wegokigo: the kigo footwear blog

What runs through your head when you hear the words Adventure Racing (AR)?

Hardcore? Yes.

Really fun? For certain.

Dirty? Most definitely.

By definition, AR is a multi-day, non-stop, multi-sport, mixed gender event. It has been called ’an expedition with a stopwatch.’

Competitors strive to cross the finish line first (hence the “racing” piece). The adventure part comes on the course – which is typically in some remote wilderness location, where teams may not see race officials or other teams for hours at a time.

Coed teams of three or four members race via foot, mountain bike, kayak, and rope courses to cover up to hundreds of miles in a single race, which can last anywhere from eight hours to seven days. These teams navigate their way to checkpoints using nothing more than a map and directions. Whatever conditions they encounter between points are theirs to conquer. Successful adventure racing hinges on the talent, speed and strength of the team members, as well as the (right) supplies.

Less than a quarter of first time racers finish an adventure race.

One team that is sure to finish – and finish strong – is TeamSOG. An East Coast Adventure Racing Team, TeamSOG is currently the top-ranked AR team in the country, according to the United States Adventure Racing Association.

TeamSOG has long been sited as one of the toughest and most feared teams in AR, but the 2011 season brought to light an unmatched level of athleticism, team strategy, intellect, and teamwork. Not only did TeamSOG finish #1 in the 2011 USARA Championships, they also took first place in the East Coast Adventure Racing Series (ECARS), both overall in the series and at the final championship race. And only two weeks after winning 1^st place in the USARA Championships, TeamSOG took home a 2^nd place finish in the Checkpoint Tracker Championship race.

TeamSOG is made up of eight of the strongest and toughest athletes in the country. With the momentum brought on during the 2011 race season, TeamSOG has already been projected by many race producers as the team to fear in 2012.

These members are Toby Angove, Brian Mayer, Chris Caul, Kristen Dieffenbach, Kristin Eddy, Scott Pleban, Julia Pollock, and Dan Snyder. In addition to the numerous titles that TeamSOG has earned together, the members of TeamSOG individually hold hundreds of mountain biking, orienteering, running, kayaking, and rock climbing titles both in the United States and internationally.

kigo is psyched to be the minimalist footwear sponsor for this group of adventure studs. We love it when we hear that they think kigos “rock maximum comfort” and that they’ll “be wearing them in between every race, and anytime we get in the water.”

If kigos can bring it for TeamSOG, we’re absolutely sure they can handle any adventure. Go TeamSOG!