Discussion: Red Bull film on Aconcagua/ ARWS - Nicolás Miranda/ Karl Egloff

This post is definitely a lot more lighthearted than trying to fix a national governing body, but I was watching a Red Bull movie on Fernanda Maciel's (successful) effort to get up and down Aconcagua in less than 24 hours, (I was on baby duty yesterday), and about halfway through the film, I noticed a familiar logo.

The movie can be seen here:
https://www.redbull.tv/video/AP-1NU4GHUZN1W11/acon...
And the logo is at 22:30.

Unable to help myself, I started down a Google tunnel. The person wearing the buff is Nicolás Miranda. Miranda has been Karl Egloff's right-hand man in helping him to set a number of climbing speed records (including beating Kilian Jornet's record on Aconcagua), according to a nice piece by Outside Magazine: https://www.outsideonline.com/2058691/if-youre-top...

Going down deeper into the tunnel, I found both Egloff and Miranda have raced the ARWS race Huairasinchi multiple times. And then I found this article:
https://www.eluniverso.com/deportes/2017/03/24/not...

Seems like, when they're not off beating the FKTs of one of the world's best trail runners, they're pretty avid adventure racers!

Given my relatively short history in the sport (five years), does anyone else have any knowledge of otherwise famous athletes/people who have been known to dabble in AR?

Well, there was that time Anakin Skywalker found out that the force doesn't work during Eco-Challenges...

:) His guide was Ontario adventure racer Bill Trayling.

Mike Kloser achieved fame in several sports including AR, where we know him best.
http://mikekloser.com/html/mike_s_bio.html

How about the esteemed infomercial pitchman Anthony Sullivan?
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/05/01/Floridian/Next_s...

@broots
Anakin and his family live nearby and I look for him on the trail but I think he left AR in the rear view mirror.

Simpy, hah! That's amazing.

It's probably a good thing I don't live near him. After the 100th time of my riding my mountain bike in his lawn with flowing robes and glowsticks, I'd probably get arrested...

Gabby Reese made an appearance at some races in the 90's and Sara Odell who I think was a (super?) Model around the same time.
Les Stroud (Canada's Survivor Man) tried at least 1 Expedition length race (Timmins Cdn Champs) and I also saw him at one of the 6-8 hour Adventure Challenge races that Frontier used to put on.
.. and of course the Playboy bunnies put a couple of highly competitive teams in the Eco-Challenge ;-)

Richie McCaw raced Godzone 2 years ago. That would be the equivalent of Peyton Manning racing at next year's Untamed New England.

JayXC for the win!

Most of you probably know that Richie is coming back to GODZone in 2018 to raise money for charity again.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/9847484...

Not that I normally defend Playboy or bunnies...but as I recall they actually did quite a bit better than the Jedi. If I remember correctly, two of them fought hard to finish most of the course unofficially. And I think in Borneo or Fiji. Regardless, a grueling race.

On a personal note, I once found myself racing alongside Erik Prince, ex-Navy Seal and founder of Blackwater. Didn't know it at the time, but he and his teammate were undertaking a hellacious bikewhack with my team of three at American Adventure Sports' Lionheart in the middle of the night. He apparently raced here and there. Not sure if he still does. Blackwater actually ran an AR for a couple of years in NC back when Blackwater...existed.

...

We beat him and his teammate soundly:)

Wow, these are pretty good. My favorite part of that old Floridian article is:

Burnett, who remains an aggressive hustler now developing a restaurant reality show for NBC (superstar chef pulls together a trendy eatery) and a business show in which mogul Donald Trump selects an apprentice (the highlight; watching him "fire" a contestant every week), quickly sums up why people flock to races such as Eco-Challenge.

And I really like this as a description for AR:

"An expedition with a stopwatch (that) requires you to be part athlete and part explorer."

Joe Desena, found of Spartan Race Inc., raced some expedition ARs (I don't know which ones specific, I think a Primal Quest in early 2000s?) and credits his experience in those races, along with other extreme endurance events, with helping spark the idea of creating a similar experience in terms of generating the spirit of overcoming tremendous physical and mental obstacles but making it more accessible.

unfortunately 'making it far' in an Eco-Challenge could have more to do with the script than racing ability - if you were on a featured 'story' team (vs top ranked team). Lot's of assistance/concessions for certain teams. It was primarily a made for TV after all.

A few more,

Rebecca Rusch
Dave Macky
Jared Campbell
Andrew Hamilton

...any knowledge of otherwise famous athletes/people who have been known to dabble in AR?

To a lot of us who have been around AR for awhile, Rebecca Rusch got famous by adventure racing, then moved on to other great things. But you're totally right. At this point, she is a person who is famous for lots of other things and just happened to do some AR as part of her 3-decade career in endurance sports. Yes, I'm feeling old! :)

Hey ARRaces, thanks for the list! When did Jared Campbell race and what races did he do?

Looks like I misspoke. After some internet searching, I cant confirm he ever did an AR.

Ok, to redirect this conversation...Does anyone think it's worth the effort to try to get more famous people to try adventure racing?

For example, do you think having Ritchie McCaw doing GodZone is actually leading to more people signing up for races, or at least following the sport more closely?

And, as a follow-up, how do we do that?

My gut is no. I might be wrong, but I think Godzone was selling out before Richie and has since. I think Godzone's success is more a product of a society that better embraces outdoor lifestyle, adventure, and risk-taking than anyone else. They also have the land and access to land to allow such enjoyment and adventure. I am sure they had more traffic on their website, but not sure it has helped in nay other measurable way? It would be a good question for Warren.

________________ could do a race in the US, but I don't think it would get others to change their mind on getting dirty, getting off the couch, suffering through a storm, or having a close encounter with a bear. Slight chance that maybe a big name could draw more sponsorship, but even then, my money is on no.

Would be interesting to try it though! I know Rev 3 hosted a bunch of celeb women years back. They weren't on level with A-type personalities, but they were apparently known by a bunch of people. I think they were reality tv types. I remember there was hope that would translate into...something...and it really didn't as far as I heard.

All this said, I vividly remember pre-controversy Lance stating that he thought people doing the Eco Challenge were the most impressive athletes. It would be interesting to see someone with the athletic cred like Richie or Lance take on something like PQ or Untamed (please, not looking to start a Lance discussion. That just stood out to me). THAT said, I don't know what contracts are like in NZ rugby, but no way a professional athlete in the US would be allowed to do an AR contractually...

Finally, unless there was a guarantee of a major payoff (say a ton of sponsor money to produce a major network tv show or money to make the race vastly better for everyone), I wouldn't personally be that excited about it. On the rare occasions they have competed, celebs have had special treatment as someone posted earlier. I haven't heard that of Richie in NZ, but I have heard it elsewhere. Hell, this has historically been true of elite teams visiting other countries sometimes or racing in local races (ask people who were at Untamed 2009 how things went with Merrell and Robyn Benincasa...). I'm not sure it would be worth it if we all end up rolling our eyes at the special treatment they might receive.

Cool article on a lesser-known AR veteran:

http://www.star2.com/people/2017/11/28/this-man-is...

I remember him from RTNE Revelstoke. His team was most memorable for stopping to sleep in the middle of an active logging road in the dark... luckily Dave Z found them just before the trucks came rumbling down as the sun came up! :-)
Very nice team!!

Another good one from Red Bull, on last year's Defiance race in NZ, featuring lots of AR all-stars:

https://www.redbull.tv/video/AP-1M62PX4V92111/adve...