On Wednesday, 6 December 2023, an interim committee was voted in to stand for the new International Adventure Racing Association (IARA). This organisation, representing the sport of Adventure Racing internationally, came into being after eight months of collaborative efforts by national Adventure Racing organisations, and community representatives from countries actively participating, hosting and competing in the sport of Adventure Racing.
IARA Vision
To support the development and growth of Adventure Racing representation in countries throughout the world, define and elevate global standards in terms of fairplay, safety, quality, sustainability and protect the ‘spirit of adventure’ in Adventure Racing.
IARA Mission
To be a representative voice for the international community of Adventure Racing countries by unifying and supporting members through the development of standards, sharing of good practice and ideas and provision of services to support national Associations.
We have a lot of work in the year ahead to build our organisation with the creativity and innovation due to our unique sport. We will develop our global representation, and support and service our Adventure Racing countries. As a multidiscipline sport, we identify with the individual disciplines and their international structures and look forward to developing these relationships as we navigate a new and exciting route for Adventure Racing in the international arena.
IARA Values
The values of IARA are:
- Respect – we have respect for all competitors and teammates, the selflessness of volunteers, kind permissions from landowners, the work of Race Directors, all environments through which we pass, and our international community.
- Integrity – we are open and honest in our actions, decisions and relationships.
- Teamwork – together we are stronger and can accomplish more.
- Adventure – we seek adventure and exploration through our sport.
- Competition – we celebrate and recognise respectful competition, and mental and physical performances.
- Fairplay – where so much in adventure racing cannot be policed, we trust in fairplay to maintain the integrity of our sport, and where all participants are treated fairly.
- Inclusion – we welcome and celebrate participants of all ages from all countries and cultures regardless of their ability.
- Environment – we aim to minimize our impact on all natural environments.
Why does Adventure Racing need an international association?
For a sport that has had little national governance and no international representation for the last 35 years, why does Adventure Racing need an international association now?
- International representation of Adventure Racing; a point of contact for the sport globally.
- Advantage for national Adventure Racing structures & events; national organisations, and event organisers, can require membership or affiliation with an international body of the sport for recognition, access to funding, and even land permissions in their countries.
- Unity of Adventure Racing countries.
- Enable partnerships with other international federations.
- Provide rules, regulations, policies and resources for all countries.
- Service and support national associations and to assist more countries in creating national structures.
- And, to ensure that the sport and spirit of Adventure Racing are represented and upheld by its national associations, Race Directors and participants, and not by any predator federation.
International Adventure Racing Conference
At the first International Adventure Racing Conference, held in South Africa on 28 October 2023, at the end of the 2023 AR World Championship event hosted by Expedition Africa, Lisa de Speville gave a presentation on the steps followed by the AR Countries Working Group to establish the International Adventure Racing Association.