Courtesy Dan Campbell Sari Anderson is no stranger to the front of the pack in adventure racing. She will lead Spanish team Buff-Thermocool at the XPD Adventure Racing World Championships in Tasmania, Australia.What do professional endurance athlete and two-time national mountain biking champion Sari Anderson and the Tasmanian devil have in common? Both will be on course this Halloween at the 2011 XPD Adventure Racing World Championships, held on the rugged West Coast of Tasmania, Australia. Racers will compete for anywhere from four to 10 days, running, mountain biking and kayaking over 400 miles while encountering poisonous snakes, crocodiles, bugs and, of course, trying to outrun the Tasmanian devil. The team of four that successfully navigates the course in first place will take home 30,000 Australian dollars.
Anderson will be racing with the Spanish team Buff-Thermocool, which won the world championships last year. She was asked to be a part of the team six weeks ago as a fill-in for an injured member. "The world of adventure racing is a close-knit one, and it's not unusual for athletes to move from team to team," she explains.
This year, Buff-Thermacool will be the team to beat. "I have raced against this team many times, and this will be the first time I have actually raced with them," Anderson said. "We are a strong team and have a shot at the win, but I would say there are five to eight other teams that also have potential. It is going to be a good race."
On Oct. 31, there will be 90 teams from 23 countries on course at XPD. Each team must be coed and have at least one navigator, as well as an enormous amount of required gear. Competitors will have to pass through a series of checkpoints and aid stations to complete the multi-day, multi-event course.
"Often in adventure racing, women are considered to be 'required gear' and we are on tow in the early stages of a race," Anderson said. "But in my experience, by about Day 3 the tables turn and it's often the women who have greater stamina and strength."
Anderson, 32, lives in Carbondale, Colo., and trains with the help of Lindsay Hyman from Carmichael Training Systems. Keeping a rigorous workout routine isn't always easy, as Anderson is a mother of two.
"Lindsay understands I don't have a lot of time to train due to work and family, so she sets training based on quality over quantity. I try to get out for longer training sessions on the weekends thanks to my super- supportive husband. Most of my training is done pushing and pulling kids in my Chariot," Anderson said, referring to the kid-toting sled that cyclists hook to the back of their bike.
A member of the Polartec advisory board, Anderson also spends her time testing and providing feedback on cutting-edge sports garments.
Anderson got into adventure racing almost by accident. A soccer and hockey player in high school, she remembers watching the Eco-Challenge with her father and thinking it looked cool. A few years later while living in Vail, Colo., she was given a free solo entry for a 12-hour adventure race by the man who became her husband, Ian Anderson. She ended up winning the solo women's division and placed in the top five overall.
After a few more events, Anderson caught the attention of endurance star Mike Kloser and eventually began racing for the now-defunct Team Nike, competing alongside the very athletes she'd watched on television years before.
"I enjoy adventure racing, as we get to travel all around the world, from China to Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately the suffering is as memorable as the camaraderie and the scenery," she said with a laugh. Anderson has competed in more than 15 adventure races, with the most memorable being her win with Nike at the 2006 world championships in Quebec.
"The mental side is harder now that I have had my children, because as I begin to suffer, I think that I could be at home with the kids," she said. "However, I also know that the harder I go, the sooner it will be over."
Want to follow Sari Anderson's race? Click here.
Lyndsay Meyer is a freelancer and endurance sport enthusiast who lives in Aspen, Colo., and Chamonix, France.
