first major adventure race in 1999, and shortly thereafter started a family with his wife Jodie - a 7x NZ MTB national champion.

Suffice it to say that the 3 kids were exposed to a fair amount of athleticism and adventure. Tide Fa'avae is the youngest in the family, just 19, but is the first to tackle a expedition race. But Tide didn't race with her parents as one might expect - she raced with a bunch other "kids" (she was actually the oldest on the team!).

We talk about growing up the Fa'avae household, her siblings, her first race, and her wisdom that most veteran teams could learn from.

Thanks for listening and if you are inclined, share, subscribe or show some support and buy us a coffee here

Tell me you are a new adventure racer without saying it. Easy.

"Sophie Hart? Never heard of her. "

Now tell me you are an long time competitive racer that just was granted a wish to add a female racer to your next World Champs bid. Easy.

"I pick Sophie Hart".

But whichever one of those you are - this podcast is worth a listen. Sophie is the most successful female adventure racer on the planet, with multiple world championships, multiple God Zone wins, Coast to Coast wins, won the most recent Eco Challenge, the list goes on. But she's also a doctor, a mum, and just as down to earth and humble as anyone I've ever met. Thanks to Sophie for her time.

If you like this podcast - show us some love: Subscribe, share, or become a supporter here

This one has been a long time coming, and ended up being so fun and informative that we cut it into two. Apparently Brent likes to talk about all things AR as much as BR host Jason Magness.

So there is plenty of discussion around the sport, the recent Endless Mountains expedition race, and all things AR, parenting, racing and race directing. Enjoy!

Sitting at the base of Mt Rainier on the eve of North America's biggest (too big) 24 hour race, we watch the end of North Americas biggest expedition race of the year (Endless Mountains, also maybe too big), and wonder if there are any reasons why? We also wonder if Navy Seals are any good at AR, so we interviewed one that is racing tomorrow, and racing the upcoming World Champs in Canada. So listen in and enjoy the AR banter and root for Briar to survive it all.

During the pandemic, the crazies behind the infamous "Race to Alaska" (R2AK) were banned from holding an event that entered Canadian maritime waters. So the pivoted and hosted the WA360 - a 360 mile boat race that maximized the many arms and island of Puget Sound. It was non-stop an pitted sail boats, kayaks and any other non-motorized Frankenstein contraptions you could dream up all all against each other.

Dan and I entered, fresh memories of success in the Everglades Challenge and Yukon River Quest. We had a new new plan for dealing with pee too, and a race proclaimed "World Champion" belt up for grabs. What could go wrong.

Day 3 is when we encountered the Boogie Barge and Captain Blake Hansen. And then Dan started crying - a feeling of futility and unfairness overcoming his usually steely demeanor.

Did our pee solution work? Did we overcome the evil that is the Boogie Barge? Tune in to find out, as we prepare to join (as Dan describes it) the DARK SIDE in just a few days in the iconic Seventy48 race.

Peter left a mark on the AR community that is hard to argue with. His tragic packrafting accident in 2022 left a huge hole in the lives of his teammates at Team Checkpoint Zero, as well in the entire landscape of expedition racing.

But he made his legendary mark on me way back in 2010. He may not ever have know how his small actions had such big impacts on who I have become as a racer, and who our team is as a whole. I'm sorry I never told him while he was around, but I am hoping that he knew it somehow.

Sometimes we witness people do things that change who we are...and the people that do them never realize that their "normal" seeming actions are perceived by another person as "the stuff of legends". These shorts are about those moments, and those people. Welcome to Bend Racing Legends.

Double episode. There are many ways to look at what "worst races" mean. And here we look at two different takes on 12 hour races. Both take place in 2003, and both were with "newer" racers. One was bad because of the format, length, and lack of follow-through. The other was bad because the racers were really bad. Maybe the race was bad too, but the racers were so bad they'd never know. So sit back and enjoy! And reach out if you have your own story to tell!

Yeah - it was bad. But looking back at it is oh-so-good. It was the who's who of AR at the time - with Mari Chandler, (the late great) Peter Jolles, Ryan Van Gorder, WEDALI, Marco Anselem (Vidaraid), Kyle Peters, Bob Miller, Fletcher Hamel, etc. And in the mix was our baby team when Dan was only 24 and could barley grow a mustache. Seriously, after you listen (or before) check out the video playlist on youtube here. I can't believe these are still up, but yeah there is quite a fun old school AR playlist. And then it all went away - the race disappeared, but unlike other recent failed events, this one still has all the videos nicely curated for a blast to the past. And damn, I was in my 30s then!

Yep - we all know they happen. And this race in Brazil's remote Pantanal region (the world's biggest wetland) was incredible - both in it's scope and failures. And we were there. A guy lost his hearing. No one finished. And not even the military could get into some of the TAs to help get people out. Oh yeah, and did we mention the crocodiles? The Indiana Jones pilot? Teams rebelling against the organization? It had it all.

Read the GearJunkie report and see images here

But a video tells even more. Check out this video from the race