The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast

Welcome to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast. From time to time, we like to support our companion podcast, The Course Reveal, by crossposting special episodes. ----------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to a special episode of The Course Reveal Podcast. Today, we turn our attention to the 2025 United States Adventure Racing National Championship, where the best te...

Welcome to a special edition of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast. Our sister show, The Course Reveal Podcast, is your spot for adventure racing course breakdowns and interviews with race directors, but for championship races we like to crosspost those episodes to what we call The Big Feed. See below for this show's highlighted race. -------------------------------------------------------...

In this episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, we welcome Olga Huber of Team Fragile Flowers. A well-known racer, Olga has taken on a growing number of events, both with teammates and solo. She loves AR, and she enjoys learning from all of her experiences. Wise, direct, and thoughtful, Olga shares so much with TDZ. When she speaks, school is in session. Enjoy! Thank you for listeni...

The mountains, midges, and lochs of Scotland are putting racers to the test at ITERA and ITERA-Lite. In this Flash Episode, Race Director Paul McGreal joins The Dark Zone to share not just the leaderboard highlights, but the many stories from the trail — teams helping each other through brutal weather, challenging stages, in-race competitions, and gritty comebacks after early setbacks. From the sh...

Welcome to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast. Today’s episode takes us north to the wild, water-rich terrain of Finland, where host Brian Gatens is joined by Lauri Hollo —longtime racer, passionate advocate for the sport, and Technical Director for the 2025 Endurance Quest Saimaa, the European Adventure Racing Championship. In this wide-ranging conversation, Lauri reflects on his path int...

Today’s episode is a special one — it’s a course reveal for the 2025 Wilderness Traverse, the iconic Canadian adventure race and this year's ARWS North American championship. This event has long been a staple in the North American adventure racing calendar, known for its challenging terrain, demanding navigation, and classic Canadian spirit. Joining the show are Event Director Bob Miller and Race...

In this episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, we welcome Ashley Cheney and Greg Schmidt of Team NYARA/Trek or Treat, a pairing whose journey through adventure racing has been marked by determination, resilience, and a deep commitment to helping each other. Their story isn’t just about racing—it’s about the intentional work of building a strong partnership, pushing personal limits,...

In this episode, we speak with the new leadership team behind Expedition Africa as they carry forward the legacy of one of the world’s most iconic expedition races. With roots in Heidi and Stephan Muller’s multi-year stewardship, Expedition Africa is turning the page while honoring its past. The new team brings decades of racing experience and a deep love for the sport to their new roles, and they...

Adventure reporter Jim Clash of Forbes Magazine joins The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation that explores the intersection of storytelling and high-stakes adventure. With a passport stamped from the South Pole to spaceflight training grounds, Jim has chronicled the lives and pursuits of the world’s boldest adventurers—and taken on quite a few daring feats himse...

In this freewheeling and reflective wrap-up to the 2025 Endless Mountains Adventure Race, TDZ hands the mic to Zoe Freedland and Mary Foster for an end-of-race coda soon after the final team crosses the line. As racers catch their breath and stories settle into memory, dedicated volunteers Zoe and Mary capture the emotion, exhaustion, and triumph that define The Endless Mountains Adventure Race. I...

Welcome to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, and this special Flash Episode from the 2025 Endless Mountains Adventure Race. Abby Perkiss joins us with a timely update from deep inside the race experience. From the pointy end of the field, the surging pack, weather and course challenges, and how all the teams are managing this handful of a race, Abby gives us the lay of the land as the ev...

Welcome to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast. In this special Voices of the Racers episode, we bring you directly into Transition Area 1, where we spent an entire day capturing the thoughts, experiences, and enthusiasm of every team during their 5-minute media timeout. What follows is unfiltered, on-the-ground audio: the sounds of rain, barking dogs, cheering children, and the ever-presen...

Welcome to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast . Today’s episode marks a special moment on the AR calendar: the official course reveal for the 2025 Endless Mountains Adventure Race presented by Rootstock Racing. For the first time, Endless Mountains heads north to Vermont, where over seven days, teams will face a demanding and beautifully crafted expedition-length course through the region’...

On this episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast , we shift gears—literally—with ultra-distance cyclist and adventure writer Meaghan Hackinen. From solo rides across continents to podium finishes at grueling endurance events, Meaghan brings a unique perspective on resilience, mindset, and the beauty of long days in the saddle. She shares stories from her global rides, lessons learned...

TDZ is happy to support The Checkpoint, presented by the United States Adventure Racing Association, through this crosspost of Episode #12. Thank you for listening and for supporting USARA. Episode Details Below: Welcome to Episode 12 of USARA's The Checkpoint Podcast. On this episode of USARA's The Checkpoint Podcas t, host Brent Freedland is joined by Brian Gatens, host of The Dark Zone: An Adve...

On this episode, TDZ steps off the course and into the heart of the Copper Canyons with the Korima Health Initiative. Founded with a mission to bring essential healthcare and education to the Indigenous Rarámuri people of northern Mexico, Korima is powered in part by a unique crew of volunteers—many of whom are also adventure racers. Just as they navigate wild terrain and unpredictable conditions...

TDZ is happy to support The Checkpoint, presented by the United States Adventure Racing Association, through this crosspost of Episode #11. Thank you for listening and for supporting USARA. Episode Details Below: Welcome to Episode 11 of USARA's The Checkpoint Podcast. On this mailbag episode of USARA’s The Checkpoint Podcast , host Brent Freedland is joined by adventure racing veterans Mari Chand...

Adventure racing thrives on passion, and nowhere is that clearer than in the story of Frank Johnson and The Wild Driftless Adventure Race. A longtime racer turned first-time Race Director, Frank is stepping up to give something back to the sport he loves. On this episode of The Dark Zone, we talk about what it means to start something new, why smaller races matter, and how community fuels everythi...

This episode of The Dark Zone explores a creative partnership between a college classroom and the course. Students from Washington and Lee University’s Leading Public Relations Campaigns class teamed up with Adventure Addicts Racing to support the Adrenaline Rush Adventure Race. As part of their coursework, students developed and implemented real-world media strategies to promote the event, offeri...

A big thank-you to teacher and adventure racer Jeremy Johnson for connecting The Dark Zone with the student racers of Full Steam Ahead Adventure Racing. Based at Brunswick High School in Maryland, FSA is a thriving, student-led club that's bringing the next generation into the world of AR. In this episode, three young racers share how they found the sport, what it’s taught them, and how the lesson...

Team Bones joins TDZ fresh off their 115-hour epic at Raid Bimbache in Morocco. From battling illness and chasing down runaway maps to staying strong and supportive as a team, they trekked (and biked... and paddled...) through it all together. Sleep-deprived and still processing their experience, they still made time to bring us their story. Thank you to Roy, Jen, James, and Jesse for sharing thei...

Oh Canada! The Dark Zone recently sat down with the leadership team behind the upcoming Adventure Racing World Championships to be held in Penticton, British Columbia to dig into the necessary training, team planning, travel logistics, and what racers can expect. They held their ground under our not-so-subtle questioning about the course, but we still managed to get our hands on some beta (Nav! Na...

In this episode, we go international—literally—with Cormac and Lisa of the International Adventure Racing Association (IARA). As a worldwide organization, IARA is on a mission to unify, support, and elevate adventure racing on every continent. We talk about what it means to define standards of fairplay, safety, and sustainability in a sport that thrives on pushing limits and embracing the unknown....

Rootstock Racing has never been one to shy away from a challenge. This time, their racing takes them deep into the arid beauty of southern Africa. In this episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, Abby Perkiss, Brent Freedland, Matt Cymanski and Michael Garrison share their experience racing in Expedition Africa Namibia, a once-in-a-lifetime event set against the stark landscapes and...

What do caves and adventure racing have in common? More than you might think. Dave Jackson, founder of CaveSim and a highly experienced caver, joins us to share lessons learned in the dark, cramped passages of the underground—and how those lessons apply to racing, teamwork, and managing fear. His traveling cave simulator teaches thousands each year, and his wisdom offers practical tools for when y...