Chances are if you're into off-road adventure racing and niche sports events then you've either heard of Rapid Ascent, or you've flogged yourself in one of their amazing events.
As co-owner John Jacoby says, "if you are going to flog yourself, you might as well do it in a nice spot."
We caught up with John and fellow owner Sam Maffett to find out more about the men behind the brand, which has had the pleasure of enabling people to flog themselves since 2004.
Sam gets us excited about a three-week mountaineering expedition in Siberia, which included exploring some new peaks at 6,000 m, and navigating down an active volcano, whilst John rises to the challenge and talks us through an 11-day, non-stop adventure race in Brazil, where "skin started to fall off" and "parasites would get into just about every orifice".
The pair doesn't do things on a small scale. John recently participated in "a little bit of paddling" near the Antartic peninsula, earning him and his crew the title of Adventurers of the Year for 2015.
There is a spirit of adventure that runs deep in these guys, and it's definitely informed Rapid Ascent's design of some of the best adventure races, MTB festivals and trail running events in the world. The two only design courses and events that they would want to participate in, so they've always got to be in great locations, and always got to be a little bit out there.
Here's just a small taste of some headline events from this clever crew:
- The Vertical K: A race between cyclists and trail runners up Mt. Donna Buang.
- The Rapid Ascent Augusta Adventure Race: The biggest adventure race in the world
- The Giant Otway Odessey: The ultimate MTB marathon with epic trails and an electrifying atmosphere.
If you're on the straight and narrow and looking to get a little more out there with your adventure sports, these are the kind of events to make it happen.
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