“We stopped for like an hour,” Gravlin said. Do you have any advice for the new Eco-Challenge hopefuls? But you’re barely in it, despite having a very successful race! We were shocked to find at the end that we had maintained our place. Team Curl captain Jennifer Hemmen, an ultra-marathoner out of Fair Oaks, has joined another team. It helped us figure out that we were all on the same page in terms of our goals — that we weren’t there to get on a podium, but to push ourselves, explore, see new places. When we catch up with Bob Miller, captain of Team Canada Adventure and race director for the popular Wilderness Traverse adventure racing series, he’s busy. “The camera crew didn’t catch it, but he hit his head,” Gravlin said. (Tara Kerzhner - Amazon), Santa Cruz's Justin Smith surveys a map for Team Curl during the Eco-Challenge adventure race in Fiji. The team completed the course successfully (no ranking spoilers), but Team Adventure Canada wasn’t a focus for the show. With a new baby and a new house to renovate, Bob doesn’t exactly have the time to spend all day on the computer, but he’s delighted by the firehose of interest in adventure racing and his business stemming from the popular series. “And he has a history of concussions. Sixty-six teams from 30 countries competed in the race, which took place Sept. 5-25, 2019. But, then I started to remember how cool the other Eco-challenges were. Norfolk, Cornwall, Isle of Skye, Belfast, Walk and Discover tours. Team Curl’s Steven Lenhart, a former San Jose Earthquakes soccer player who lived in Santa Cruz, climbs a mountain during the 2019 Eco-Challenge adventure race in Fiji on Sept. 16, 2019. Competitors: Bob Miller (TC), Ryan Atkins, Scott Ford, Rea Kolbl, Wayne Leek (TAC)Team. Twenty-two teams represented the U.S., but only 12 finished the grueling race. That’s what’s amazing and frustrating about racing — so much is luck. But we could talk to them about their kids, and the village they were from. Team Estonian ACE has strong navigation backgrounds who favour trekking over pathless terrain as their preferred type of adventure racing. Team New Zealand — Nathan Fa’avae (TC), Sophie Hart, Stuart Lynch, Chris Forne, Mark Rayward (TAC) — won the race in 141 hours and 23 minutes. That would seem to indicate that there is a lot of interest from athletes to compete in Patagonia, which bodes well for us looking forward to more adventure racing on television in the near future. Team Endure toes the line at Eco-Challenge Fiji 2019 to celebrate living fully, persevering in the face of adversity, and the foundational importance of friends and family. When I first heard about Eco-challenge, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do the work of preparing and training for another expedition race. (Tara Kerzhner - Amazon), Team Curl's Steven Lenhart, a former San Jose Earthquakes soccer player who lived in Santa Cruz, reacts during the 2019 Eco-Challenge adventure race in Fiji on Sept. 16, 2019. In the first section of the race, there was an opportunity to sleep before a paddle in a tidal river. OCR Champs Ryan and Rea discuss how they got involved with Eco Challenge, the highs and lows of Fiji, and what lit a fire under their butt to make the podium. Big question! Anything else that happened was just going to be gravy. Thanks! Could this lead to more arguments or squabbles? Camera crews showed Lenhart — an avid swimmer, surfer and biker who lives in Newport Beach — laying on the ground with a bloodied lip, nose and chin, large raspberry-colored bruise on his right hip and torn fingernail after his crash. While both Miller and Ford have lengthy adventure racing resumes and even competed in earlier versions of Eco-Challenge (the show ran from 1995 – 2002), neither Atkins nor Kolbl are tried and tested adventure racers. (Amazon – Contributed). (Krystle Wright - Amazon), Two Team Curl members walk through the water during the 2019 Eco-Challenge adventure race in Fiji on Sept. 11, 2019. How the lead team called for help and got a new boat. One night he said he was “struggling,” but honestly, none of us could tell. It was such a cool cultural experience. We’ll have to wait and see. Most recently the Stray Dogs competed in The World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji in September, 2019. Sign up to receive television and entertainment email newsletters from our award-winning editorial team. August is IRock month! The team was quickly losing daylight but stopped on a vista to soak in a majestic sunset. August 19, 2020 By Matt B. Davis. Once it reached its destination, it was slated to paddle board down a river to get to an outrigger canoe and race to the finish line on a nearby island. Before the race we talked with a sports psychologist — that was Ryan’s idea. But if you do think you have a chance: start planning now.