The Legend Race starts Sunday March 2nd. The Adventure Racing World Series returns to Tasmania for the first time since the 2016 World Championship.

HUONVILLE, TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA, February 25, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Legend Expedition Race starts on Sunday March 2nd from the town of Huonville in Southern Tasmania and sees Adventure Racing World Series competition return to the island for the first time since the 2016 World Championship.

The race is staged by adventure experts Wild&Co, the largest adventure race providers in Australia, and the 3rd edition of The Legend follows previous races in the high summits of the Australian Alps and along the dramatic coastline of the Great Ocean Road. Race Director Chris Dixon plans to take the race to the best outdoor locations in every state on an 8 year quest to circumnavigate the country. “I wanted to create a uniquely Australian expedition that sees teams competing in the toughest sport on the planet in the most iconic locations in Australia,” he said.

Huonville and Southern Tasmania will become part of The Legend next week, and there can be few better locations for a 500km, 6-day expedition race.
Dixon said, “As race HQ the town will be the step-off point for teams to a truly Tasmanian wilderness experience. The Legend course will take on rivers, coastlines, lakes and mountain trails for an epic adventure taking teams into what has been described as ‘one of the last true wilderness regions on Earth.”

As the course is kept secret until just before the start he can’t say more, but teams need only look at the map to see the potential for an incredible course.

Situated on the broad Huon River, the town is surrounded by rich farmland, famed for its apple production, and overlooked in every direction by magnificent mountain ranges. There are three main National Parks and Reserves in the Huon Valley, all part of the vast Tasmanian World Heritage Wilderness Area. These include the Hartz Mountains National Park, Hastings Caves State Reserve, and the Southwest National Park. One peak overlooking the town is Mount Misery ... which may just appeal to the Race Director!

Teams do know the outline of the course (just not the location) and Dixon has warned them to be prepared for Tasmanian terrain and weather. “We’ve got four epic paddle legs on the course with flat water rivers and lakes, as well as white water on a couple of legs which could get quite exciting. There are six checkpoints above the tree line which could be very challenging depending on the weather and it goes without saying that there is going to be a few hills on the course.

“Perhaps the biggest test in Tasmania will be the weather – teams would be wise to pack plenty of extra layers and lean towards sleeping bags and tents rather than bothy bags and bivy sacks. Tasmanian weather can be some of the most challenging in the world and the long dark paddle legs and alpine crossings in past expedition races have been notoriously tough. It will take teams everything they have to get it done.”

Last year’s champions, The Mountain Designs Wild Women, are returning to defend their race title, lead by Kim Beckinsale, and they will hope to repeat their historic win, when they became the first all-female team to win an ARWS Expedition Race. They will have some strong competition from the USA however as the Rootstock Racing team is another experienced and successful women’s team. They have twice won the female division of the USARA National Championship and are led by Abby Perkiss, who is an owner and Race Director of Rootstock Racing, and will stage her own ARWS Qualifier, The Endless Mountains Adventure Race, later this year.

Another ARWS Race Director is Morgan Coull, who will lead the MMI Adventure Racing Team, and who was on the second placed team last year. (He raced the XPD race 4 times and was also a finisher at Eco-Challenge Fiji.) MMI stands for Murraylands Multisport and later this year Morgan will be Race Director of the 24 hour Total Recon race, which will be the ARWS Oceania Championship race.

The highest placed team in the ARWS Oceania rankings is Team Broken Compass, who may be favourites amongst the Premier mixed teams of 4, who will be racing for the prize of a free place at the Adventure Racing World Championships in Canada later in the year. The team is currently #2 in the Oceania rankings, after a win at the Hells Bells race and third place at the 48 hour Mountain Designs Geoquest race. Expedition racing for 4 or 5 days non-stop is a different challenge of course, but Andrew Hay and Sean Johnson have experience from the first Legend race.

There are 9 premier mixed teams of 4 racing and other experienced squads include Kang Racing, who have taken part in the previous two Legend races, and Team Goldfish, who are already legends in Australian racing for their many XPD expedition races and for racing with a tandem mountain bike.

These experienced teams, and some new to expedition racing, will gather in Huonville from Friday, ready for registration on Saturday and the race will start at 10.30am on Sunday March 2nd. Teams will only find out the route and receive their maps a few hours before the start, and the race winners are expected to finish on Wednesday, with the course closing after 6 days on Saturday 8th.

ARWS CEO Heidi Muller will be there greet teams on the finish line alongside Dixon, and it’s a part of adventure racing she most enjoys. “Being on the ground at races and talking to the competitors is important to me,” she said, “and as I now live in Australia I couldn’t miss being at The Legend. Seeing the excitement and sense of achievement teams have on the finish line of an expedition race is the best part of my job, and I get to see old friends from around the world. I last saw Abby Perkiss cross a finish line at my race in Namibia, and now I will see her in Tasmania!”

There will be live satellite tracking so race fans can follow the teams and see the course, and links to this and other live coverage on @wldnco and @arworldseries can be found at https://www.legendexpd.com.au/live and www.arworldseries.com/live

The Legend is sponsored by Squirt Cycling Products, Wild Magazine and Fibril.

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